My husband and I never had a honeymoon even though a Maldives honeymoon would have blown me away! We were two, very broke, very young, almost teenagers when we were married. All of our funds went towards paying immigration fees and diapers, because you know we had babies to take care of.
We only had an actual wedding because of generous family members who wanted to give us something special even if they were a little skeptical of the whole arrangement. But, you know what. It never bothered me. I never was a bridezilla. I really didn’t care that much about a fancy dress – I just wanted something to make me feel pretty. I wanted people to have a good time. I wanted to have a night I would remember. But most of all, I just wanted to marry the most amazing man I’d ever met. Period.
Fast forward a decade + some years and I mention the Maldives to him in my very rapid pleasedontsayno ” voice; as in “would you want to go to the Maldives, it’s one of the only dream destinations left on my dream list and I think I can make this happen…”
Silence.
“Of course I want to go to the Maldives,” was his answer. Me: good because I already booked the tickets. I’m not ashamedthat’s the point we’re at in this relationship. Just in case you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, this is the Maldives.
Swoon. There are a lot of Maldives resorts to choose from.There are 1,200 islands that make up the Maldives but only 200 are inhabited. Of those, many are private resorts. You can reach some of the resorts by speedboat from Ibrahim Naser International airport, the Maldives main airport located in Male (also the capital). While others you need to reach via seaplane.
We stayed at two different resorts; Centara Ras Fushi and Centara Grand, located on different islands. Our introduction to the Maldives was at Ras Fushi, an adults-only resort, and what an introduction it was.
I’m not really a resort person, well at least I didn’t think I was. Ras Fushi is on its own island with iconic overwater villas. There also are on the water villas if you’re trying to save a little money. Let’s just say I think it’s worth the splurge for the overwater villas!
When you book here, almost everything is included. There are three levels you can choose from; gold all-inclusive, all-inclusive, and half board plus. If you’d rather not worry about any extra charges go with the gold plan; it includes most all food, all drinks (including alcohol if you drink), a 30-minute spa service each day and unlimited use of several water sports, and/or scuba dives as an alternative to the spa sessions.
The all-inclusive package has a few less offers but is still very good and the half-board plus has the fewest included options. You should consider when booking you likely won’t be leaving the island so any meals that aren’t included you’ll need to purchase from the restaurants on the island.
All of the overwater villas have walk down decks that go straight into the ocean. Snorkel equipment is free to use, you will just need to show the staff you can swim and it’s yours to keep for the length of your stay. I have a phobia of open water especially when the water is dark.
This was not a problem here because the water is crystal clear. My first trip into the water was met with a little panic but throughout the week I kept at it. You can see in the video that there is a light area and dark area in the water. The dark area is where the shelf ends. The resort and island are surrounded by coral reefs and the water is pretty shallow but once you hit the edge it’s an open ocean with a huge drop off.
You know that scene in Finding Nemo where the little fish make it to the drop-off and their jaws drop? I had that moment. My heart started racing and my throat was closing. While it was insanely amazing to see, I immediately turned tail and swam under the rope while trying to stave off a complete panic attack. I swam all the way back to the villa before MarocBaba could catch me or ask what was wrong. I really needed to chill out after this so we ordered two mocktails from the bar and lay on the deck instead!
We enjoyed a wonderful sunset dinner and multiple meals throughout our stay. Our favorite was the Thai restaurant where we ate a delicious dinner. There’s also a buffet restaurant that is open for all meals, and is where breakfast is served. We also tried the Arabic restaurant. After eating in every one of the restaurants our verdict was for Suan Ban especially the Tom Yum Goong soup that both of us are wishing we had a huge bowl of right now!
A relaxing trip for me needs to include spa time and specifically massages. The good news is at Centara there is an excellent spa. We both had an Indian head massage one day and the Maldivian Signature massage another day. Oh. My. Goodness. We were both so relaxed after each one of the treatments that it really took an effort to walk back to our villa. I was especially fond of the Maldivian signature massage and highly recommend you do this if you do only one special thing.
On our last night here we discovered the Viu bar and the amazing back area for watching the sunset. This space is stunning at sunset. We were there a little early and snagged one of the catamaran nets with pillows to layback and watch the sun go down. It doesn’t get much more romantic than that!
