The Maldives.
One of those few places in the world that almost everyone seems to desire to visit. When people hear ‘Maldives’, the brain swiftly conjures images of bright cerulean water as transparent as glass, endless opportunities to snorkel and dive amongst some of the most varied and vivid marine life on the planet, luxury overwater villas and skies as blue as aquamarine.
Yes, the Maldives is certainly the type of place that is inspirational, unforgettable and for those lucky enough to visit – the trip of a lifetime.
Before I decided to visit the Maldives, it seemed like an unreachable destination. I thought flights would be incredibly expensive and infrequent, that beautiful accommodation would be accessible only for the wealthy and that it would remain a dream of a destination and nothing more.
I could not have been more wrong.
Flights to the international Ibrahim Nasir airport on the island of Hulhulé (near the capital of Male) are actually pretty abundant. If you can first get yourself to one of the following major airport hubs, then the Maldives are definitely accessible.
There are regular flights to Male from Abu Dhabi, Bangalore, Bangkok, Colombo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and several others. I flew with Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur and managed to score return flights for around $100 AUD (approx $75 USD).
Once landing in Male, you have several options.
You could catch the fast 3 minute ferry to mainland Male for just a few dollars and spend time exploring the most densely populated city on the planet.
If you are heading to the Maldives to spend your days soaking up some magnificent island beauty like what you have seen in photographs, then more than likely, you will be looking to head to a resort island.
There are hundreds of different resort islands in the Maldives, all catering to different markets and clientele, ensuring there is a Maldivian experience suitable for everyone. During my time in the Maldives I stayed in two different resorts, one catering to those wanting extreme luxury and one catering to those who want to experience the beauty of the Maldives, but are a bit more limited by budget. I will go into more detail regarding these resort islands in future posts.
If you land into Male early in the day, you may be able to transfer from your international flight to a domestic charter seaplane on the same day. If you arrive later in the evening as I did, you will need to bunk on the airport adjacent Hulhumalé island for the night. Seaplanes are an incredible way of getting around, but are only able to fly during the daytime for obvious safety reasons.
So after landing in Male and meeting up with my friend and fellow travel blogger – Kate from ‘Travel For The Soul‘ – it was time to bunk for the night. There are several hotels on Hulhumalé island catering to the many travellers who need a place to sleep for a night and most will provide airport transfers to and from the hotel.
Hulhumalé is an artificially created island created to deal with continued industrial and commercial development of the area. It is connected to Hulhulé and only about a 10-15 minute drive away. There isn’t a whole lot of note to see on this tiny island, but it is still fun to explore for a little while, if only because of the amazingly vibrant colours.
There is an island beach too, but it has been subject to a bit of littering and is nowhere near as gorgeous as the Maldivian beaches I will show to you in future posts. Nevertheless, it was nice to dip my toes in and get some relief from the blistering heat!
Organising seaplane transfers is actually a bit of a cinch – your chosen resort will do it for you! However, as the seaplanes have no set schedule and are run based on demand, there is no way to have a departure time set in stone until the evening before departure. It means that your resort will get in contact with you and tell you what time your transfer is sometime after 6pm Male time the day before said transfer. While that may sound odd, these transfers happen so often that everyone has it down to a fine art.
We arrived back at Male airport after exploring a little bit of Hulhumalé and were greeted by a representative of our first island destination – Maalifushi by COMO.
Most seaplane transfers are run by Trans Maldivian Airways, but flights to and from Maalifushi are some of the few run by the airline Maldivian.
After being greeted by our resort rep, we settled into a lovely air conditioned lounge to gorge on the free food and wait until it was time to board.
Boarding seaplanes is a pretty damn amazing experience! These transfers cost between $300-$400 USD return, and while this is a pretty expensive way to travel, it was well worth it. It is not every day that your plane plummets towards water without inducing panic!
Unfortunately the windows of this particular plane could have used a good scrub, so I couldn’t get any absolutely incredible pictures – but it was still a pretty glorious sight to behold.
After a pleasant 50 minute flight south west of Male, the amazing Maalifushi came into view.
We carefully stepped out onto a pontoon in the ocean and swiftly transferred to a boat for the final leg of the journey to Maalifushi.
We had finally arrived to the most luxurious place I have ever experienced! But I’ll reveal more about that in the next post…
T H E L O W D O W N
Getting to Male: There are many different routes flying into Male, flights with Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur are some of the cheapest
Maldivian: This is one of two seaplane companies flying to destinations in the Maldives
Maalifushi by COMO: One of the most luxurious resorts in all of the Maldives, stay tuned to the next post for more details
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M1 with 12-40mm M.Zuiko Pro Lens
Remember: Earplugs – the seaplane engines are LOUD! Also, the Maldives are an Islamic country – if you are venturing outside of the airport or a resort and are a female, remember to be respectful, cover your legs and arms and adhere to the Maldivian standard of dress
Don’t forget to add me on Snapchat and Instagram – @wwellend – for more foolishness and travel adventures!
How gorgeous!
