To be honest, all this is just incredible! 19 island groups with almost 2 000 islands rise between one and five metres from the sea. 220 islands are inhabited by locals – another 150 are open to tourism and once you arrive, you suddenly find yourself in paradise …
The peak travel season for the Maldives is during our winter. However, as I enjoy not being a part of the masses, I booked my flight for July. The prices are much cheaper and the weather is consistently great and warm. Any rainfall has quickly passed after 30 minutes and the sun beams down once more. I highly recommend the low seasons for the Maldives. I have set aside one week for my trip to paradise and therefore plan to quickly immerse myself in the island feeling.
SHERATON Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa
For me, the ideal hotel for this is the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa. After the long flight, I don’t want to get on a seaplane, but rather take a speedboat to my home away from home. It takes just 15 minutes and I have reached the spacious resort, which leaves nothing to be desired. At the Feast Restaurant, I treat myself to a breakfast with fresh fruit and a delicious buffet that is hard to beat for richness. This is what an optimal start to a holiday looks like for me.
My charming Island Cottage is perfectly equipped and has an open-air bathroom as well as a small front garden through which I can reach the sea in 30 seconds. There is so much choice about how best to spend my time here that I book my dive straight away, followed by massage and a tour of the island. At the «Coral Restoration Snorkeling Area», they explain to me how corals are re-bred and I am allowed to sink a basket with baby corals into the sea myself.
Choosing which of the 7 restaurants to have dinner at is not easy at all as I would like to try them all. Finally, I decide on a fresh fish at Masala Hut – and what a great choice it was! This very evening, the glass of Chardonnay tastes particularly good to me. Satisfied, I dip my head into the soft pillow.
The next day, the ring of my alarm clock gets me out of my cosy bed early. I am too curious about the morning yoga session in the pavilion right by the sea. After that, I do what the Maldives are best known for: chilling, swimming and snorkelling in the turquoise blue water waiting right in front of my villa. In a flash, a small shark swims past me. I squeal with joy as these moments are always the very highlights. A visit to the orchid garden, a drink at Sunset Point and an evening walk to watch the flying foxes make this day perfect.
Before I continue my journey to the next island, I make sure that the last night before my flight home will also be spent at the SHERATON Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa. Enjoying this again is something worth looking forward to. In addition, I can get to the airport in no time at all without any weather risk.
Le MÉRIDIEN Maldives Resort & Spa
But right now, it’s on to Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa. The seaplane flight is wonderful because you can see the beautiful resorts from above. 35 minutes of flight time later, I am greeted by the hotel manager and his crew at the dock. I feel welcome and enjoy my fresh cocktail. The island is exactly as you would imagine the Maldives to be. White sand with palm trees and dense vegetation surrounded by crystal clear turquoise water. The waves break on the offshore reef and create a natural spectacle.
At the Le Méridien Maldives Resort & Spa, I get to stay at an Oversea Villa. I feel like a king overlooking his kingdom when I enter the secluded terrace and look out to sea.
The resort is newly built with a lot of mindfulness. Generating their own electricity and treating their own water is just as much a part of the sustainability concept as the Greenhouse, where salads and herbs are grown. As a friend of the culinary arts, I make sure to savour every meal in a different one of the 6 different gourmet restaurants. Each and every single one of the dishes is just delicious. Once again, I check my dive, rent a bike to explore the island, get pampered at the spa and listen to the young marine biologist doing her research at the resort.I’m also able to persuade her to accompany me dolphin spotting and snorkelling. As she knows the best spots around the island, we observe thousands of colourful fish, grazing sea turtles, manta rays floating by and some reef sharks. An exceptionally beautiful experience that makes me humble and grateful. As the day draws to a close, I treat myself to a Negroni at the Riviera Bar and chat with good-humoured guests from all over the world. Before I go to bed, I linger on my private villa terrace and lose myself in the starry sky reflected in the sea.
»Dreaming is beautiful, but living your dreams is even more beautiful!«
Photos Copyrights: SHERATON Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, Le MERIDIEN Maldives Resort & Spa
