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Step into a picture-postcard. Literally. Maldives
resorts, they are a changing. Long gone are the days when a palm-thatched
hut by the beach with brackish water in the bathroom and fish with
everything (breakfast, lunch and dinner) were the highlights of
a holiday there. Just 10 years ago, if someone smiled
at you in a resort he was almost certainly Sri Lankan, since the
Maldivian staff were too shy to let
their feelings show. Things have certainly changed. Toss out a question and your Maldivian hosts will respond with a ready smile and wit, waxing eloquent on the wonders of their delightful archipelago. And much they have to talk about. These are islands going through rapid transition, catapulting from 19th-century dhoni sailboats to howling 21st-century speedboats with triple engines and enough thrust to land a wrestling marlin on the moon.
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| Conrad Maldives Water Villa/ photo: hotel |
Success has wrought changes. Last year almost 600,000 visitors poured
into this tiny Indian Ocean archipelago in search of the ultimate,
stress-free vacation: sea, sun, sand and sophistication by the bucket
and spadeful. Italians formed the majority of visitors, closely
followed by Britons, Germans and Japanese. They stayed an average
of 8.3 days. That's endorsement enough.
In the wake of the December 2004 Boxing Day tsunami a number of Maldives resorts that were affected set about speedily rebuilding their premises and several are back in operation. Most are running normally again. A very
informative and useful site - to keep abreast of post-tsunami developments in the islands as well as to plan a holiday and check out a comprehensive list of Maldives resorts - is run by the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board at www.visitmaldives.com. And without further ado, herewith a Maldives resort review and guide, with a select pick of some of the best Maldives resorts for a family outing or a Maldives honeymoon holiday. After the brief tsunami shutdown, several resorts will be back in business with brighter, more attractive products, so shop around carefully.
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As tourism has
expanded from the core of Malé Atoll to
the whole apple of the Maldives, with new resorts soon to open in
the northern tip of Haa Alif Atoll and in the deep south across
the Equator in Addu Atoll, more Maldivians are getting a taste of
the once forbidden fruit of tourism. They certainly like it, and show it, in their ready smiles and quick wit.
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Tourism arrived
in the early 1970s as the hippy trail snaked down through India
to wind up in isolated fishing villages causing consternation to
islanders as foreigners lounged about on the beach in what appeared
to be their underwear, and sometimes no-wear at all.
Under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (who was re-elected for his sixth
five year term in 2003), tourism was organised as an industry. Tourists were
comfortably banished to uninhabited islands, not with a bag of rice and a goat,
as was the lot of local misfits sent to far-flung village islands
to rehabilitate themselves, but to resorts especially created for
them.
Over the past
30 years 87 picture-postcard islands have been transformed - a further 11 are in the pipeline - with
state-of-the-art infrastructure (including water desalinisation
plants and garbage disposal units) into stunning getaways offering
privacy, solitude and unspoiled sugar-white beaches enclosed in
turquoise coral gardens, but with all modern conveniences for those
hankering after some city comforts.
Desalination is a costly and painstaking business and and it is worth bearing in mind while running showers and taps. Electricity is costly and, despite the increasing use of air-conditioners, you will often be able to get by quite comfortably using ceiling fans. Several resorts shun TVs to offer a genuine escape though some have succumbed to noise and karaoke.
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| Anantara Overwater Suites/ photo: hotel |
The visitor's
first glimpse is usually from the air - a breathtaking rhapsody in blue, from the dark turquoise of the Indian Ocean
to the crystal azure of lagoons lapping golden rings of sand and
clumps of coconut palms. There are 1,192 islands in the Maldives
stretching for 511 miles from north to south and as the arriving
jet zooms low to find the runway protruding into a lagoon, every
one of them appears priceless. Closer acquaintance confirms the pilot's-eye
view is right: the Maldives is priceless - as well as pricey.
