The Maldives with Fiona Falkiner

The Maldives. It’s a destination on the bucket list of any seasoned wanderlust traveller.

Flying over the atolls that make up the tiny nation in the Indian Ocean is a real treat – expect to see islands ringed with white sand sitting in pools that are every shade of blue.

To be honest, The Maldives is a place I’d thought I would venture to for a honeymoon but, this year when a mate asked me to join them on a last-minute trip there, I’d be damned if I’d give up a visit to paradise just because a certain finger remains uncovered.

Without doing our research and both being beginner surfers, we made a slight error at our first stop of Hudhuran Fushi because you needed to be a very experienced surfer to surf at that hotel.

Thankfully, for those of us who can’t throw a cutback like Carissa Moore, there are plenty of activities that you can do while you explore the island.

Since surfing was out at our first stop, we decided to get comfortable and headed straight across to the bar overlooking the reef break – yep, we would not be surfing that. It was a cracking view though, and watching others get barrelled while taking in the sunset, cocktail in hand, was good enough for me.

While there we threw ourselves into the other activities on offer. We did a snorkelling boat trip and, because we were lucky and got a clear day on the water with good visibility, we saw a huge sea turtle; the locals said this was the first one they’d seen in weeks. We took this as a good omen and a day later left for our next island destination.

We made our way back to Male via boat then a seaplane transfer to the next resort – Como Maalifushi. This was my first time in a seaplane. My hot tip is to get a window seat, as the view of the atolls is truly spectacular once you get over the noise of the engine.

While the next island was as glorious as the last, we had a plunge pool in our room and a little private path straight to the beach, so that made it very difficult for me to leave our little private hideaway.

Eventually I made it out to explore and this resort had everything we wanted. Needing to get in our water sport fix, we booked in to stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and snorkelling. We were ready to go, but the weather turned and it wasn’t great surfing conditions.

 

We were determined to make the most of it though and over the next couple of days, despite the rain and wind, the humidity was through the roof and we did as many of the activities as we could.

I also am never one to resist a little indulgence, so I booked into the spa for a massage. With a view of the sea, I’m not at all being ridiculous when I say it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL massage room I’ve ever been into in my life.

 

This particular resort has another island that is uninhabited quite close by and at low tide you can actually walk across to it as the sun is setting. It is truly an incredible experience.

Como Maalifushi also offered morning yoga classes, which made every morning a pleasure.

So if you’re visiting the Maldives, for a honeymoon or otherwise, take the time to double check the activities you’re into and what kind of level of experience you’ll need. Also, being a tropical oasis, be sure to double check the time of year you’re going. We went early October when it can still be rainy and overcast, next time I would try to go a little later and get a lot more uninterrupted sun.

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