At that time of year definitely the Maldives. It's the dry season there where as in Mauritius it's the cyclone season.

My best friend at work is from mauritius and last year she was going to visit family for her Mum's 60th birthday party at the end of February but never actually made it because a huge cyclone came in and covered the island for the best part of a week leading to the cancellation of all flights into and out of the airport.

I've been to the maldives 4 times (twice for Xmas and tice in May) and it is heaven on earth. She says the best time to go to mauritus if from October to January.

thanks for the info

now it is then which island and where to stay...........

if you have been four times, which islands and hotels did you stay at or did you keep going back to the same place.
can you tell me if you booked through the same company or shopped around?

i am thinking stopping over in Fujairah (dubai) as cannot do a 10-13hour flight non stop i think i would scream and go mad, 7 hours is enough for me in one go.
wanted to go back to dubai any way and said that we would if we went long haul that (good excuse)

We've been pretty unadventurous as we've been to the same island each time (lily beach which is currently closed for a refurb until December), but we loved it so much we were reluctant to go elsewhere. For a tailor made holiday like a few days in Dubai followed by an odd number of days in the Maldives we preferred to use Hayes and Jarvis. They were very good and had the most competative prices. We've flown with Emirates, Qatar, First Choice and Mytravel and with the exception of Mytravel they were all excellent.

When choosing an island first you need to decide on a budget - they rangle from £1000-£10,000 for a week so that is hugely important. Then perhaps pick what size of island you like to stay on. iDo you want lots of facilities or do you want more of a robinson crusoe experience on a smaller quieter island. Personally we prefer the latter - i could spend all day just wathing the ocean and the amazing sea life found just a few feet from the shore.

I think as it is my first time to maldives, would prefer to set my budget low, but not at the bottom of scale, and, would like to be all inc, other half eats every 3 or 4 hours, but with a veiw to eating and drinking elsewhere without too much of a tie.
as for what to do, well
we like P&Q R&R, but like some entertainment, (not buzz bars and karoke), we like to snorkel and walk along beach, and find a jetty and sit alone and get the seabreeze and watch the waves. we dont like all that rowdy pool side music and entertainment during the day, no water aerobics and that stuff is a NO NO! we like to read, listen to ipod, and dip in and out the pool.
but also like to go out and about and explore............we like to eat out 3 times or so, whether for dinner or lunch other than the hotel. perhaps some excursions, other than ringos and quad biking, that is a NO NO.

we like to see a bit of entertainment i.e, band, music, show, or something, something low key. something to break the boredom perhaps, but not hotel staff putting on show. NO.

we have been to thailand, turkey OLU DENIZ, cyprus, greece, dubai, new york, chicago, santa monica, hollywood, arizona, egypt, spain, canaries.
and avoided and can live without fast food chains, burger and chicken chains, larger louts and loud people and crowds shouting late at night and other peoples children.

We are late 20's and 30's as a couple and do enjoy a bit of fun, but do like P&Q and our minds occupied.

does that give anyone a clue as to perhaps wanted a bit of P&Q away from the buzz, but something there to find if we get a little bored.

I would consider the following (depending on Budget). I have noticed though that prices for the Maldives seem to be going up at an alarming rate. I have been quoted £2k more for the same holiday for next year as we took last year.

Veligandu
Koomandoo
Lily Beach
Vilamenhoo
Reethi beach
Kuredu
Meeru

When you see the Maldives you'll know why i laughed out loud at the suggestion that there might be quad bikes etc, nor are there ringos or banan boats. You also cannot go out for meals as it is one hotel per island and therefore in order to go somewhere else for a meal would mean a transfer to another island which if possible would be very expensive. You therefore will have to eat on your island for the whole stay so I would pick one (with an additional to the all inclusive buffet) al a carte or beach restaurant (which will be cost extra), but will relieve the boredom of eating at the buffet all the time.