The impact of
tourism development (both physical and social) has been somewhat blunted
by regulations designed to protect the environment and people. Go
soon if you want to keep ahead of the crush, though. With a second
international airport due to open shortly in Gan in Addu
Atoll, which will open up hitherto unseen areas, and a slew of new properties, things may not remain quite so idyllic and quiet for much longer.
Getting around the Maldives
Visitors are transported by speedboat or, for farther destinations, a Maldivian Air Taxi seaplane (www.mataxi.com). Maldivian Air Taxi operates one of the largest seaplane fleets and its Canadian prop Twin Otters serve over 30 resorts. Flight timings are based on international flight arrivals and departures.
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| Maldivian Air Taxi: Island hops |
With no fixed schedule to go by, things may appear a tad dramatic, but it all works out in the end. Service is friendly and informal with frequently barefoot pilots handling both the baggage and the flying. Views are terrific from any seat.
The Maldives is a 100
percent Sunni Muslim republic with just under 300,000 people, who
live in 198 inhabited islands and the country's capital island
of Malé. The capital has a population of about 80,000, a
few trendsetting restaurants and transit hotels (but no alcohol)
and little to appeal to the hedonist from the west and east.
Pleasure-seekers, however, are thoroughly pampered on exclusive resorts where
spas, bars and romantic alfresco restaurants compete for attention with a brilliant see-through
underwater world. The fact that all these acres of unspoiled coral are right at your doorstep, simply adds to the allure.
The airport is on its own island and will shortly be linked by road to the newly created residential
island of Hulhu-Malé. Arrival facilities
are simple as long as the three sections of the immigration form
are completed correctly, and foreigners have a return ticket and
a confirmed hotel reservation. A 30-day visit permit is given to
all nationalities on arrival. All arriving luggage is X-rayed for
bottles since the importation of alcohol is prohibited. Any found
is kept in bond for the visitor's departure.
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| Stunning Baros/ photo: MTPB |
However, there is a duty-free shop selling wines and spirits, as well as others with upmarket
perfumes and fashions, in the airport's small departure lounge. A Johnnie Walker Black Label one litre bottle will set you back about US$28, while a one litre Chivas (aged 12 years) costs US$29. Come prepapared for long waits at the airport as the air taxi service only flies by day and several flights depart late at night. There are a couple of undistinguished cafes serving the staple hamburger and chips and a Movenpick at the airport entrance offers ice-creams.
Malé the capital, right by the airport island, has developed rapidly over the past two decades from two-storey sea-front shops adorning sandy streets, to a fairly cosmopolitan town - at least in appearances. It now boasts black-top streets, tree-lined avenues, a clutch of restaurants serving everything from Thai to Continental, the odd Internet cafe and the busy No. 1 Jetty - a five minute walk from the bustling fish market - where your boat will most likely dock. Buildings remain lowrise but have acquired reflective glass frontage and taxis now ply streets where walking or bicycles were once the norm. Taxis charge around 15 Maldivian rufiyaas (US$1=Rf12.75) for most trips. However, if your feet will transport you, most places are within a 20-minute walk. But it is in the far-flung atolls that the sea begins to exert its charms at some of the best resorts in Asia, each on it own private island.
Maldives resorts and hotels
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| Banyan Tree cottage/ photo: Banyan Tree |
The closest
hotel to the airport, and the only one that can be reached by road
- instead of by sea or air - is the Hulhule Island Hotel,
a five-minute drive from touch down. Run with Singaporean efficiency
(by an associate company of Singapore Airlines) it has 88 neat bedrooms,
a couple of restaurants and a bar as well as a pool and that anonymous
ambience typical of airport hotels. It's good for an overnight stay
after a late arrival while awaiting the next day's boat or flight
to your chosen resort.
The right choice
of resort in the Maldives is vital since it is not possible to leave and go down
the street to another hotel if the selected one doesn't suit. With
the sole exception of Kuramathi, all the islands
dedicated to holiday have only one resort apiece. There is no ferry
service between resorts, although there are boats and seaplanes
daily to the airport island of Hulhule. Pick from top-drawer - and flashy - Maldives luxury resorts, soothing Maldives spa resorts, or go for something simpler. There's something for everybody.
