Maldives in November

Soldato
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Booked some reward flights to Maldives in November. I know nothing about the place (although I'm going to start reading up) so I'm going to be looking for somewhere to stay and things to do.

Any first hand recommendations for nice 'all inclusive' type place that's not too far from the airport? We are going without kids so can only really spend a week there so don't want travel to be too excessive (I read some places are quite far away and most are by boat)

I read it can be a bit rainy as it's the end of the rainy season, any first hand views on the weather at that time of year?
 
We went to Atmosphere Kanifushi for a few days at the end of November 2023. It was great, including their all inclusive offering.
Most of the resorts are not by boat but by sea plane transfer. Kanifushi was about 30 mins from Male. They're really well set up for the sea plane transfers and ours was included in our package. Wouldn't worry about being close to the airport.

"Rainy" is an understatement. When it rained it deluged. That said, there was plenty of beautiful, sunny weather mixed in with the rain - enough that we had a great time. I wouldn't choose to go in November again ideally, but if there were good reasons for that timing I'd probably do it.
 
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I went in November this year. Yeah, the sea planes are the way to go. The boat transfers go further south than the sea planes and to some of the nearer islands but sea planes make loads of islands 30/45 mins from the airport. And they're fun.

We got a bit of rain most days but that's okay. It's still warm and it only rained for 20mins max at a time. We went in the sea or sat in a bar. No bother. The clouds are welcome, it's really hot from 10am-4pm if the sky is clear. We often went for breakfast and then went back to the room for some aircon until lunch, the afternoons being more cloudy whilst we were there.
 
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Note on sea plane transfers. They only fly during daylight hrs. So depending on your resort and the time that your international flights arrive/depart, you may have to spend a night on Male itself either when you arrive or depart, or potentially both. For a week , you don't want to be spending 2 days of it on Male.

Some hotels charge $700 return per person. I stay in one a few years ago (conrad) which was around $500 as I recall.

Some resorts are much closer, and you can transfer by boat/speedboat.
 
We went early dec 2023 sharp showers but mainly hot and sunny.
I would look at boat transfers as quay is just outside airport.So straight on to boat once you have your bags.
Been on speedboat half hour transfer which was special and hour and half transfer on a dhoni which are just put puts.
The water plane transfers can be delayed due to the weather.
The Islands and Snorkling are outstanding .
We went to villa park last year but had to get an internal flight ,not seaplane, after landing at Male, which was a bit of a pain. But the island was great once getting there.
The drinks are expensive once there so if you like a drink look at all inclusive.
 
Male is a dump. Like a big logistics hub to serve the atols - manage your expectations accordingly :D

Yeah its like a square mile of a manky highrise beamed into the middle of the sea.

@lookitsjonno you want to look at each island when you have an idea what you want.
Having visited 2 islands, first was pretty undeveloped so you could walk in a straight line (bar the odd residence) from one side of the island to the other.
The second was one of the much older tourist ones, it was all marked out with paths and gardens in between to keep you on the paths etc.

Very very different feel between them. So think if you want more of a classic island shipwrecked feel or a more westernised managed vacation.
 
I recommend getting in touch with one of the specialist Maldives travel agents like Simply Maldives or Purely Maldives. If you let them know what you're after and your budget they'll come up with some options. IME they're competitively priced as well.
 
Completely agree with above re. Male not being very touristy. We honeymooned on Kuredu Island about 20 years ago, so can confirm that you really need to transfer to one of the resorts.
 
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Male is a dump. Like a big logistics hub to serve the atols - manage your expectations accordingly :D
Yeah not expecting too much. Currently in the southernmost point of Western Australia so will make our way to Perth in the morning, fly to Singapore at 1pm so by the time we get there it’s too late for a transfer. We get into Male at 22:15 local time
 
If you end up with a boat transfer, make sure your hat and sun cream are readily available. When I went the boat had hardly any interior space so we all sat outside. There were 6 of us and the other 2 couples got sunburned, one person quite badly. Not a good start to their holiday. We did have a really long transfer though
 
You aren't allowed to bring alcohol on a flight into Male (in case anyone was considering mitigating the high cost of alcohol there).
 
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