Question Getting to the Maldives from the US

[cetacean]

I think I saw this mentioned in another thread, but I'm having trouble finding it...

We are considering staying 2-3 days in Male or Hulhumale to rest before the long flight back. I recall reading that Male itself is pretty lousy and there isn't anything to do. Really all we want is a good hotel and access to vegan/vegetarian food for a couple days. Do y'all have any opinions or recommendations?

Two decent options...

Spend a day at the Hulhule Island Hotel (same island as the airport, not the same island as Male, which is not worth it). If you really want to see Male taking a water taxi from Hulhule is easy... This hotel is fine for an overnight stay, but I would not spend multiple days here...

The other option is there are quite a few resorts a speed boat ride away from the airport. The Four Seasons is a 15 min. boat ride away, Kurumba is 15 min away, Paradise Island is 20 min away...there are many others.

There are no good hotels in Male, but there are more than a handful within 45 min from the airport by boat - pick any of them for a few days. People do this all the time... after spending a week plus in one of the outer atolls or a liveaboard we have often finished a trip with a few days stay at one of the closer island resorts to the airport.

 

[mattfish]

I think I saw this mentioned in another thread, but I'm having trouble finding it...

I realized that the posts I was looking for were in this thread lol

 

[mattfish]

I appreciate everyone's input and advice.

What we've decided to do is to spend 2-3 days before the liveaboard at one of the hotels a short boat ride from Male. Then we will just do a one-night stay at the airport hotel after the liveaboard (some R&R, and gear cleaning/drying/packing) before we fly home.

 

[mattfish]

we're going to see if there is a Hilton or IHG hotel within a 30-min boat ride of Male. We have some good perks with those hotel groups. We just want a few days to relax and adjust to the time shift before we get on the boat and start diving.