While some islands have
an agreeable mix of nationalities, others are marketed exclusively
in particularly countries. Few visitors arrive without having made
a reservation in advance and most holidays are sold on the "package"
principle that includes airfare and transfers. A good local travel
agent (such as Inner Maldives) can arrange accommodation for independent
travellers. Single travellers in search of romance will be guided
to islands with a lot of single guests, or advised to try another
country.
The islands are for families
(many Maldives resorts have facilities for children), couples, lovers of
nature, both on shore and underwater, and the stressed. This is
not a country for touring or mingling with the local populace, or
for hectic nightlife beyond karaoke carousing. Since the resorts
are horizontal it is usually a long walk (instead of an elevator
ride) from room to restaurant.
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| Breathtaking aerial views |
Resorts close
to the airport are popular with those who feel they have travelled
enough by the time they arrive and want only a short boat ride to
sprawl on the beach. The country's oldest and grandest resort has
just emerged from a complete re-building as Kurumba Maldives.
Every room is a suite with four-poster bed, wooden floors and ceilings,
a dressing room and a bathroom that includes an open-air garden
with, in some, a swimming pool. The resort is just 15 minutes by speedboat from the airport. All rooms are equipped with inroom safes, minibar, hair-driers and IDD phones. A pioneering resort with easy access, Kurumba is also within boating range of a number of other North Male Atoll islands.
With the largest
over-water bar deck in the Maldives and eight top notch restaurants,
including Indian, Arabian, Chinese, Italian, and a Japanese counter,
and a water-themed spa, Kurumba Maldives is a classic resort that
sets the standard for the rest. Its sister resort Full Moon boasts an avenue of over-water bungalows. The resort has been recently renovated to make the lodgings even more upscale. Cuisine ranges from Thai and Mediterranean to Asian and Continental. There are 156 rooms with a distinctively Maldivian feel, all employing a great deal of wood along with the signature thatch roofs.
There are some
engagingly eccentric resorts close to Male that cater for the
whimsical. Rooms at Soneva Gili are born of fantasy
and resemble Crusoe-like timbered constructions sprouting from a lagoon. Some villas require a row-boat to shuttle you around. At the top-end of their line are the Crusoe Residences and the Private Reserves. Soneva Gili is close to the airport in North Male Atoll. The swish Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa is a stylish Maldives luxury villa resort option. Several villas are over-water with breezy views in all directions. And now there's a second choice - the Four Seasons Resort at Landaa Gira Vaaru. These are all Maldives luxury resorts that come with a stiff price-tag.
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| Dine with the fish at Conrad |
Another top-drawer Maldives resort
is the smaller 48-room Banyan Tree at Vabbinfaru
(just 15 minutes by speedboat from the airport) with distinctive conical thatched villas on the beach. The island is informal with trendy public areas and a nice blue lagoon. Highlights include the stingrays that come right up to the jetty to feed in the evenings, a sunset cruise to watch schools of spinner dolphins. Banyan Tree also runs a marine lab that focuses on conservation efforts.
Part of the same group, the neighbouring Angsana Resort and Spa, Ihuru, is a slightly lower priced version with chic
lime-green bedrooms and designer flourishes. This is a small, friendly, accessible island with
good snorkelling right at its doorstep. The delightful Ihuru was one of the first devoutly eco-minded Maldives resorts and that philosophy remains a driving force.
This small island (it takes less than five minutes to walk around it) boasts a sugar-white beach with one of the best house reefs in the Maldives. Snorkelling is right on your doorstep and visibility excellent. Spot parrot fish, groupers, surgeon fish and the occasional moray eel. Or grab a sea canoe and flex some muscle. This small and intimate hideaway is one of the best Maldives spa resorts and punches well above its class. Banyan Tree has also just taken on the Velavaru Island Resort in South Nilandhe Atoll. Check for introductory offers. A 40-minute speedboat ride to South Male Atoll will deposit you at Cocoa Island's fantasy array of live-aboard dhonis, Maldivian boats, strung out across the water overlooking a sandbar tongue that leads on to some clear snorkelling waters. This offering from COMO Hotels and Resorts is a stylish retreat with traditional flair. Step right out of your stilted Dhoni Suite into emerald water teeming with marine life. There is a COMO Shambhala Retreat as well where holistic spa treatments and yoga are on tap with visiting specialists and workshops. Learn diving, sample South Indian food, or dip in the pool.