Thank you! 🙂
Oh good Lord!! The water!! And the beaches and the views and the…. I am gonna make myself fit in your suitcase!! ❤️😍👍🏻
Hahaha what suitcase? I only take my 7kg carry on luggage these days! You are more than welcome to try though haha
So beautiful I love your pics and how you explained how accessible it is to get there 😀😀😀
Thank you very much 🙂 glad you enjoyed! Please do stay tuned for more Maldives adventures!
Your adventures are the best keep them coming 😀😀
Thanks Jennifer! Glad to hear you are enjoying 🙂 I certainly will do – there’s a new post up now 🙂
This looks to be a very interesting and beautiful country. (You have a knack for finding these). I look forward to the various island paradises you surely have found in Maldives.
I look forward to sharing them 🙂 new post is up now!
Wow. Just wow. 😍
Hahaha glad you enjoyed 🙂
Beautiful pictures! Please take a look at my blog https://magicwandsandunicorns.com/2016/05/10/pout-ready/
On my bucket list. Thanks for the detailed information.
Glad you enjoyed – please do follow along for more posts about the Maldives 🙂
Definitely putting this on the list for honeymoon options, the Maldives look gorgeous!!
Definitely the perfect place for a honeymoon! Such a stunningly gorgeous place!
What a fantastic post. Brought back loads of wonderful memories of our honeymoon in the Maldives 23 years ago. We arrived late at night and were transferred to our resort by traditional Dhoni. It was an amazing start to an awesome honeymoon. Can’t wait for more of your posts. ♥
Wow that does sound absolutely amazing! Do you have any pictures of that honeymoon?
Absolutely but they’re not great quality. I wrote a post about it a while ago, you can read it here if you like
https://outanabout.com/2016/02/18/maldavian-memories-love-is-in-da-blog/
Like I said, not great photos in the blog, at the time we were more interested in enjoying our newly married idyllic life then taking photos! Cheers 🙂
I will check it out now!
I also wrote an article about my honeymoon which was published in Let’s Travel (a New Zealand magazine). It’s on my Published Work page if you’re interested. Cheers.
I will definitely check it out!
Nice blog. ..felt like i m advisor traveling while reading
Thank you 🙂
Welcome
Wow amazing pics and for sure an amazing experience!! I’m quite jealous right now 😀 but thanks a lot for sharing! 🙂
https://fromdreamtoplan.wordpress.com/
Hopefully one day you can go yourself and then I will be jealous ha
I hadn’t even heard of the Maldives until February or so, not sure how they stayed off my radar. They kept coming up in different ESL texts I was doing with students, and after reading this post and seeing your photos, I understand why they keep talking about it. It looks amazing.
Wow – now you will see them everywhere haha! Hopefully you can see them in life one day soon 🙂
I’ve learnt a new word today. Cerulean. Never heard that before, for something with such a precise and obvious definition. Thanks, I shall add it to my list.
My pleasure – it is a pretty wonderful word!
I’m very happy to uncover this great site. I need to to thank you for ones time due to this fantastic read!! I definitely liked every part of it and i also have you book marked to look at new information in your web site.
Another great traveling event. Thanks for bringing us along.
As always, it is my pleasure! I look forward to bringing you along on many more!
Thanks for the info, I am keeping this bookmarked. Looks like a fun place to wind down.
I am happy it is useful! It really is an amazing wind down place!
Wow, look at the color of that water!
I know right?! Just incredible!
Do we all have a gene for sighing when we hear of the Maldives?
Hahaha I think we may!
Ah, looks absolutely amazing! Love your blog, so beautiful.
Thank you so much Karen – I love getting feedback like this 🙂 I hope to see you tagging along to more of my travels
I absolutely will!
I wouldn’t believe it too about getting a cheap flight to Maldives. But know that you said it…
Air Asia! Dirt cheap flights are not that hard to come by… 🙂
Can’t wait to read more.
New post up now 😉
You have some great info on Hulhumalé (airport island) and the seaplanes!! I lived in Maldives all last year and getting around can be quite tricky.. it’s not as easy to island hop as one might imagine! Can’t agree more about giving thought to your landing time – whether to stay at Hulhumalé overnight or take a seaplane during the day time. Some resorts closer to Male’ offer free speed boat transfers too, however some resorts may charge up to US$200 for a quick 30 minute ride! I have written a guidebook ‘The Maldives On Any Budget’ if you were interested. Anyways lovely to connect and absolutely love your awesome Maldives posts! Keep them coming!
http://youtheworldwandering.com
Oh I will definitely check that out! And yes will do – have many many more posts to come 🙂
I just pulled up this location on GoogleEarth. How amazing it looks! Your photos were great.
Thank you heaps! Glad to hear people are enjoying them 🙂
Wow! It looks like a great, love the pictures
Thank you so much for reading – glad you enjoyed 🙂
WOW! The color of the water is amazing. Jessy
I know right?! I had never seen anything quite like it before!
Great stuff, and lovely pics! would love to travel to such places. Thanks for sharing
Oh my god! These pictures are beautiful! What a wonderful place to visit!
Thanky you so much! The Maldives really are about 10 different kinds of stunning!