Hi - wondered if anyone can offer some advice on what weather my fiancee and myself could expect if we were to book our honeymoon to the Maldives leaving 21st August.

I have heard so much about how amazing this place is and the resorts look fantastci - but I can't get a definitve idea of weather - some brochures suggest it will be wet and not nice to others that say the oppostie.

Anyone been there this time of year? What was it like? Any accom recommendations for a honeymoon to remember?

Thanks

Hi
Welcome to Ht! Until someone who has actually been to the Maldives in August answered you may find this helpful. have to say it doesn't look too positive though.

WET........ well usually.

They normally say that the "wet season" (our summer) comprises short very sharp showere with sunshine in between

Recently however,(according to the locals) the emphasis seems to be on the wet and the showers - with less of the sunshine. We travelled out on 24th July - week one was VERY wet - 2 days saw no sun at all with some heavy prolonged showers, many trips cancelled as seas were too high, 2 days with intermittent showers ( as we'd expected).1 day it literally poured all day
Week 2 (from 1st Aug) was far better - only one shower (10 mins) all week. We have subsequently spoken to some folk who overlapped us and were there a week longer, and THEIR second week was virtually identical to our first. so it is luck of the draw.

It WILL be warm - even when it's raining - probably around 28-30 degrees under the cloud - consequently muggy (and encourages the mossies a bit too). You can still comfortably use the pool and snorkel etc (providing sea doesn't blow up too rough) but you may need to seriously consider some travel games etc to keep you ocupied just in case!!

Personally I would return to Maldives in the summer as I ADORE the place - but given unlimited choice, would prefer to avoid June-Oct if possible

Been twice to Maldives

1st time - OCTOBER... Glorious 2 weeks with just 1 shower lasting 10 mins. Weather constant 30 degress

2nd time - JUNE... Showers most days lasting 5-10 mins, but dried very quickly. Weather constant 30 degress although did seem much hotter than October visit.

The driest month to go is February (as stated in most brochures) - but like anywhere else, it the luck of the draw with the weather.

Hiya

Me and my partner are hoping to go diving when we go to the madlives next april. The hotels website mentions about not forgetting to bring some medical approvement. Do you think we need this if we are fit and healthy. I have emailed the hotel but not had any response and just wondered if anyone had heard of this. We are going to Filhalhohi island.

chrissarah,

Diving is a fun sport and is suitable for all levels of fitness. If you are diving in the Maldives, you'll be going by the PADI standards. You'll also be spoiling yourself, the maldives have some of the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth, nowhere where you dive will be up to the maldives standard!

With the sounds of it, you have never dived before and want to try diving for the first time? If this is the case, then the medical and fitness requirements will be explained to you in resort.

The minimum level of fitness is being able to swim 200m unaided in under 10 minutes (or 300m with fins in 8 mins from memory). Providing you can acheive this, then you pass the minimum fitness requirements. Diving, however does pose certain medical risks due to the impacts of pressure upon the body. There is no legal requirement to completed a dive medical before you travel to the maldives (in some countries it is mandatory), although it is worth checking with the diver centre before travelling to be absolutley sure. You will be asked to fill in a health declaration questainnare when you arrive though (all divers, not just beginners or course students have to fill these in). If you can asnwer no to all the statements, then you are fine. If you can't answer no to all the statements, then discuss things with the dive instructor / leader (if you answer yes to any of the statements, you are obliged to see a doctor specialising in diving which is why it's important to discuss things with the instructor first). More information is availalbe on the PADI website.

If you send me a personal message with your email address, I'll send you a copy of the PADI medical questionnaire. If you have any burning questions, fire away. I'm a qualified rescue diver.

This is a link to the diver centre where you are staying if you haven't already seen it.

Have a look at this, the Maldives are even better than St Lucia in terms of marine life. You'll love it!