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| Four Seasons Kuda Huraa/ photo: hotel |
In a first outside Thailand, Anantara Resorts arrived in the Maldives in late 2006. The five-star Anantara Resort Maldives, spread over five acres in South Male Atoll, is a "boutique" resort. Situated about 25km from the capital Male and the airport, the resort comprises 68 beachfront villas (two with their own pool), 38 "over-water" suites and two "over-water" pool suites. There is an Anantara Spa and several restaurants, including the Baan Huraa Thai restaurant set on the water away from the main complex at the edge of a reef. Grab a dhoni to sail into the sunset, and dinner. If you fancy yourself a chef, learn special Thai, Italian and Indian recipes at the cooking school. The Anantara Spa features glass floors for eye-popping views of blue waters below, teeming marine life.
Set on Velighandu Huraa island in the South Male Atoll, the brand-new Naladhu Maldives resort has 19 exclusive "ocean houses", each named after a Maldivian plant. Each elegant, 225sq m house with white-gabled roof has a personal plunge pool and large teak sundeck. Mod-cons include in-house Wi-Fi capabilities, Bose surround theatre systems, LCD satellite TV, iPods and CD players. Banish stress at the in-house spa or explore the island's underwater world with Naladhu's own PADI dive team.
In mid-September 2006, the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa made a feisty comeback with its garden island setting and 96 luxury villas, several over water. A much anticipated second Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru opens 1 November, 2006.
Sprawled over 44 acres of prime beachfront in Baa Atoll, a 30-minute seaplane flight from Male, the latest Four Seasons offering melds 102 thatch-roof villas and water villas with rugged unspoiled nature. Care was taken not to overwhelm the island’s pristine, wilder, tousled, charm. Yet, pampering is close at hand at the Landaa Spa and Ayurvedic Retreat. Also available to guests is the Four Seasons Explorer, a luxury catamaran – with 10 staterooms and one suite – for sea-breeze-in-the-hair Indian Ocean cruises and trips to remoter islands.
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| Kanuhura romance/ photo: hotel |
One resort that is rapidly gaining a following is the One&Only at Reethi Rah in North Male Atoll. The large and glamorous Reethi Rah is an uncompromising Maldives luxury resort with six kilometres of coastline, endless expanse of white sand beaches (12 in all), 130 villas, a spa, and a staggering 40 swimming pools (37 of these with bungalows). The plush villas - all with DVD, widescreen TV and Broadband - offer a minimum 135sq m of space so go ahead and swing a cat by the tail - or your kids by their hair. Each month features a Saturday night Full Moon party where guests mingle at an Arabian Nights restaurant laid out with carpets, cushions and aromatic candles. Reethi Rah is among the best Maldives luxury resorts.
Kanuhura, in Lhaviyani Atoll (formerly managed by One&Only), is about 150km from the airport and describes itself as a barefoot chic resort and great care goes into ensuring a comfortable, and natural, stay. Drive golf balls into the sea secure in the knowledge that these are biodegradable fish food. At least that was the practice while under One&Only management. Hone your skills and fatten the fins. Enjoy spa treatments under laundered skies or head off to a romantic private island.
Long popular
with British visitors, much-photographed Baros concentrates on conviviality
in its mature, lush atmosphere with stylish water bungalows and
garden villas. The resort has been rebuilt. Also in Malé Atoll, Huvafen Fushi boasts the first underwater
spa, and each of its 44 rooms sport a private pool. If that isn't luxury
enough, try Dhoni Mighili where guests stay in
one of six private houseboats, quaff complimentary champagne day long,
and have a picnic island to themselves.
