You cannot prepare your senses for the Maldives. The blue hits you right in the face: so many shades, from aqua just this side of translucent, to the deepest indigo in the depths of the sea and the night sky as the last wisps of light disappear.
The Maldives is also one of the few destinations where the ocean glows in the dark. From June to October, tiny harmless bioluminescent plankton arrive offshore and, as you splash about during a late-night swim or snorkel, they emit defensive sparkles of light, creating trails that look like stardust. It’s utterly magical.
There are 1,200 islands spread across 115 square miles of the Indian Ocean, 430 miles southwest of mainland Asia, offering the height of luxury in a perfect paradise. With so many to choose from, we spoke to our travel partners at Idle Travel to find out more.
For a romantic break or honeymoon, the Maldives is a real-life desert-island where crystal clear lagoons and frosted white-sand beaches come as standard, and bespoke experiences like candlelit dinners and private picnics make it easy to ramp up the romance.
These tiny picture-perfect specks in the ocean must be on your bucket list and definitely in the top three places to visit for a holiday experience you will remember for ever. It’s the ultimate screensaver fantasy.
The Maldives has hundreds of tiny private islands festooned like fairy lights across the Indian Ocean. Every island is a lush, palm-fringed dot wrapped up in ribbons of bone-white sand, lapped by calm seas and bathed in wall-to-wall sunshine.
As though that isn’t enough, thanks to its calm lagoons the Maldives has cornered the market in water villas, nothing sums up this tropical idyll better than falling asleep to the sound of the sea and waking in a muslin-draped four-poster, knowing a pre-breakfast dip with rainbow-coloured fish is only a few steps away from your bed.
You don’t have to do anything beyond sipping a cocktail beside a spectacular infinity pool and being tempted from your lounger every now and then for a spot of snorkelling, or diving, to marvel at the abundance of marine life!
Dining on tropical islands can often be disappointing, but when you visit the Maldives there is an array of local and international cuisines as varied as you’d get in London or New York, covering all the culinary bases from European to Asian. Standards are enviably high, understandable given many of the resorts work with Michelin-starred chefs!
There are several underwater restaurants, but most are sand-floor and open-air, where buffet meals get an injection of drama thanks to live cooking stations and white-hatted chefs cooking your breakfast eggs to order and sizzling your seafood with your favourite spices.
If this sounds like your idea of paradise, get in touch with our travel specialists at Idle Travel to explore all options available, because there are many. So go to the experts to make sure you find your personal island escape.
Call Idle Travel today on 01274 619141 and follow them on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all the latest travel hot spots and news.
Images courtesy of unsplash.com
