6 Days In Maldives (31st Dec 23 to 5th Jan 24)

In an effort to utilize my KrisFlyer miles, I explored countries where I could redeem them for a return flight. The chosen destination turned out to be the Maldives, and Jeremy secured his return flight for approximately SGD770. Our intention was to enjoy a blend of opulence in a renowned private resort at an affordable rate while also experiencing city living.

Jeremy diligently checked Agoda in the week leading up to our Maldives trip, as we had read online about potential last-minute price drops for hotel rooms. Although there were no such drops, Jeremy wisely made reservations for rooms that allowed last-minute cancellations whenever he spotted a good deal. Ultimately, we booked most of our trip at Meeru Island Resorts through Agoda. For the initial two days in Male City, we utilized the Hathaa Beach Hotel, booking directly through their WhatsApp number found on Facebook for a more cost-effective option. Direct communication provided assurance that our airport transfer would be well-managed.

If staying connected is essential for you, consider obtaining a SIM card, as the Wi-Fi connectivity in private resorts may be unreliable in specific areas. I opted for an eSIM from Airalo, priced at USD50 for 30GB of data. Local telecom providers do not have open shops at the airport during the night, but they offer a vending machine for obtaining a “free” SIM card. I use quotation marks around “free” because it technically involves purchasing data online as an add-on to the SIM card. The local SIM card is available for USD50 with 100GB of data. In conclusion, if immediate connectivity is crucial, go for Airalo; otherwise, if you can wait until reaching your hotel for internet access, opt for the local SIM card.

Day 1

The flight to Maldives from Singapore is about 4.5 hours and we took the 8.40PM flight. We arrived in Maldives at about 10PM local time. Since we arrived so late, there was really nothing much to do. Even though it was new year’s eve, all the supposed celebrations in the city was cancelled because of the perpetual rain. Our hotel sent 2 staff to come and pick us from the airport to the hotel. We chose a beach-facing room at Hulhumale. It was a small room with slightly damp bedsheets but that could be because it has been raining for days before we arrived. The walls were thin and we could hear the activities of those on the first level. There was also a lot of big ants but we couldn’t find the source of these ants. Jeremy and I are not fussy and the main thing for us when choosing hotel rooms is cleanliness. We wouldn’t want our beds to be infested with bugs and what not. This hotel pass the mark for cleanliness and it was enough for us. Our room also comes with an attached balcony where people can sit and face the sea, just relaxing.

Hathaa Beach Hotel cost us USD135 per night inclusive of breakfast. Hathaa Beach Hotel is located at where all the other hotels are in Hulhumale and hence do not be surprised if you see most of the other hotels listed on Agoda there as well. There are all along the same stretch of road, facing the sea. The reason why we chose to stay at Hulhumale instead of Male City itself is because we read online that Hulhumale is newer and supposedly cleaner. It is also less congested compared to Male City. I am glad we chose the right place to stay as what we saw when we visited the city the next day wasn’t exactly great. For your information, Hulhumale is actually reclaimed land, just like Singapore’s Boat Quay and East Coast.

In Maldives, you can pay for your purchases in either USD or Maldivian Rufiyaa. Take note that some restaurants only accept their local currency.

Day 2

Breakfast was 2 sausages, 1 omelette and slices of bread with jam and butter. Coffee or tea would also be served. After breakfast, the hotel staff called for us a taxi to bring us to Male City. It was 85 Rufiyaa. We were told that there really isn’t much to explore in the city and that we will be done exploring in 2 hours. 

The taxi driver dropped us at the fish market where we saw locals fishing to make a living and saw the fishes that they caught. The fishes were super big and there were many tunas. There are also a team of people there skinning the fish that has been purchased. Thereafter, we walked to the Sultan Park while passing by the Republic Square. The park was a normal park with swings and playgrounds. Be careful of mosquitoes though. As it was a public holiday, many shops were not opened. Even the national museum was closed. We then visited the Hukuru Miskiy Mosque before heading back to Hulhumale via a ferry. In the past, everyone has to travel between Male City, the airport and Hulhumale via ferries. The building of the bridge that connected all three places is funded by the Chinese and has made transport a lot easier.

