FINDING MAGIC IN THE MALDIVES
The Maldives is definitely one of those buckletlist dream destinations, and its true for us, it was on our bucket list! We were invited by the Tourism Board of the Maldives & Maldives TV to spend 10 days on the island to experience the beautiful resorts that make up Maldives. We were very honored to be part of the World Travel Writers Conference to meet other amazing travel writers and share our experiences and of course, learn from everyone in the industry.
To get to the Maldives, we flew in from The Philippines via Qatar Airways with a stopover in Qatar. It was a total of almost 24 hours travel but it was definitely worth the hours once we stepped on the island. We stayed first at the Adaaran Hudhuranfushi Resort which was beyond breathtaking and spent the next 4 days in their villas. Once we stepped on the island, we were greeted with the friendliest faces, fruits, and of course, the welcome drinks! We spent the next 3 days snorkeling, lathering up our coconut oil and exploring the island.
After spending an amazing 4 nights at Adaraan Hudhuransufhi, we made our way to Adaraan Rinnalhi, about a one hour trip from the previous island to Male, and from Male, a 15 minute boat ride. We arrived in the evening after spending time with the Tourism Board. We were greeted with fresh faces as we arrived at about 12am, and we were brought to our rooms to rest. We started a fresh new day exploring the island and the amazing water bungalows that surrounded the island and as well as an intro diving class where we got to see the amazing sea life in the Maldives, it was such a refreshing experience!
On our 2nd day on the island, we decided to visit one of the local islands nearby called Maafushi. It really made us curious how life was apart from the amazing resorts in the Maldives. Our trip from the resort was about one hour and a half to get to Maafushi.
Maafushi is one of the local islands around the Maldives. The island has many affordable hotels/hostels and if you want to visit Maldives on a budget (its definitely possible for everyone). You can tour the island for about 30 minutes by foot. When visiting the local islands, you must always remember to cover up as respect to the locals who live there. If you'd like to go to the beach, theres a small area where foreigners can wear their bikinis, but when roaming the island, women must cover their legs and arms. It was such a refreshing experience to see many affordable options in the Maldives, especially because many of the resorts cost a lot so its still possible for anyone to visit Maldives on a budget.
Maafushi is just one of the many local islands in the Maldives, and we decided to visit this island because its the closest to where our resort was. Many of the resort employees also informed us that they always visit Maafushi because that's where they go shopping. On our way back, we were greeted with the most unexpected visitors: DOLPHINS! They swam beside our boat and it was the most magical experience.
Our last resort was Bandos Maldives, they were kind enough to welcome us back and experience their wonderful beach bungalows and activities. We stayed here with our friends Trisha and Omri and had the best time trying out all their water sports and of course taking tons of photos. andos was so relaxing and it's an island 15 minutes out from the main town, Male. It was so hard to leave the water hammocks, beach villas and the amazing view. We spent another 3 amazing nights here at Bandos and we were so surprised to see many Filipinos who work here, so it made our stay extra special. It was such a special trip to be able to experience one of our dream destinations and we are so incredible thankful to be able to cross this off the list! We'll be back in the Maldives.
We've also created some customs presets from the Maldives for all your tropical dreams, click here to shop!