We took a direct flight to the capital city of Malé in just under 5 hours. We then hopped a smooth 25 minute seaplane flight at sunset to the island resort of Vilamendhoo in the South Ari Atoll.
Committing to a vacation in the Maldives generally means that you are more than happy to sit by the beach or pool with little more than a book and a view to entertain you. Research a few hotels online and you’ll often see the phrase “no shoes, no news” – a vacation philosophy that defines the chill, laid back island life. If you need a packed itinerary with tons of activities this might not be the destination for you. I generally need a full schedule on vacation, but at Vilamendhoo I found a great variety of activities with a healthy dose of relaxation. They offer daily excursions (island hopping, snorkeling, “Robinson Crusoe” picnics), spa services and nightly entertainment. To our surprise and delight, upon check-in we were upgraded to a Jacuzzi water villa. The resort opened in Dec. 2010 and the water villa still had that new wood smell with a spacious, well-designed interior. The villa had a half open bathroom that opened onto the Jacuzzi sun deck and at the opposite end of the villa was a waterfront deck. The waterfront deck had night lighting for the water below and we spent many a night watching fish, reef sharks and cuttlefish swim by. Every room comes with a full board package (3 meals/day sans drinks) with the option to upgrade to all inclusive. Every meal featured at least one live cooking station and lunch/dinner featured a variety of soup, salads, mains, sides and desserts. Needless to say, we did not leave a single meal hungry and always founds something we liked.
We wanted the flexibility of great snorkeling whenever we felt like it and Vilamendhoo’s house reef fit the bill. The snorkeling around the island was outrageous. The reef shelf had colorful coral of all shapes and sizes, spread out as far as the eye could see across and down. Fish were everywhere, from large schools of tiny fish glittering in the sunlight to larger rainbow colored fish nibbling on the coral. There were several entry/exit points (indicated on maps around the island) which made getting in or out of the reef quite easy without the fear of knocking or stepping into coral. A perk of the Jacuzzi water villa was also the ability to step straight into the water from your villa deck. We also went on two excursions during our stay - a manta ray/turtle excursion and a whale shark excursion. We're happy to report that we saw everything we paid for! Part of the excitement of the excursions is the hunt. On short notice you’ll hear the boat crew cry “manta manta manta” and that’s your signal to jump out of the boat with your eyes peeled. Two tips for a Maldives vacation…
When snorkeling with your back to the sun for hours on end it’s smart to bring a “rash guard” – a shirt made of swimsuit-like material with built in sunscreen. With our long-sleeve rash guards we arrived back in Doha burn-free, save for a mask burn on our foreheads. - Consider investing in a waterproof camera. You can purchase an encasement for your digital camera, buy a budget waterproof camera or opt for a disposable waterproof camera. I found that the budget waterproof camera we purchased in the US for around $35 was a good fit for us as it allowed for more pictures than a disposable as well as video capture.
My full review of the hotel is over at TripAdvisor.
You can check out all of our photos over on Facebook - in the water and out of the water.
Our snorkeling videos are over on YouTube.
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