We are going too, in October for our honeymoon.

Have a look at the discussions further down the main page.

Sounds great.

Cheers guys.

Jimmer

For anyone still trying to choose an island try http://www.meeruisland.co.uk and http://www.meeru.co.uk we found them both extremely helpful and ended up booking here because of them,cheers Mark

Hi

We have not decided on the year but settled on January as it falls slap bang in between our birthdays, me Dec 22nd, him Feb 10th!! We are still looking at hotels in Sri Lanka as we need to consider our friends and family who can afford to travel but will probably go all the way in the Maldives. Just wish it was tomorrow!!!!

hi
I went there last year for 2 weeks in March. If you can , stay in a water bungalow. They are lovely. also you get to use the water restaurant without having to pay a surcharge. The food in that restaurant is top quality and with a varied menu.
We were half board and didnt feel the need to go all inclusive. We always had a big breakfast and only needed lunch once.
Not too sure what damage it sustained in the tsunami, but i know it wasnt open for a long time - if it even is now???

Have fun
matt

I have been to the Maldives for 3 weeks and as much as I hate to admit it, we were bored by the 3rd week. We now only go for two weeks at a time. Going to Vilamendhoo in Dec'05 and Lily beach in March'06.

Nic

Thank you all for your replies.
This morning I've booked a 2 centre holiday to Bandos Island, then onto Lily Beach !!
The only thing I'm worried about now.....is this the start of the rainy season? If it is, at least it'll be warm rain.
Reading all your postings, this will probably the first visit of many !!
Thanks again

HI, i'd recommend getting married in Sri Lanka & then honeymoon in the Maldives. I did it in 2003 and would not have changed a thing - it was absolutely fantastic.
As others have said, you cannot get married in the Maldives, but I believe they now do renewal of vows ceremonies.
We got married at the BLue Water hotel in Sri Lanka & then went on to Veligandu. We looked at every company who offered twin centres and eventually decided on Tradewinds as they offered both resorts we wanted. The easiest way is to work out where you want to stay and then get your travel agent to try a few different companies as the prices/wedding packages vary a lot.
Tradewinds, the hotel, the wedding & honeymoon were all excellent and I could not recommend it enough!
If you want any further details about the hotels, wedding ceremony etc, feel free to pm me.

Good luck with browsing the brochures!

Hi tykes
You don't say when you you have booked for, at least Bandos is only a short distance from Male, will you be taken from bandos to Lily Beach by seaplane as it's a long way by boat?

Regards

Joe

Oooops...Sorry..Silly me!!
We're going the first 2 weeks in May. It's later than we wanted, but Lily Beach was full. We decided to go with our first option - a 2 centre holiday. I don't want us to get bored, so I thought 2 seperate islands might be our best bet. I want us to leave and be desperate to come back!
We're now going with H+J, 2nd May. Speedboat to Bandos, plane to Lily Beach, plane back to Male.
Can't wait ! It's the first luxury type holiday we've had.
Thanks again
xxx

Hi tykes
as I said, it's a short trip to Bandos, we haven't been there but I hear it's had a refit recently, Lily Beach you will love I'm sure.
Have a great time.

Regards

Joe

Just wondering if anyone has done a PADI newbie course in Maldives. I'm looking at doing one but just want to know what to expect. If anyone can advise what happens, what you learn etc it would be appreciated.

Nomad,

The Maldives should be an excellent place to learn to dive, you'll be spoilt though with the gorgeous scenery! You'll see plenty of sights like this and this. I'm a PADI Rescue Diver so know a little about what you have in store.

There are several PADI courses you can take, Discover Scuba (1 Day), Scuba Diver (3 Days) or Open Water (4 days). I'd recommend the Open Water Course as its really the entry level for diving. The other courses are ok and can be accredited to the open water course if you don't want to do that just yet.

The Discover Scuba course is quite basic and you'll have a presentation on the equipment, how it works and safety precautions. You'll then be taken on at least one dive (most places offer 2) with at least a Divemaster to a maximum depth on 5m depending on how confident you feel.

