Surprises in the Maldives
Was that what I got? Yes, and no.
I was surprised by how much the Maldives had to offer, I’ll talk about some of my favourite parts:
We arrived into Male and were met straight away by the team from our resort – Ozen Life Maadhoo – and taken to their private lounge for refreshments, it really made us feel like VIPs. When all the guests had arrived we were taken out to our luxury speedboat, which was great fun, and to the resort.
On arrival to the resort we were met by the team with a traditional Maldivian welcome, with a conch shell greeting, music and palm leaf necklaces, a lovely welcome! Our great butler then met us in the reception and explained how the resort functioned, including giving us a dining schedule, ensuring we got to try each restaurant at least once during our visit. He then drove us in a buggy to our beautiful over water villa.
The villas here are nothing short of spectacular, as soon as you enter you’re greeted by the view of the Indian Ocean. There are glass elements in the floor when you enter so you can see the fish swimming below and also again in the centre of the room. The bed was absolutely huge and you also had a sofa you could relax on by the window opposite the bed. Our fridge was constantly topped up with refreshments, including champagne which is included in their indulgence package – I’ve never drunk so much champagne in my life!
I also adored our bathroom area, the large bath was in a huge space opposite the dressing area, then at the end of the room was his and hers sinks and a beautiful shower with a full glass window so you can enjoy the view while you shower, perfect.
The food at Ozen really was delicious, the main restaurant, The Palms, did a mixture of bullet style for things like yoghurt and fruit, then live stations for smoothies, grilled food and other various options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was great. The restaurant itself was directly on the beachfront so you could really soak in those views every second of your stay.
We tried out the gym, which is in a building over the water so you have ocean views while exercising, I also did one of their yoga classes which was relaxing. Although we had an overwater villa we also took the time to enjoy lounging on a sunbed on the beach for a few of the mornings there – I'm usually more of a pool girl because I'm not a fan of sand, but the sand here was so fine you barely noticed it, it was perfect.
One night as we were there for our honeymoon we were invited to a romantic dinner, the restaurant had a small section surrounded by hearts and red flowers to give it the romantic vibe, it was really cute. We even had romantic desserts shaped like a heart!
That night when we arrived back to our room our wonderful room attendant Mundvvar had decorated our bed with “Happy Honeymoon” and swan towels in a love heart and also run a romantic bath with flower petals scattered over the bubbles for our return – it made our evening!
Something Ozen does extremely well is their indulgence plan – literally everything you need is included, including non-motorised water sports, one sunset cruise, one sunset fishing trip and unlimited snorkelling trips which go out twice a day at 9am and 3pm.
We went on at least one snorkelling trip a day because we became a little obsessed with being in the water, a few days we even went on both because why not?! We were both obsessed with the sea; the fish were absolutely beautiful, and there was something so relaxing about wearing a life jacket to snorkel too as it meant I could just relax, bob up and down and enjoy the wildlife, it was brilliant.
We were over the moon every time we saw marine life, we would regularly see reef sharks swimming past, rays of all kinds, clown fish, trigger fish, loads more fish I don’t know the names of, a beautiful flying fox which lived on the island and even dolphins in the distance too which we could see from our villa – something in the Maldives blew me away every single day, it was pure magic.
Speaking of amazing sea creatures, when you stay at Ozen you can enjoy dining at their underwater restaurant, Minus 6 Meters (M6M). M6M was wonderful, all seats face out towards the water and you spend the entire time watching wild fish / sharks swim past freely in open water. Plus the seafood was delicious!
While we were there we really wanted to see manta rays, unfortunately we were visiting outside of their high season, but knew a handful were still around, so we paid to go out privately to see if we could find them. Sadly, we didn’t come across any, but our amazing dive instructor took us to one of the best reefs in the Maldives where we saw some beautiful coral, fish and also a turtle – it was a dream! The instructors here are great and they spot things hiding on the reef way before you do, so my top tip is always stick with your instructor! On the way back to Ozen we saw some dolphins which swam underneath us which was one of the best moments of my life.
I can continue to talk about the Maldives for days, but it really is somewhere you need to experience for yourself, especially if you are a huge fan of the ocean and the animals it holds.
