The Magic of the Maldives

Five years ago, my husband and I went to Maui for our honeymoon.  It was the epitome of the perfect vacation!  I did not want to go back home and I thought nothing could top it, that is until I felt the Magic of the Maldives.  I’ve always wanted to go to one of those resorts with the over water bungalows, so being over here in Qatar provided the perfect opportunity because of the location.  Since my husband and I did not spend our 5th year anniversary together in Italy as previously planned, the Maldives came up.  My sister agreed to come to Qatar and keep an eye on the boys while hubby and I took our trip.

My buddy Jennifer and I booked the trip together for our spouses.  She is a P.E. teacher here in Qatar, new like me, and her husband JD is here too.  She and I kind of bonded from the beginning and since our husbands are cool we thought why not.  She found this travel agency named OV holidays https://www.ovholidays.com/ that specialize in Maldives vacations. We paid for an all inclusive, 4 days, 3 night package.  It was expensive but we decided to splurge.  We flew a straight flight on Qatar Airways to Malè.  Once we arrived in Malè, we waited for a Sea plane to take us to the island in South Ari Atoll.

I already have a fear of flying so I was a bit nervous about this closed in, small plane.  But once we got going and I could see all the little islands beneath us in the beautiful Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, I felt at ease.  All the images I’d seen on t.v. of the beauty of the Maldives was true.  The water was so beautiful.  Hues of green, blue and turquoise spread out and were briefly broken up by tiny bodies of land.  It is hard to describe.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

 

After the Sea plane landed at a wharf in the ocean, a boat picked us up and took us to our resort.

I felt like we were traveling first class to the ends of the earth.  Once we arrived at Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa

(http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/centaragrand/cirm/)

they took our luggage and we were escorted to the reception area, where we received a brief introduction.

 

Jennifer and JD’s room was ready but ours was not, so we chilled in their room until ours was ready.  We were given villa 90, a deluxe, over-water bungalow, with an unobstructed view of the Indian Ocean.  We were told it is always the most requested deluxe bungalow and we could see why.  It was at the end of the pier and it was spectacular.

The bathroom was huge and we had an open view of the ocean from our jacuzzi. Our view from the bed and the back patio was indescribable. This was our favorite spot.

 

I think we spent more time here than anywhere else, listening to the crashing waves and watching the fish and turtles swim by and below us.

Contrary to what you may have heard there was so much to do in the Maldives, well at least at our resort there was.  You could swim in the infinity pool, shoot some rounds of pool (I have to add this, I killed my husband at pool, lol), snorkel, dive, kayak, ride a banana boat, etc… We even took a sunset fishing cruise.  We didn’t catch anything but it was still fun.

 

 

 

There were 3 restaurants on our resort.  Our favorite was the Thai restaurant.  Chef Wow is amazing and super nice.  The bartenders at the infinity pool are so cool too, ask for Mohan.

On our last night, Darryl and I slept under the stars on our patio.  It was like sleeping in a planetarium, dark sky, with shining diamonds.  There was a blood moon on this night and I wish I had bought our professional camera to capture it.  And as a red shooting star crept thru the night sky, I fell in love with this place at the end of the Earth.  I did not want to leave this Majestic place but it was time to say goodbye.

As we waited for our boat to take us to our seaplane and finally to the airport, I felt sad. We had listened to people tell us that 3 night is all you need in the Maldives.  We had listened to people tell us we would be bored after awhile.  We wished we had not listened and booked a longer stay.  The worse part of vacations is the end.

When we got back to Malè, we had a few hours to kill before boarding our plane, so we took a boat over to the mainland of Malè and did a brief walking tour.  We grabbed some food and took in some sights.

What more can I say about the Maldives?  I can’t think of any words that could do this place justice.  All I can say is, I believe in Magic, the Magic of the Maldives!