Course content for the open water course is essentially diving physics (basics about water pressure and its effectc), equipment, how to use it, dive planning and safety proceedures. It isn't too taxing but its worth reading a book on the subject before you go out there to do the course (unless you go down the referal route and do the theory over here and the qualification dives in the Maldives). You have to pass a written exam on dive theory and planning as well as complete 4 qualification dives demonstrating good buoyancy control, mask clearing, weight belt removal/replacement, removal of scuba unit plus a couple of others. Again, nothing too taxing once you've practiced doing it. This will qualify you to a maximum depth of 18m.

The Scuba Diver course is a shortened version of the Open Water course and qualifies you to a maximum depth of 12m.

Good luck and if you have any questions, fire away. For more info about the courses, have a look at PADI's website.

Darren

Hi Nomad

I agree with Dazbo5 that Open Water is your best option as it gives you a world wide recognised dive qualification. But it does involve a lot of study time and pool time to learn the basic skills.

I would be surprised if this is what you ( or your partner ? ) have in mind during your stay in the Maldives, so why not go down to your local PADI divecentre and do the theory / skills bits before you go. You can then opt to do your qualification dives before you go or you can be referred and do them in the Maldives.

That way you can enjoy your Maldives dives more, not waste time doing the course and be more attentive to your partner. Isn't that what the Maldives are all about ?

Enjoy

Scubaman

Hi there,

I'm planning on booking a trip to the Maldives for my 30th birthday in January 2006 and was hoping somebody out there could help me on
a few questions I have, here goes:-

What's the weather like in January?
What's the best All Inclusive hotel?
Can you recommend any Hotels with Entertainment at night?
Are there any good deals with specific holiday companies?

I'd appreciate any other information you have on this part of the world as I'd like to make my 30th as memorable as possible...

Thanks v much
Nikki

December to early March is the BEST time to visit the Maldives - it is their high season. Dry and hot (minimum 32 degrees)

If you are looking for lively evening entertainment I might suggest that you should be looking at a different destination. The majority of islands will have very low-key entertainment, a disco perhaps once a week, dive night (video and low-key sales pitch) probably a visiting live band once a week, then you get down to the excitement of crab racing (don't blink as you might miss it!!). Bearing in mind that being so close to the equator it is dark by 6-6.30pm, the evenings are quite long too.....

IMHO the Maldives evenings are geared up to a slow dinner, few drinks at the bar (might listen to the band one evening) and a gentle stroll back to your room for an early night - well sunbathing is VERY exhausting!!

My favorite AI Island is Lily Beach (Eclipse/H&J amongst others) - but the entertainment in the evening there is DECIDEDLY low-key and may not suit your needs. There was some form of entertainment every night on Meer when we visited this summer, but it was far from lively - you might want to check out http://www.meeruisland.co.uk for more info on this one - all the major tour ops offer Meeru but you may find "good deals" harder to come by in January as it is peak season then!

Hi Nikki,me and my girlfriend are going to Meeru in January it looks great and there seems to be something going on most nights,although still low key.Have a look at http://www.meeru.co.uk for some great information.We booked through first choice and got a reasonable deal,cheers Mark

Hi - We are off to the Maldives in just over five weeks. Please could anyone advise us if it is best to take travellers cheques or money with us. I wont have an awful lot of spending money to take, but my husband will be taking the visa card. Any advise would be great. Thanks

Julie

Hi Julie,

For what little money you will need, you may as well just take dollars in cash. All your extras at the island will be charged to your room and paid by credit card at the end of the stay. Just take enough cash to cover tips, something to eat/drink at the airport and any duty free or souvenirs you want to buy on the way home.

There is a free room safe in your room so cash will be perfectly safe.

Not long now !!!

Tracy

Hi guys,

We are off to Filitheyo on Monday for 1 week. We are A.I. and this is our first time in the Maldives (honeymoon).

How much money (dollars) do you think we would need for tips and how much/how often should we tip?

Cheers,

Jimmer