We finished exploring the city in just about 2-3 hours. After going back to Hulhumale, we found a lunch place to eat and then went back to our hotel. Male City is not really that clean a city and is pretty crowded. So if you are tight for time, you can consider to skip this whole part and just head for the private resorts to remember the nicer side of Maldives. There really isn’t much to do and food options are limited mainly because most of them are newly opened restaurants in Hulhumale. Food is pretty pricey too. 

Day 3 to 5

The private resorts will liaise with the hotels in Hulhumale and Male City with regards to the timing to pick their guests up from the airport. Our ferry to Meeru island was 9am. The staff from Hathaa Beach was nice to arrange for us an earlier breakfast before sending us to the airport. Hathaa Beach hotel had really courteous staff who were mostly from Bangladesh and India. Apparently the locals mostly work in the private resorts because the resorts has a quota to meet to hire locals.

We were being transported to Meeru island in a private ferry which looked super luxurious with all its leather seats and what not.

Upon arriving on the island, it was like another world. It was super tranquil, the sea water was so blue and clear and the staff was so helpful and smiley. You can literally see the fishes in the water. Jeremy and I had decided to go for the overwater villa with a jacuzzi and on the all-inclusive package (AIP). The AIP includes free flow of snacks and selected alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. We are also entitled to buffet breakfast once a day and buffet or a 3 course meal for lunch and dinner once per day. The room with the all-inclusive package is SGD3,741 for 3 nights inclusive of two way airport transfer. 

Each family/ guests were greeted by one staff and the staff briefed us on certain rules the island had as well as on the different types of entitlement our package comes with. Our luggages were taken care of by the porters and we didn’t have to worry a single bit because by the time we arrived at the doorstep of our overwater villa, the luggages were already there. The island has a lot of facilities as stated below: 

• Dhoni Bar which serves snacks and drinks till 11PM 
• Kids Playroom which has small slides for children
• Dive Centre
• Spa (they have two centres)
• Sports and Fitness Centre
• Tennis Courts
• Golf Course including the Driving Range
• Badminton Court
• Asian Wok Restaurant which you can claim your 3 course meal if you’re on the AIP
• Water Sports Centre
• Mosque
• Library
• Tailor Shop
• Gift Shop
• Farivalhu Restaurant where all three buffet meals will be served
• Kakuni Bar which serves drinks 
• Two Pools
• Vilu Restaurant which you can claim your 3 course meal if you’re on the AIP
• Amare Restaurant which you can claim your 3 course meal if you’re on the AIP
• Staff Quarters with their own pool and fitness corner (how they treat their staff so well serves as an inspiration for me to treat my staff even better as a SME boss)

The overwater villa was totally worth it because you get to see a lot of sea creatures. There were multiple black and white tip reef sharks that swam near our water villa in the day and especially at night. It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience to wake up in a house stationed in the clear blue Indian Ocean.

Do download the Meeru Island Resort app because you will need it to book for the ala carte meals included in the package as well as for the sunset cruise included in the package.

We booked for the cruise on the first day of arrival because we were worried about how the weather would be for the next few days. The cruise was amazing and even though we did not see the full sunset due to cloud cover, we did see pods of dolphins swimming in the big ocean. The staff on the cruise made sounds and claps to try to attract the dolphins to swim nearer to us and we did managed to take decent videos of the cute dolphins. I think these dolphins were even closer to us than the whales we saw in Perth during the Whale Watching excursion. After the cruise, we went back to Meeru island to have our 3 course dinner at Vilu Restaurant. We had try to walk in to see if they would allow us to dine there with our AIP since we failed to book a space through the phone app. Thankfully, the staffs accommodated and allowed us to dine there. We ordered the fish soup and octopus salad for appetiser and had beef and duck confit for our main courses. Dessert was creme brûlée and some cream puff. The best dishes to me would either be the soup or the octopus salad. 

