Maldives, fiji or thai beach
 

We'll be in Asia for two months and want to spend a week on a beach.
Given that we'll be there July and August anyone have insight to pros/cons of beaches during this time at Maldives vs Fiji vs Thailand.

We would look to work the south pacific in with a circle fare on the way home, or use the discovery pass to go to the maldives.

I live in Thailand and I've been to the Maldives during August but haven't been to Fiji.

For the Maldives you will be committed to staying on a small island no matter what the weather is like. When it rain it can rain for hours and you will be stuck in your room and even a walk to the hotel's restaurant can be dreary. Sea planes and the hotel shuttle schedule will be limited and you might have to transfer(to and from the airport) at very odd hours. The plus side is the low offseason rate and most of the resorts will be deserted. If you luck out with the weather, like no rain for the week you're there, then it will be perfect.

For Thailand August is not a good month either but you'll at least have the option of doing something else if it rains. You can always go into town, temples, shopping etc or find other alternatives.

I've not been to the Maldives, but I have been to Fiji twice. I'm making my 12th trip to Thailand in a matter of days. I would go with a Thai beach!

Fiji has nice beaches and friendly people, but it doesn't have the exotic appeal of a Thai beach, IMO.

Some random thoughts:

Time of year would be a big issue. All the areas you mention have rainy seasons which affect the quality of snorkeling and diving and the overall beach experience. See weatherbase.com for info. For example, you don't want to go to Phuket in the summer months IMO as it is too rainy; however the east coast like Koh Samui would be fine. (I disagree with the above poster that "Thailand is not good in August". I believe that is a reference to Phuket on the west coast, islands in the Gulf of Thailand on the east coast of Thailand are in fact at their driest in August.) Fiji has a hurricane/rainy seasons fro November through April.

You might also consider the really lovely beach areas of the east coast of Malaysia and the islands off that coast like the Redang area and the Perhatians, and islands off of Mersing like Rawa. Those are very good in summer months.

The beaches of Vietnam are certainly pretty and in good weather in July and August and you could spend a week there, esp if you are already going to Vietnam as part of the 2 month trip.

What you want to do is another issue. If you are a diver, you should seriously consider spending the week in Sipidan, which is one of the best diving sites anywhere in the world and July and August are great months for Sipidan. (If you are going to be here 2 months, you might want to consider getting certified and then going to Sipidan, and/or go to Yap and forget Fiji, Maldives, etc. You may never have that much time again in your life to take advantage of doing this and you are already going to be here.)

Generally the best (i.e. driest) months in the Maldives are late Dec through April. But the Maldives are a bit bizarre, and does come down a bit what part of the archipelago you are traveling to. In essence, there are two rainy seasons in the Maldives, at slightly different times, during different months and in different amounts of rain depending on where you are. July and August are historically the middle of the rainy season in Male, which is the northern part of the island chain. For Gan in the south, July and esp August are somewhat of a low rainfall month in Gan, however that area gets more rain overall so it is relative.

The Maldives beaches, snorkeling and diving really are gong to be superior to what you can find in Thailand in my opinion and experience. On the other hand, there are very few cultural opportunities there, no temples, ancient ruins, etc like you could get in many parts of Thailand (but not at their beaches), so it is pretty much a beach vacation (not that there is anything wrong with that, and really when you go to the beach in Thailand that will be the case too). However, in July and August you have a chance of having rain unless you pick carefully, so that may weigh against you.

Fiji is actually quite far geographically and flight-time wise, from Asia, so unless you are going to Australia or New Zealand, it may not actually work well in a trip to SE Asia. From Hong Kong, it's like a 15 hour flight and it requires at least one change. You then have a long flight to get back to the US, so really that's a long trip even in you do it on the way home. The main drawback to me is that, to be honest, for the level of hotel you get, IMO Fiji is not that great. It's a lot of package tourists and honeymooners from Australia and New Zealand, and hence not really that upscale a destination, IMO. (Don't confuse Fiji with Tahiti or other places in French Polynesia like Bora Bora which have some very upscale places.) I agree that you may not consider it as exotic. The snorkeling and diving are very good however.

Given the time you are going, of your original choices, I would choose the east coast of Thailand esp islands like Koh Samui, Koh Chang or Koh Samet, or islands in Malaysia a bit further south. If you have the time, money and inclination you could consider Fiji (I think I would consider Tahiti though). Much as I love the Maldives (I'll be back there in about 10 days), I am not sure that July and August are the right months to go there, unless you stick to the south, and actually Gan is quite a nice little town, much nicer than Male for a day visit. There are just fewer nice resorts down that way at this point, or at least I am not aware of that many. (Mandarin is under construction but not done yet.)

I strongly disagree with you Cicerone when you say "on the east coast of Thailand are in fact at their driest in August". The East coast start from Malaysia all the way to Kampuchea and you're saying that is the driest time for those area in Thailand? Check you fact!!

I have been to Fiji and while we enjoyed ourselves and it was beautiful, if you are in Asia there is no point to fly all the way down there.

I would choose somewhere more convenient to where you'll be traveling.

I will ask around for current boat reccos from colleagues in Male, I do think that the Hilton is your best option as they would know the operator and the boat. Anyone I recommend to you is just a stranger's word (nice as I am....). I last did a boat trip there about 5 years ago, so I am not even sure that operator is still in business, but will check.

I have been to the underwater restaurant. I think the food was very good (Hilton always has good food IMO), so it's not a case where the destination is better than the food. The whole thing is a little weird, but interesting. I love eating outdoors, so being underwater just isn't as attractive an option to me when you are in a place like the Maldives when you can eat outdoors all the time, but you have a week so what the heck. The hotel has a great wine cellar that you should not miss, IMO, there is a little informal bar with great cheeses, and a formal restaurant. It's like a little bit of France hidden underground in the Maldives.