Maldives for the first time – which island to choose
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Maldives for the first time – which island to choose
There are hundreds of resort islands in the Maldives. At first glance, they are all similar, but in fact they can differ significantly. Not only in size and capacity, but also in the quality of the house reef, the variety of entertainment, the concept, the prices. One of the leading exotic island booking websites is wiotto.com – shares secrets on how and which island to choose in the Maldives if you go there for the first time.
What to look for when choosing a hotel
The Maldives has a one island, one hotel rule. This means that there is nothing else on the island except the infrastructure of the resort. As a rule, these are villas (on the water or on the beach), restaurants and bars, a spa, a diving center, a gym, a kids club, less often a tennis court, a wine cellar, and more. There are no shops or pharmacies on such islands. This should be taken into account when planning a trip, since it can be about an hour by seaplane to the nearest large island where the local population lives. An average resort island measures 300m by 600m.
- Distance to the capital Male. Resorts can be reached in several ways: 1) Air (seaplane or local airlines) – for long distances (half an hour or two hours), costs from 600 to several thousand dollars. 2) By speed boat – from 10 to 40 minutes, cost – 100-600 dollars. For the first visit to the islands, it is better to choose a resort closer to Male, so that there is no long and tiring transfer. In addition, such a vacation will be somewhat cheaper. By the way, the wiotto directory has filters for the type of transfer. You can easily choose hotels with a transfer convenient for you.
- Hotel style. In the Maldives, there are resorts of different styles and directions. For example, hard Rock Hotel Maldives is a hotel in a modern design, villas and rooms are equipped with modern multimedia, smart home systems. In any place you can listen to rock, see the attributes of rock in the interior. We advise you, going for the first time to the Maldives, to opt for a traditional Maldivian hotel. These are villas on the beach or on the water with palm leaf roofs, light colors and many natural elements in the interior, restaurants and bars with live music and boduberu dancing, as well as a lot of vegetation and a lagoon around the island.
- House reef and lagoon. Choose hotels with a good house reef. Snorkeling is what millions of tourists come to the Maldives for. The underwater world here is incredible! And even if you have no experience, literally 10-15 minutes – the instructor will teach you how to snorkel. Not all islands have the same lush and lively house reef. For advice on choosing a hotel, you can contact the wiotto.com managers in an online chat or use the “House Reef” filter in the catalog.
- Nutrition. If you are flying to the Maldives for the first time, take the standard All package inclusive. As a rule, this is three meals a day with alcohol of your choice. If necessary, at any time you can visit the restaurants of the island. By choosing only breakfast, it will be much more expensive to eat in restaurants. If you are an active tourist and like a wide variety of food and alcohol, choose the Premium package All inclusive. It includes not only meals with drinks and alcohol, but also various snacks, cocktails, as well as excursions, various sports, spa sessions and more.
Which hotels to choose for the first time
Based on the recommendations above, we advise you to choose one of these hotels:
- Kurumba Maldives 5* is the first hotel in the Maldives. Here, like nowhere else, you can feel the atmosphere of the classic resort of the Maldives. The only thing is that there are no water villas on this island, they appeared in younger resorts. The rest of the hotel keeps the level of service on top.
- Bandos Maldives 4* is an ideal value for money hotel. There is a good selection of bars and restaurants, a nice lagoon, kids club, spa, diving center. In addition, people often come here to organize a wedding.
- Gili Lankanfushi Maldives 5* Deluxe – there are only water villas that the Maldives is so famous for. Wooden decks, light colors in wooden furniture, panoramic windows, canopies over the bed with snow-white linen. Here everything is traditional, and at the same time discreetly luxurious.
- Soneva Fushi 5* Deluxe is a hotel where celebrities like to stay. It is luxurious, comfortable, expensive and very tasty. This is a luxury classic Maldives. A very large selection of restaurants and bars, a variety of entertainment, a first-class kids club, and even has its own observatory.
Hotels from this article, as well as many other options, are in the Maldives catalog wiotto.com. We invite you to visit the site and get acquainted with the real Maldives, where you want to return again and again.