You may be lucky enough to see some of these as well



Darren

Hi chrissarah
For diving at any of the Oceanpro dive centres, all you are asked to do is fill in a self assessment questionare, I would think it would be the same for other dive schools.

Regards
Joe

And when I did my 200m swim, there was no time limit. As long as you didn't put your feet on the bottom of the pool/sea (whichever you do it in) you could take as long as you liked.

Hi All,

Im looking to book a trip to the Maldives for 2007 Jan - Mar

There are two of us in the party myself (21) and my girlfriend (20)

I am a fairly advanced sailor and am looking for an island that has dinghy or catamaran's available. Ideally they would be included in the AI package but im struggling to find anything.

The girlfriend is more of a beach person and loves to just lie back and relax.

Basically what we are looking for is :

14 Nights or 12 Nights (are 10 & 12 nights available / worth it ?)
All Inclusive
Beachfront Accomodation
Watersports in abundance & relativley priced

Our budget is £1650 per person which is why we are considering a 12 night duration if available.

If anyone can provide any help advice it would be most greatly appreciated.

Thankyou In Advance

Kev & Sam

Hi Kev
I can recommend two islands to you, I am sure there are many more but these two should meet your requirements.
Firstly Lily Beach resort, my favourite, smallish island, excellent beach, catamaran sailing, windsurfing, canoes and surfbikes. all these activities are part of the AI package.
Secondly Reethi Beach resort has catamaran sailing, wind surfing, a bigger island than lily beach, I am not sure wheather the prices are included or not.

Regards

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the information.

Lily beach is one of the resorts that i had picked out but im struggling to find it within the budget.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good company that can sort out the trip for me.

Regards

Kevin

Hi Kevin
I booked early March 05 for our stay on Lily Beach on the 5th March this year.
I looked around at the various options including booking through a local Maldivian agent, the cheapest by far was booking through Thomson TV by phone, I first found out the price through Hayes and Jarvis quoted this to Thomson who in turn gave me a further discount on top of that given by Hayes and Jarvis, this was an agent to agent discount.
We paid £1515 for two weeks AI, flying First Choice airlines, this saved £134 pp on the original price.

Regards

Joe

Joe - Thanks again for the info.

I will look around for the price i have in mind but most of the operators do not have the pricing for March 2007 yet.

Are the rooms all beachfront on Lily Beach ?

Also how did you find the weather in March ?

Cheers

Kev

Hi Kev
for weather info click here. There is a section there called trip planner- if you click on that and put in your dates you will get a good idea of what to expect.

Kev
prices for March should be out soon, as for the weather, mostly sun, very warm constant 28 to 30 degree's C with a nice breeze, on the odd occasion it might rain but very short lived, if it rains whilst you are snorking it shouldn't bother you, by the way the rain is warm.

Joe

Hi Kev try http://www.theglobalsuitcase.co.uk Steve who owns it is very knowledgeable on the Maldives.Mentin the name BOB.G

modena:

Funny you should mention http://www.theglobalsuitcase.co.uk.

I have been speaking to Steve over the last couple of days and he came back to me with a price last night which is well over £800 cheaper than one of the "big" travel agents.

Im very impressed with the service so far.

Thanks

Kev

Hi Evavou

The first time we went to the Maldives it was in the middle of August. We had some rain but it didn't last long and dried up quickly. I would not have any qualms about going back in August. You can be lucky or unlucky with the weather whenever you go. Mind the sun though! It can be quite fierce and sitting in the sea, feeling nice and cool, can give you a false sense of security. Anyway, as it is your honeymoon, I am sure you can think of something else to do if it rains.

All,

Thankyou for the advice given above.

I have booked 2 weeks at the Lily Beach for March 2007 - Yes 2007 ! need time to save up and pay for it.

Got a really good price to with Upgraded Seating on the plane etc all included.

Thanks again and im now off to the Egypt forum for this years holiday - Unless you guys can reccomend something else (£500 ish budget p/p all inclusive / hot)

Cheers HT's