carrom

We'd like to spend a week in the Maldives in early december with our kids in their 20's. We are NOT interested in spas, organized activities, luxury rooms, TV, swimming pool..... We ARE interested in good (possibly local) food, excellent Scuba diving and snorkeling, beautiful beach and comfortable accommodation on the water. We would prefer a small island with few bungalows rather than a large resort with hundreds of people. Budget is not a problem. We have been to the Maldives twice before but it was 20 years ago. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

crellston

Good luck finding something! But I think you will find that the island fall into two categories the small and luxurious and the large package tour type resorts. However, check out www.kuoni.co.uk, they are the biggest maldives operator in the UK and they may be able to help (plus I think they do online brochures

afterall

That's the way it seems to be going, Carrom.

You got to do luxe or you don't do it at all.

Damn it.

You can see it travelling in your own country. No more basic, everything you need but no frills, sort of places. All chocolates on the pillow and spa baths.

I don't get it why the travel industry hasn't realised that not all of us want that sort of crap.

We just want somewhere to sleep without all the f**in trimmings.

Yours,
mega pissed off about this.

carrom

Thanks for the advice.....had a look at Kuoni though we live in Rome. The Kuramathi Lagoon looks sort of ok....a bit bigger than I would have liked. Possibly some of the smaller 3 star places may be more what we are looking for. I'll need to do some serious research.
A couple of years ago we went to the Lakhshadweeps off the coast of Kerala - that was perfect. But the snorkelling was nowhere near as good as the Maldives.
If I find something special I'll let you know afterall!!

TracyB

Hi a few years ago we stayed at Veligandu Island..It was absolutely beautiful, nothing too fancy..but just absolute serenity and breathtaking. We had a cabin right on the beach and there were also over the water bungalows, which we chose not to stay in as we wanted a little sand separating us from the ocean.

Check my pics to see.

I would love to go back one day.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/510...D?vhost=travel

carrom

Grat pics Tracy, thanks!

Melnq8

Have you considered Bandos? My husband goes to Bandos yearly to meet up with some scuba diving friends. They have an excellent scuba operation. His group arranges their own boat and they pretty much dive for their entire stay. They have a house reef, so
you can also dive and snorkel right from the beach.

The island isn't nearly as frou-frou as other islands in the Maldives, athough they have been upgrading over the past few years and now have some over water bungalows, etc.

It's a small family friendly place
and it's very reasonable compared to other islands in the Maldives.

It's accessible by boat from Male.

Cicerone

The Maldives is actually a huge package tourist destination, esp for Brits and Italians, and there are loads of 2-4 star budget hotels. You just never hear about them. Of the 90 hotels in the country, only about 15-20 are in the 5 star range (and those are the ones that get all the hype).

I second the Veligandu Island Resort recco, it has actually been completely rebuilt in the last 18 months or so, but is not overly luxe, see http://www.veliganduisland.com/ . I would also recommend Herathera Resort http://www.herathera.com/ (latter is pronounced like “herra terra”). Rates for Herathera Resort run from US$300 and at Veligandu Island Resort run from US$500. Both <i>include</i> full/half board (a nice plus). Herathera is down south in near Gan, which is actually quite charming for a day trip (try to rent a bike and go the whole length of the string of islands which compose Gan) and would give you a local flavour and architecture (more so than Male, IMO, but in any event the Maldivian people are the nicest I have met anywhere in 25 years of travel and living in Asia).

If you went to the Maldives 20 years ago (1988), I am guessing you stayed at Karumba, which was one of the few resorts which existed at that time. About 10 minutes by boat from Male. You might not recognize it today. See http://www.kurumba.com/. If not, I would be curious to know otherwise where you stayed.

TracyB

OMG Cicerone...those reno's at Veligandu look awesome, i wish u would have never mentioned it as now i wanna go back there again and check it out!! And too bad as we will be in Dubai/Jordan in November and had i known earlier, woulda skipped Dubai and stayed there...Damn!!

crellston

Carrom, Kuoni is actually a Swiss company and on of Europe,s largest travel companies. Perhaps you should check out www.kuoni.com and see if there is a link to an Italian subsidiary.

carrom

Thank you - I am checking out all your suggestions.
Cicerone - thanks for your Boracay &amp; HK tips by the way - First time my husband went to the Maldives was 1980 and he can't remember where (!) We went as a family in 1990 to Ranveli which was wonderful but now looks different though I recognize the island. That's where we discovered carrom (Asian game).
A few years later we went to Halaveli but I don't recognize today's version at all. It was quite funny because we were met at the airport by representatives of the Maldives Carrom Federation with a big ceremony, photographers and a band playing for us. The other passangers were amazed! Yes the Maldivians are great people!

crellston

Carrom
Here is a link to an aricle in The Times about the real Maldives which might be of interest:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle4782266.ece

carrom

Very, very ineeresting. Thanks Crellston.

carrom

We're back!
Not exactly what we were looking for but almost.
We spent a week in Alimatha and also got a chance to stay one day in close by Dhiggiri. Both in Felidhoo Atoll about 2 hrs from Male (or 20 minutes fantastic air taxi ride).
Alimatha is a very family oriented island with baby club and lots of organized activities. If you like this kind of thing the animation team are really friendly, not over pushy. All the guests are Italian as is the cuisine and most of the staff. The island is very nice with barrier reef close enough to swim to easily. The sand is white and fine. All the rooms are pleasant and while not luxurious they have all the mod cons. The overwater bungalows are more upmarket . We stayed 2 nights overwater then moved to the beach bungalows. From the overwaters you can go down a ladder straight onto the reef. Sadly most of the coral is dead but there are loads of fish and snorkeling is really fun.
The boys did their PADI certificate and were very pleased with the staff, dive sites and facilities of the dive center. They also enjoyed beach volley and playing football with the highly professional Maldivians .
Dhiggiri is more exclusive. The island is tiny but full of trees, palms etc Similar reef at close swimming distance. The restaurant is very good though once again the food is mostly Italian though the guests are a little bit more international. The beach bungalows are great, round and made of coral. Very understated chic. The atmosphere on this island is more couple oriented.
On both islands the staff were really friendly, helpful and laid back. All in all a very relaxing totally care free week!