Maldives first time to celebrate special ocassion
 

WOW!!!! I remember the first time I saw a photo of the Maldives. It was on the cover of Travel and Leisure and I thought to myself, talk about a dream vacation!!!! What a wonderful place to celebrate a special occasion. I am just beginning to plan an over-the-top birthday vacation for my hubby and I've just started doing research on the different luxury properties and would appreciate updates on the newer (and smaller)luxury type resorts particularly Havafen Fushi, Reethi Rah, Four Seasons, and Coco Palm, etc. Am I missing one?
BTW, we would most likely travel in Sept/Oct. is this a good time to visit Maldives?
Any input would be most appreciated. Thank you.

I believe Sept./Oct. is in the rainy season. Can someone else confirm that?

I haven't been yet myself, but we are thinking about it for early next year.

TTT

There was a thread on this some months ago, and having been to the Maldives a couple of times in the spring months (when the weather is good) , I did some research for a poster who was planning a trip of December. What I found was that the question of the rainy season in the Maldives is a bit bizarre, and seems to come down to what part of the archipelago you are travelling 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.

That being said, Sept/Oct is historically the middle of the rainy season in Male, which is the northern part of the island chain. For Gan in the south, those months are acutally lower rainfall month, however that area gets more rain overall so it is relative.

The other issue with rain is that it is usually associated with wind, which will affect the currents and the clarity of the water, esp for diving. The diving in the Maldives is very good, but most of it is drift diving as the currents are strong, so if you aren't comfortable with that, you may want to stick to snorkelling. According to a dive site I found (www.diveglobal.com) February to April are the calmest months for diving and cruising. If diving is part of your reason for going, you might want to wait for the calmer months,

Part of the problem is that everyone's comments will be anecdotal: I am sure people will tell you they have been to the Maldives in Sept/Oct and it did not rain, and others will tell you it rained their entire trip.

Take a look at weatherbase.com and worldclimate.com which will give you an idea of the odds of rain in the Maldives at various locations.

I have stayed at the two Soneva properties, which were great. I am not totally sure they both are re-opened since the tsunami, check the websites. The Four Seasons is supposed to be great as well.

Hi

My wife and I went to one of the larger islands (Sun Island) a couple of years back and it was just beautiful. I thought that pictures that I had seen from the Maldives were just good pictures taken by good photographers and that we would not experience anything like that. But I have to say that it was beautiful...white beaches, bright blue sea. I have posted a trip report with pictures from our trip on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/sun_island_index.htm :-)

regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway