Maldives…Where To Start...Which Island?

Approximately 567 miles from north to south and 81 miles from west to east with a total land mass of approximately 115 square miles a population of around 388,000.

An island nation with approximately 1192 coral islands  within 26 Atolls.  Around 200 islands are inhabited, the rest uninhabited or developed predominantly as a ‘one island one resort’ concept with just over around 175 island resorts (at time of writing) as well as guest houses on local inhabited islands.

Each island resort has a restaurant, a bar and dive school as well as water sports facilities either motorised and / or non-motorised and some form of spa facility whether that be an outdoor naturally thatched cover with massage bed in a sheltered area on the beach or a full spa with a number of treatment rooms.  

As well as island accommodation there is an array of boats for exploring the islands known as ‘liveaboards’ predominantly for diving.  If one is not a diver consider a liveaboard that features snorkelling safaris (a great way to see wildlife (correct terminology marine life!) under the sea).  

Each resort / accommodation is unique as you so first recommendation (as easy as this may sound), do not compare as they have their own style, character and concept. 

So the question is: how to choose that island resort / accommodation?  Read on for some thoughts  / considerations for your  Maldives island resort / accommodation

Think of this as a your simple go to checklist and then myself as your personal travel planner navigator to steer you to your island of choice ..

 Island Size?

• Do you want to stay on an island with a lot of other guests or less guests: islands can vary with rooms from 1 (yes your own private island) to over 400, more rooms = more people.

Room Type / Location?

• Do you want to stay on land or over water (some with direct sea access = wow!) or both or half land / half water (yes there are islands that have this concept!)
• Do you want to be on an island that just has rooms on land or just over water or both? 
• Do you like  a room with a view to see the sunrise or sunset?
• Do you want to stay on an island resort (the one island one resort concept) or on a local inhabited island in smaller hotels / guest house type of accommodation and mingle with the locals (dress codes apply on local islands).

Reef Island Or Lagoon Island?

• Every island has a house reef, the further away the reef is from the island shoreline generally the larger the lagoon and beach.
• A reef island is where you can snorkel direct from the beach or water villa (depending on room / villa location) and tend to have a smaller beach.
• Lagoon islands have more shallow waters, generally larger beach areas with access to the reef for snorkelling / diving by boat.
• Some islands that have a bit of both ie a small lagoon and one swims out to the house reef with access from beach or jetty.
• Do you want to be able to walk all around the island?  Lagoon islands tend to be more ‘walkaround’ friendly than reef islands due to beach  / shallow water access.
• Maldives is a great destination to do one's PADI open water diving certification; groups tend to be small and there is no commute by vehicle to the dive school, it is walking distance right on the island location where you are staying. 
• Alternatively, a liveaboard boat is an option to do one’s PADI course with a 7 night stay then consider 7 nights on an island resort.
• Want to stay on more than one island? Consider a twin centre 7 nights on one island and 7 nights on another island (consider staying in a different Atoll).
• If you do not like the idea to pack up luggage after 7 nights for 7 nights on another island, consider staying on the same island and stay in 2 different room types for example 7 nights in a water villa and 7 nights on land / beach villa (or 6 nights / 4 nights if wanting a 10 night stay).  In such a scenario the house keeping staff  / your room attendant / island butler would assist with the luggage move from one room to another.  All islands have guest relations staff and they co-ordinate such a room move.

Transfer Mode From The Airport?

• Speed boat: for islands located generally up to approximately 45 mins to 1 to 1 ½ hours from airport by boat; some can be a little longer up to 2 hours at the most.
• Seaplane: Maldives has the largest seaplane operation in the world.  Each aircraft has a passenger capacity of 12 to 15 including luggage.  See the country by air from a completely difference perspective  - literally a bird's eye view (personal view: any stay in Maldives should include a sea plane so consider this transfer option for the experience).   The seaplane flight can be from 10 mins to 50 mins with the thrill of taking off and landing over the Indian Ocean. For a private exclusive transfer experience you can charter your own seaplane or speedboat.
• Domestic flight and speed boat:  generally taken for islands located more than 50 mins by seaplane.  Take the domestic flight to a regional airport (there are 13 domestic airports and 5 international status airports ) within the atoll then a speed boat journey to your island.  Domestic flights can be from around 20 mins to 1 ½ hrs.  If you take a domestic flight from Male to Gan in Addu (also known as Seenu) Atoll (the most southerly Atoll you cross the Equator (approximately 40  miles north of Gan Island) how cool is that!   
• Arriving / departing: seaplanes operate during daylight hours only, dawn to dusk, so better to have a flight arriving in morning and a departure flight from late afternoon / evening.  If you are taking a boat transfer consider the same.  Some islands nearby to Velana International Airport (Male) within North Male (also known as North Kaafu) Atoll and South Male (also known as South Kaaful) Atoll offer 24 hour boat transfers.  Boat travel  / transfers at night is kept to a minimum due to the navigation of reefs.

Island Facilities:

• As mentioned each island has a dive school, spa, restaurant / bar.  Some islands have more than one restaurant / bar.
• Consider: do you want to be on an island with more than one dining option?  Do you want an in-room dining option and / or 24 hour butler service (some islands have).
• Do you like sand between your toes / under foot or flooring when dining?  Some island dining areas are under sand with a covered area or some with open outdoor dining, others have a bit of both.
• Some islands have all facilities that are purely sand under foot (au natral, apart from rooms / public washroom / toilet facilities) allowing one to be completely ‘bare foot / no shoes’ (and no news) for your full duration of stay.

Food and Beverage:

• Can be pricey and for a valid reason, the majority of items are imported.  Many islands grow some herbs / salad veg / fruits, if space permits and where possible source local produce (veg / salads / fruits) from nearby local islands which is great being super fresh.

Some Islands Offer:

• The option to dine or have a picnic on a sandbank, a lush special private experience not to be missed. 
• All inclusive packages (example: from standard breakfast, lunch, dinner, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages to ultra all inclusive including a spa treatment, snorkelling equipment, sightsee / excursion to a local inhabited island) and dine-around, if more than one restaurant.
• If you want flexibility and tend to eat less in a warmer / hotter climate, then breakfast only or half board (breakfast, dinner) is a good option or full board (breakfast, lunch, dinner) for the traditional 3 meals a day.  On some islands breakfast can be like a complete brunch affair.
• Consider your meal plan carefully, reflect and be mindful of how much you tend to eat and drink when you are on holiday (you can eat  / drink as much or as little as your preference)  Why you ask?

You are to be staying in the middle of the Indian Ocean, yes take a moment, the middle of the Indian Ocean.  How remarkable is that?  So with this in mind and carefully choosing your meal plan  you are proactively contributing to help the island resorts  / accommodation providers actually reduce / keep food and beverage wastage to a minimum and effectively manage operational costs  thus striving to keep the destination at an affordable value.   

Maldives really is a place for a complete chillax and switch off from the outside world, there are no traffic lights / roads as such on 'island resorts' and not all local islands have traffic flights either (total tarmac roads equates to around 59 miles with the longest single tarmac road just over 9 miles)!   There is a local culture to embrace and explore (queue a topic for another blog at some stage).

Hope this has given an insight to assist with your choices for this bucket list destination.  People from all walks of life should have the opportunity to visit at least once in a lifetime. 

Am here to navigate you on your Maldives journey to experience this incredible island nation destination that is an absolute privilege to visit.  Take only photos , leave only footprints and bring home wonderful  lifetime memories.

 Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article, genuinely means a lot (original script and photos).