In the maldives with the one

I love my life so much. 2020 made me a bit doom and gloom compared to my usual sunny outlook but now that my fabulous life is back in full swing, I’m back to feeling like the luckiest girl on the planet. I’ve always been incredibly lucky when it comes to holidays, with my family taking us on at least 2 holidays every year when we were growing up, normally always abroad and even to bucket list places like Iceland and Lapland. Naturally as I’ve gotten older, the holiday bug has continued... and so has the bucket list ticking off. The Maldives is somewhere that most people can only dream of and it’s often people’s ultimate fantasy destination. And we’ve just ticked it off!

Okay so I’ll start with the logistics (relatively-boring-but-perhaps-helpful stuff out the way first). Let me start by saying it was insanely expensive. Like insane. Like £3,000 per person insane. I’d never normally spend so much on a holiday and I’m usually a die-hard bargain hunter, booking through loveholidays and wowcher to get the best deal. But after my grandad sadly passed away this year and left me a sum in his Will, I wanted to take the trip of a lifetime to remember him by. He was a big lover of travel and even moved to Australia before planes were about (it took him 6 weeks by boat!!) so it felt like a fitting gift from him and one I know he’d love the thought of. We decided on the Maldives because we’ve been trying to go for the last year. We had a holiday to Cuba booked for November 2020 which got cancelled because Cuba wasn’t letting in, so we initially hoped to book a last minute trip to the Maldives instead (who were letting in). Lockdown 2.0 thwarted our plans but since then, it’s been a destination at the top of our list. Which is funny because it was never actually that high on mine before that. Call me crazy, but the endless sea and sky and palette of 50 shades of blue ranked a lot lower than places that homed waterfalls and mountains and the wonders of the world (like a lot of South America). But then having fallen in love with the idea of going over a year ago, it was naturally going to be where we went when we could. 

I looked at a number of different websites to find a good deal. The Maldives is made up of over 1,200 islands so it’s rather tricky to work out where to start! I ruled out TUI because the flights were via Singapore, which means you’d be going further than you needed to, to then go back on yourself. I looked at a number of deals on Emirates but again the flights weren’t great, with long (8 hour) stopovers in Dubai in the middle of the night. The best website we ended up finding was Kenwood Travel, where we found (or Ollie found, I’m sure he’ll point out) The Residence Dhigurah. Good flight times via Doha with Qatar Airways, great all inclusive package, 6 or 7 restaurants, infinity pool, diving centre, water sports centre, spa, fitness centre, and deluxe sunset villa with private pool; it was perfect.

The journey there was perhaps not so perfect! We flew from Heathrow to Doha on Friday night, then from Doha to Male (Maldives) on Saturday morning, with less than an hour gap between the flights. As we rushed through the airport, I worried that even if we made the connecting flight that our luggage wouldn’t. I was right! When we got to Male, our suitcases were nowhere to be seen and we then had a 4 hour wait before our domestic flight to Kooddoo and then our speed boat to Dhigurah. But how sad about anything can you really be when you’re in paradise? Plus, me and Ollie always have at least one piece of bad luck on every holiday (riots in Barcelona, mumps in Berlin, covid outbreak in Venice, both full of cold in Malta) so at least it got it out the way right at the start!

Paradise was even more stunning the next morning in the daylight! Our villa was literally incredible and the view of the private pool leading to the beach and to the perfect turquoise sea is one I could never get tired of. It looked even better with a ginormous table of breakfast in front of it. Okay so we may have gone a bit mad on the in-villa dining menu but in our defence, our lack of luggage situation meant we could hardly go to the buffet could we?

When our suitcases arrived later that afternoon (hallelujah), we headed out to check out the main infinity pool (and naturally have a few drinks at the beach club). Even though the resort was home to loads of villas, no area ever seemed busy. So the pool was nice and chill and we had our pick of the sunbeds no matter what time we went down there.

We came back to our villa in time to spend golden hour on the beach and dip our toes in the Indian ocean for the first time ever (the colour of which was insanely beautiful)! So excited to have ticked not only a new country off with this holiday, but a whole new continent!

