Maldives

theboss80

Hi All,

Just wondering if anybody here has been to the Maldives? if so where? and what kind of budget were you working from? Myself and the oh thinking of going there for our honeymoon next March.

Any recommendations for places to stay there would be great aswell

Thanks

another native

Tuesday Travel on Newstalk radio had a lengthy discussion about the Maldives last month. Travel writer Fionn Davenport was the contributor. If you email "therighthooktravel@newstalk.ie they will send you details and there may also be a podcast available.

Hope this helps!

MrGee

Been to Kuredu island in the maldives twice, beautiful and a little larger then the average island.
First time we went we booked from an irish agency and it cost e5,400 for 11 nights all inclusive. Second time we booked it over the internet with a well known uk agency again for 11 nights all inclusive, cost about 1,000 euro less and we were staying in superior accomadation on the island the second time.
As the holiday was all inclusive and there arent lots of shops on the resort islands you dont really need alot of cash with you. There was a small shop on the island for buying bits and bobs and everything was signed to your room and would be settled at end of holiday. Peak season is dec jan feb mar , usually more expensive that time of year, not as much rain.

Glowing

hi there mrgee, what accommodation do u recommend on kuredu? We're swinging between a water villa and jacuzzi beach villa! Would love your advice! thanks

MrGee

Water villas are down the bottom of the island and are very nice, you have your own private sunbathing area on your balcony with steps leading down to the water, u can see all sorts of amazing fish swimming about down below, the beach on that side of the island isnt great due to coral everywhere ( best side for snorkelling though, sharks/turtles and huge fish)

Jacuzzi beach villas are beautiful aswell and are on the much nicer beach side of the island, they are about 20 metres from the see and its pure white sand leading down to crystal clear water.

Gran Hermano

With Kuredu my vote would be for a villa where you are assigned the O resort for your meals. The O is a kid free zone and I found it made a big difference, plus you are as far away from the pool at Bonthi and any potential lager louts who tend to congregate their.

Glowing

MrGee wrote: »

Water villas are down the bottom of the island and are very nice, you have your own private sunbathing area on your balcony with steps leading down to the water, u can see all sorts of amazing fish swimming about down below, the beach on that side of the island isnt great due to coral everywhere ( best side for snorkelling though, sharks/turtles and huge fish)

Jacuzzi beach villas are beautiful aswell and are on the much nicer beach side of the island, they are about 20 metres from the see and its pure white sand leading down to crystal clear water.

Brilliant thanks! I think we're leaning towards the beach villas....

Are the ones you recommend the Sangu JBV's or the O'JBV's ? (OMG these acronyms are wrecking my head!)

Thanks

theboss80

Thanks for the advice guys, MrGee could you pm me the agent you used the second time you stayed there please if you get a chance.

MrGee

I actually stayed in the O resort last year, much quieter and modern part of the island, food was great there and having a quiet swimming pool with sun loungers always free was a bonus, its a 15 min walk to the main reception/bar area though and we went down there quite a bit but u can call the taxi from reception and he'll pick you up on his rounds and take you too whatever part of the island u want to go. Best holiday ive ever had was on kuredu, thats why i went twice and it took alot of saving to get there but its well well worth it

theboss80

Any other suggestions from anybody?

Gran Hermano

theboss80 wrote: »

Any other suggestions from anybody?

Have you visited the forums on www.kuredu.com ? Plenty of discussion and debate on the various options. Plus there are a couple of webcams.
Tripadvisor also has numerous reviews and pictures.
As Kuredu is one of the larger islands in the Maldives it is really like two resorts on one island - the O resort end and the Bonthi end.

You need to ask yourself what you are looking for as a Maldivian getaway, do you want a small island with maybe only 20 guests and one restaurant and bar or a larger island with a choice of
restaurants/spas/bars.

haveablast

MrGee wrote: »

Been to Kuredu island in the maldives twice, beautiful and a little larger then the average island.
First time we went we booked from an irish agency and it cost e5,400 for 11 nights all inclusive. Second time we booked it over the internet with a well known uk agency again for 11 nights all inclusive, cost about 1,000 euro less and we were staying in superior accomadation on the island the second time.
As the holiday was all inclusive and there arent lots of shops on the resort islands you dont really need alot of cash with you. There was a small shop on the island for buying bits and bobs and everything was signed to your room and would be settled at end of holiday. Peak season is dec jan feb mar , usually more expensive that time of year, not as much rain.

Would love the name of that UK operator too please. Currently very confused about which resort to choose...they each look amazing.

skibum

I know that these links are to old threads but there is a lot of info in them.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055655151

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055281968


These operators: http://www.markstravel.co.uk crop up a lot with very good reviews and feed back.

Would love to go there sometime...