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| Cocoa Island/ photo: hotel |
Strong on city-style
infrastructure, which makes it look more suited to Miami than Maldives,
is Paradise Island with its rows of water and land
villas totalling 260 rooms and five restaurants. Bandos is another resort with a metropolitan atmosphere but with the ruggedness
of its vegetation carefully preserved. With a generous 178,900sq m at its disposal, this is a larger, more spread out coral island. Bandos is visible from the capital
Malé, just a short hop away by a powered boat. This was the second tourist resort to open in the Maldives. Its pedigree - and a refurbishment in 2004 - ensures standards remain high and the hospitality warm.
Across the channel
from Malé the resort of Laguna Maldives appeals to the traditional vacationer with its excellent value garden
(and over-water) suites and four international restaurants. In the
same atoll the Indian-managed Taj Exotica Resort & Spa makes
the maximum use of the attractions of the tiny Embudu Finolhu island. The Taj Exotica and the Taj Coral Reef are running smoothly.
Close in exotica but lower in price is the neighbouring Maldivian-run Embudu Village. Further south in the same atoll, Club Rannalhi is promoted as an all-action fun
resort and is managed with panache by a Sri Lankan hotel group. Rannalhi has an additional claim to fame - a pretty decent house reef that hosts a variety of fish and coral. The lagoon is almost tailor-made for swimming and snorkelling.
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| Conrad wade-in Water Villa |
It's a seaplane
transfer to the parallel atoll known as Ari where the islands are
crowned by the hockey-stick shape of Kuramathi. A favourite island
for those who want variety at night, it is home to three resorts: Kuramathi Village for the fun loving, Kuramathi Cottage
& Spa for the discerning, and Kuramathi Blue Lagoon for both. Guests at one resort can dine at the others and have the
tab charged to the room bill. Kuramathi Village is in the south, in Ari Atoll, a largish island with plenty of vegetation.
South of Kuramathi,
and once run by the same Maldivian management (Universal Resorts),
is Fesdu. Fesdu re-emerged in late September 2006 with 78 plush private villas as an ultimate Maldives luxury resort this time under the aegis of Starwood, as the W Retreat & Spa Maldives. Each villa features a private plunge pool and sun deck while the resort boasts a slew of other intriguing options, like 15 BELOW, an underwater bar 15 feet down in the Indian Ocean where you can sip Bloody Mary's and watch sharks. Just don't spill any. There is also the spoiling over-water AWAY Spa for holistic treatments, massage and other herbal remedies. Accommodations also include 46 over-water villas (Ocean Oasis Retreats) with glass floors to view marine life, and 28 two-level Beach Oasis Retreats. Dive, snorkel, explore, tan, or head indoors to your 42-inch plasma TV and that signature W bed. The W Retreat & Spa Maldives is a short seaplane flight from the main international airport.
The glitz and glamour of
a Conrad is enhanced at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island by shimmering sands, turquoise lagoons
and upscale, thatched, on-the-water accommodation. Formerly the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, extensive and well-planned refurbishment has seen the rebranded Conrad re-emerge with several distinctive touches and a new Spa Retreat. The Conrad Maldives occupies two islands - Rangali, where the spacious and spoiling water villas are located, and Rangali Finolhu, where the over-water Spa Retreat and beach villas are based. (The Conrad Maldives features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
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| Angsana white-sand beach |
There is a spa as well on Rangali Island ensuring guests are pampered no matter where they are staying. The islands are connected by a 500m boardwalk (that also serves as the seaplane jetty). An indefatigable powered dhoni shuttles regularly across the lagoon as well. Rangali Finolhu, the main island, offers a lounge and bars that could compete with the best of Hongkong's Lan Kwai Fong. The public areas are stylish, fraternal, and informal with sand underfoot. Service is friendly and quick despite the larger number of guests here when the resort is busy. The best snorkelling is off the east beach of Rangali Finolhu though those staying at water villas on the other island can simply step off their patio and into the blue for a quick dip and a view.