Our first proper night in The Maldives (as in, the night we had our stuff and actually got ready to go out) was the first and last time I did my hair properly. After spending ages washing, drying and curling, it had reverted to somewhere between straight and curly within half an hour because the wind was just SO wild there! Which meant my skirt choice wasn’t ideal either; leopard print wrap skirt worn with black corset top and black lace up shoes. I added a layered pearl necklace, dangly gold earrings and a red lip to finish.

The next day was much of the same; we spent our morning at our villa pool, and then headed to the dive centre to book some excursions before spending the afternoon at the pool with lunch and cocktails. You can see how windy it was by the palm trees in the photos! It kept feeling as though a storm was on the way although we never actually experienced one properly. It did start to rain a little that afternoon though so we swapped a pool for a smaller body of water and had a relaxing bath back at our villa.

That night I took a recent new purchase out for a spin! This dress was from shein (naturally) and it was super cheap but I love the one shoulder design and the ruched sides. The print is cool too and I wore my hair pinned to the side to match the whole asymmetric vibe. After a night at the main buffet restaurant, we opted for the tapas at the beach club this time, although it perhaps wasn’t the smartest move. The wind was like 100mph and we were sitting outside so our food was in danger of blowing away! Which would’ve been a fine shame because it was all amazing.

By this point we'd realised that the infinity pool gets the sun all day whereas our villa terrace didn't get the sun until lunchtime so after ordering another decadent breakfast to the villa (although ever so slightly less OTT than the first day), we swapped the order of things and spent the morning round the main pool and then the afternoon hanging out round our villa one (I went in the hammock and not only was it hard to get into but it wasn't nearly as comfy as it looked).

It was SO easy to get burnt in the Maldives though because it was so cool and breezy that you never felt hot even though it was always over 30 degrees! So we took a break from the sunbathing in the afternoon to go snorkelling. The whole island is surrounded by a big reef where the water is only like knee deep so you can see loads of fish and manta rays and ocean life without having to dive down at all. The rental of the flippers and mask were included in the stay and you got to keep them for your whole time there.

That night we were back at the buffet for dinner and I was certainly learning how to deal with the Maldivian wind - put your hair up! Even the two curled bits at the front were getting swept all over the place. But the hair wasn't just a practical move, it showed off the neckline of this scarf top which I bought especially for the holiday. The necklace is a part of it and I just thought it was Maldives through and through. I paired it with deep green slinky skirt, cream heels and extra gold jewellery.

After dinner each night we'd been going to the beach club, which was open until around midnight (let's face it, no one goes to the Maldives for the nightlife). But we decided to switch it up this time and go to the other beach bar, on the other island. Our hotel had a sister one on the neighbouring island which had been connected to ours by a 1km bridge. Our all inclusive worked in every bar and restaurant on both islands so that was great for giving us more choice. We could have walked the bridge of course but we preferred the Maldivian version of Uber; buggies!

I may sound like a broken record but I suppose peace, sun and tranquillity is exactly what you go to the Maldives for. So the next day, we had champagne with our breakfast buffet, relaxed on a cool giant wicker bed round the pool, had an amazing lunch in the sunshine and then chilled round our villa in the afternoon. 

The sunsets in the Maldives were really beautiful so we wanted to enjoy it the way god intended - with a drink in hand! You could get drinks delivered to your villa as part of the room service offering but you had to pay for the drinks plus the service as well as wait 30-40 minutes for them to come. So mostly it wasn't worth it! Instead, we headed back down to the beach club (at this point we seemed to be gaining a reputation for always being there and the staff knew our order and villa number without asking) and watched the sun set with an unobstructed view and a few cocktails. I'd say we were definitely some of the biggest drinkers there; there didn't seem to be much of a drinking culture at all and so you could probably tell we were British from a mile away.

There were 2 different á la carte restaurants across the two islands which you could go to once each during your stay as part of your all inclusive (if you wanted to go more than that then you'd have to pay). And we were at the Cantonese restaurant on the Wednesday. I kept my hair in natural beach waves to save me the effort of straightening or curling, and wore my red patterned satin dress. I added cream heels and then a pop of contrast with my yellow ted baker clutch bag, and layered necklaces to finish. To be honest, I wasn't blown away by the Cantonese restaurant (pun not intended). The food was lovely but not mind-blowing and the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. After dinner we were quite happy to get back to the beach club where the DJ was ensuring a hell of a lot more atmosphere (although the random assortment he played each night was rather hilarious)!

