I was never particularly convinced by the Maldives, thinking that I would be too bored stuck on an island with nothing to do for a week. Then I learnt how to dive and started to think that going on a liveaboard in the Maldives would probably be very exciting indeed, but a shore holiday would likely still be boring and too expensive. Then Covid happened and our Christmas trip to the Canaries could no longer go ahead due to governmental restrictions. When this happened I immediately went through the list of places the UK government said I could go as well as whether I would be able to connect to get there without any trouble. I also didn’t want to have to quarantine for any length of time, since four or more days of quarantine during a seven day holiday would barely make it worth it to go. Due to our possible departure dates, considering when school term ended, a four day quarantine would mean we would be in quarantine for Christmas day which is definitely not ideal. 

The only destination which was able to meet all the criteria I had was the Maldives, with no need to quarantine on arrival once you had a negative PCR test. I surprisingly found some inexpensive flights on Etihad, especially considering we were flying during Christmas holiday, and set about the biggest challenge finding accommodation that would not require me to sell a kidney.

The Maldives has a couple considerations that most other destinations don’t due to the individual island nature of the country. The first is whether you are going to stay on a privately owned island resort or on a local island. The second is how you are planning on getting to whatever place you are staying.

Resorts vs Local Islands

Generally private resorts are much more expensive though there are a couple which are on the lower end. They do however allow you to do things that you can’t do on public islands, like drink, eat pork and walk around everywhere in a bikini. If any of these are must haves for you, then your decision is already made, for us they weren’t, so local island it was. 

Getting to your island

Regarding getting to your resort, this can either be ridiculously expensive or quite tricky. The Maldives is over 500 miles long from North to South so your options depend on where you are planning to stay. Resorts all require either mandatory speedboat, seaplane, or domestic flight and speedboat transfers. These are generally not included in your room rate and can add between 300 and 1000 usd to the cost of your stay. Local islands do not have mandatory transfers, but you still need to figure out how you are going to transfer. If they are within a reasonable distance they will advise the cost of a speedboat transfer which will normally be much lower than at a resort, alternatively you can take a slow ferry but this seemed to me to be a terrible idea, and definitely not something I was willing to do with a four year old.

Decision

In the end we decided to stay on Vaavu Thinadhoo due to the following reasons:

• Relatively inexpensive compared to a resort
• Reasonable Transfer Prices with Kids going free
• Low Island Population
• Few Open Hotels on Island
• Access to excellent diving in the atoll

We stayed at Plumeria on a full board basis, allowing us to relax and not have to consider what we were going to feed Little Person at any point during the trip.

The island itself was beautiful, and we really appreciated being able to have lots of privacy due to the considerably fewer tourists on the island compared to a resort. It was also great to be able to interact with some of the residents of Thinadhoo especially the children who Little Person had great fun meeting.

The diving was quite rewarding and the Maldives is definitely a great place to go if you want to see sharks. We saw a lot of sharks.

After a week, we were happy with both our choice of location and the length of our stay. Covid adds additional costs to your spending due to the need to pay for testing but considering the amount we paid included all food and diving I did not feel as though I had overpaid for anything. Had I done the same amount of diving in Hawaii our final bill would have probably been twice as high. It was great to get away to somewhere where we could pretend for a short time that Covid-19 wasn’t a thing. Where you could sit down with a family you had just met and have dinner without worrying about if you were putting yourself or them at risk. I don’t know if I would return to the Maldives in a hurry unless it was for a liveaboard dive trip, but I am happy I went.

Maldives tips

• If you want an Instagram experience instead of a genuine one, then a resort is probably your best bet.
• Several people we spoke to indicated that being a single traveller at a resort was quite lonely since most people came paired up.
• Plumeria had its own boats for both dive trips and airport transfers. This makes a big difference since you do not have to rely on external staff, and they can organise trips and transfers to suit you and their other guests.
• If you have a late night flight, and a relatively early transfer back to the airport, consider booking a hotel room rather than going to a lounge or hanging out at the airport. Rooms can be quite cheap, hotels in Hulhumale offer free airport transfers and you get another opportunity to see some real people.
• You can save money by going half board instead of full board. There are shops available on local islands to buy snacks or lunch and you can also order individual lunch items like sandwiches from your hotel.
• You probably don’t need much cash. I think the only place where I had to spend cash was in a couple souvenir shops. I would recommend you call your accommodation to confirm both whether they take cards and whether there is a surcharge.