A games room, Internet room with free access (along with wireless Internet), and a large shopping plaza ensure all guests are fully occupied no matter what their preference. Watch a movie on a large flat-screen TV at the relaxation centre or catch the rays. Water villas are vast, a full 250sq m, with an attractive timber interior - much like a Swedish log cabin - spacious washrooms, and well-thought-out touches, from three-pin (square) plug sockets to electrical switches all labelled in large type so you know exactly what you are doing. The Spa Retreat offers 21 water villas and nine treatment rooms. But, for a true-blue marine experience, head five metres below to an exclusive wine cellar and an glassed-in underwater restaurant. Small wonder the Conrad is regarded as one of the best Maldives luxury resorts and its droolworthy spa is simply more spectacular icing on the cake.
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| W Retreat & Spa / photo: hotel |
For those in search of activity, muscle-bound distraction and organised extravaganzas, there is the Club Med Kanifinolhu (also just Kani) on the well-known and picturesque Kanifinolhu Island close to the airport. Club Med Kani reopened after a major post-tsunami overhaul. The Kani package includes the de rigueur activity-based itinerary - aquagym, badminton, beach golf, volleyball, deep sea fishing, kayaking, soccer and windsurfing - that has made Club Med a fixture for families with a French accent and the young and muscled. Kani is a 20-minute speedboat ride from the airport. The 73 smart new Lagoon Suites are built on stilts and offer fabulous views of the water. Indoors, enjoy an LCD screen and a free-standing tub. The Beach Villas offer landscaped terraces while the 143 Superior Rooms are housed in two-storey bungalows.
What began as
an island for campers has evolved into Kuredu in
the northern Lhaviyani Atoll, 150km from the airport, and with 300
rooms. Popular with scuba divers, it has retained a jolly, matey
atmosphere. More select, across the channel in Baa Atoll, Royal
Island has 150 suites and beach villas and a quiet efficiency
to its holiday atmosphere. The forested island resort of Soneva
Fushi is just south of it, created with a designer-rustic,
Robinson Crusoe flair.
Another resort gaining a strong following is the Coco Palm Resort & Spa with a stunning lagoon, in Baa Atoll. In South Ari Atoll is the spread out and entertaining playground of White Sands Resort & Spa featuring an almost 2km sugar-white sand shoreline, shallow lagoons, and pretty decent marine viewing. There are beach cottages as well as over-water bungalows (housing three), over-water suites (housing six) and two honeymoon bungalows in a private area of the lagoon. The Coconut Spa is at hand to massage away those post-dive aches. The property is the amalgam of two resorts - the former Ari Beach Resort and Dhidhoofinolhu Water Village.
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| One&Only at Reethi Rah / photo: hotel |
The focus on
the Maldives will swing inexorably southwards when the Shangri-La
Maldives Resort and Spa eventually opens on the newly developed, and
huge, island of Villingili, close to the new international airport
on Gan Island. In the meantime, pioneers can stay on Gan at the Equator Village created out of accommodation that
once served British Royal Air Force personnel.
The advantage of
staying there is that a causeway and new highway links the island
with others in the Addu Atoll group, so visitors can actually meet
other, smiling Maldivians as well as the hotel ever-friendly staff.
Finally, for the true Robinson Crusoe wannabe with pots of money, a little island on Faafu Atoll can be yours – all yours – for the night, for around US$10,000. Here the grandly-named Rania Experience Private Residence in The Maldives offers very upscale “barefoot living”, with unlimited fine dining, diving, yoga, fishing and spa treatments on demand, and no one around to gasp at how much money you’re spending. Also commandeer an 86ft yacht to do your bidding. The resort will only make one booking per night, but for the ultimate beach party, will accommodate up to 15 people.
There's no better time to plan your Maldives holiday. Prices are climbing again though off-season (during the summer monsoons) bargains can sometimes be had. Run through this Maldives resort review, pump some iron, pack strong sun-block and head for the airport.
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