We couldn't resist the pull of ordering breakfast to the villa again the next morning and it was at this point that it finally occurred to us to check the bill. You had to sign one every time you went to a restaurant even though you didn't have to pay anything so we didn't think much of it. We finally checked on the third time of ordering and we'd been paying over $100 each time; $150 on the first morning when we'd been much greedier. It just goes to show that laziness and obliviousness cost you! But as far as we were concerned it was money well spent. I also didn't manage all the watermelon we'd ordered so a bird kept flying down and pinching bits. By the time we were back at the villa later, the plates were still there but none of the watermelon was so I reckon the bird thought it was money well spent too!

After another morning round the pool, we headed off to the dive centre as we were meant to be going on a snorkelling excursion round a local reef. But when we got there, they said the weather was too bad to do it because of the wind! That was the only part of the holiday I was disappointed by. The wind also meant we couldn't go kayaking or paddle boarding (which you should have got an hour complimentary of every day) so that was a bit of a bummer. But we were just as happy going snorkelling again on our own and then enjoying a late lunch, some drinks and the sunset around the pool.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But when life gives you a lemon printed bralet? Make an amazing outfit. This one was a little bargain in the new look sale and I went all out with the colour pairing, wearing it with bright turquoise linen shorts. I added black lace up heels, silver jewellery and makeup and wore my hair all up (Jenni 1 - Wind 0).

Our last full day in the Maldives might've been reason to be sad if it weren't so incredible! We started the day with one last snorkelling session before having to return our equipment, and then got a buggy over to the other island to enjoy a change of scenery. Their pool was so beautiful with it being on the beach (although you did get absolutely covered in sand) and we had an amazing lunch!

Back at our villa, our chill time was spent with our fingers crossed, because we had one last excursion that our hopes were hanging on. Luckily, the wind had dropped a little and so it went ahead! And it was the one I was most excited about. A sunset cruise by traditional Dhoni boat to search for dolphins (I keep wanting to say "hunt for dolphins" but we DEFINITELY weren't doing that). The ride itself was a little crazy and at one or two points it felt like we might capsize, but the views were so beautiful and we got to see a few more islands as we went (I reckon that's 4 or 5 out of 1,200 ticked off now!). I'd never really heard of people going to the Maldives to see dolphins so I didn't know how likely we were to spot any but we saw loads! Both bottle nose and spinner dolphins were following the boat, jumping out and even doing some little flips and tricks. It was honestly so magical, especially against the gorgeous sunset backdrop. What more could you ask for, other than a couple of glasses of champagne to toast to such a successful trip?

I always save my favourite outfit until the last night and eagle-eyed readers may notice that my favourite outfit on this holiday is the same as on my last one. What can I say, clearly it was a good purchase. This satin scarf print playsuit was from missguided and this time I wore it with my hair up and some statement red flower earrings, as well as a pop of red lipstick to match.

Our last night was one that I was excited for, as we were heading over to the French restaurant on the other island. It was a floating restaurant with a really long lit-up walkway to it and the waitress even told us a story about the folklore of Falhumaafushi (the name of the island) and how there was a spice merchant and a mermaid and a floating flower that inspired the placement of the restaurant. They even gave us a little spice bag to take home! I say it was a French restaurant but it was fairly loose in its heritage. I mean, the French would never serve such a measly portion of camembert on the salad for a start! I joke but the surf and turf main was literally incredible; prawns the size of lobsters and the tenderest steak I've ever eaten and the dessert was the cherry on top of an incredible day.

Our flight home was a night one on Saturday but we had to do the whole speedboat-domestic-flight-waiting-around shenanigans first so we actually had to leave the resort at lunch time. Obviously that was plenty of time to cram in one last sunbathe, one last amazing lunch, and one last mayflower collins (my firm favourite cocktail). I felt like I was taking mental pictures on overdrive to try and savour this beautiful place forever! But alas, all good things must come to an end, and so begun our 24 hour journey home (delightful). I had the most amazing time ever and feel so blessed and grateful to have been to such an incredible place. The best part was being able to share it with the one I love most and making memories that we'll treasure forever. And it was all thanks to my grandad; what a legacy to leave me with.