As you can see in the images below, those items with an asterisk are included in the AIP and would require no further payment. Over the course of 4 days, we tried to make full use of the AIP by ordering at least 5 drinks a day. My personal favourite is Pearly Bay which is a white wine from Africa. We also tried to order as many snacks as our stomachs could take and my personal favourite is the Guacamole Power Bowl that can be ordered only at Dhoni Bar.

On the second day, we took a boat to go out into the sea to the island’s home reef where there is supposedly many fishes. The weather wasn’t kind to us and started to pour torrentially. We wore our life jackets and jumped into the sea nonetheless. As it was my first time using flippers, I did not know how to use them and found them to be heavy and redundant. I don’t know if it’s because the waves were too big with the heavy rain or that I wasn’t used to using the snorkelling equipment but I started swallowing gulps of sea water. I thought I was going to drown and hence headed for the stairs to go up onto the boat again. My point is, listen to your own body and if you feel something amiss, please do not continue to do what you’re doing. There have been accidents related to snorkelling that caused death. 

I removed my flippers and decided to swim without shoes. It was a lot better for me and although I thought the water would be ice cold, it didn’t felt that way maybe because I was too excited to see the fishes in the sea. We got to see and swim with many different types of fishes in the ocean and it was an amazing experience to see the fishes up-close without enclosure. I would think that everyone should try this at least once.

The whole snorkelling trip lasted about 90 minutes including the return boat trip. Once we were back, we took a buggy to Amare to have lunch. Amare is Italian cuisine. I ordered salad with burrata and tomatoes while Jeremy had soup for appetiser. Jeremy ordered beef while I ordered reef fish for our main courses. We both ordered tiramisu for dessert.  

Jeremy mentioned that he was unwell but I wasn’t sure to what extent this feeling of unease was till he started to induce vomiting on his own back at our water villa. He kept saying that he is puking tomatoes from lunch. Out of desperation, Jeremy visited the only doctor on the island which cost about USD100++. Consultation fees itself was already USD50 (thankfully we bought travel insurance from FWD that allowed us to claim for these accidents). Jeremy was diagnosed with viral diarrhoea. My very loving husband still tried his best to accompany me through the night as that particular night was clubbing night. The resort invited a DJ to the island to spin some good music in an effort to attract more people to the island. He even had two Tequila shots with me!

The next day, we went out on the reef house excursion to snorkel again but this time round, it was all sunny and clear skies. The boat stopped at a different area and we snorkelled for about 45 minutes. There were a lot lesses fishes this time round somehow. When we reached back ashore, my dearest husband was feeling horrible once again and hence we rested for quite a bit before we kayaked (kayak is included in the AIP) and ate light lunch. 

Thereafter, we took a buggy to the sunset overwater villas area to snorkel. It was there that we saw really big fishes. There was one species in particular that was so big that we were petrified to even go near it. After snorkelling, I went for yoga by the beach which is also in the AIP while the husband went back to rest.

We ate dinner at Farivalhu Restaurant and it was Middle Eastern night and hence they served octopus which was really worth it since octopus are so expensive in Singapore. 

Time flies when we are having fun and the very next day we had to check out at 12 PM. The porters are very punctual and they would ring you at 11.50 AM to ask if your luggages are ready. The good thing of the AIP is that your perks apply till you leave the island even after checking out. This means you get free flow of drinks and food until you leave this wonderful island! So if you’re thinking of maximising your stay, I suggest you come early in the morning, and arrange for a late flight back home. In a way, we got the benefits of AIP for an additional day. 

We went snorkelling again after checking out before grabbing some food, playing some golf, grabbing some food again and then waiting for time to pass. We took the last ferry out of this island at 7 PM. 

All in all, I am very thankful for this trip but I would probably not come back again because I think the activities done here can be done in other countries at a lower price.