Thanks for all your replys.

Did you start with a factor 30 for the entire stay of your holiday and end up with a good tan, or did you start with it then go down the factors.

I stay with factor 30 for the full 2 weeks now.

1st time I went I took Factor 20 and burned to a crisp.....

AND wear a t-shirt if you are snorkelling - see SOOOO many people with singed backs!!

And take the repellent and some after bite too. Our summer months are the worse for mossies as the additional humidity and rain in their rainy season seems to encourage the little blighters!

Im going next week i will give you an update. according to the weather for cast though it will be fine!

Hi Fiona,

I've been in France with little IT access for a couple of weeks and so have only just seen these replies. Both myself and my other half visited our GP's and we were both advised to have the Hep A and Typhoid comby jab. It cost nothing and and took no time. So I would advise anyone travelling to talk to their GP and take whatever advice they offer.

Daza - I'd definately trust my GP over teletext!

We went to Maldives in May which is supposed to be one of the rainy months and only got the odd shower and mainly in the evening. Next year we are going to risk it and go in July for 3 weeks and hopefully we should get enough nice days not to spoil our hols. It's worth the gamble!

We are planning an anniversary trip without the kids at the end of this year. Having never been to the Maldives can i please ask for help deciding which island to stay on. We are looking for a beachfront location on a picture postcard beach, All Inclusive and fairly quiet. My husband likes to snorkel and i love to sit back, relax and enjoy the view. This is a special trip and really want to make the right choice so all recommendations would be truly appreciated.

thank you

Whilst your waiting for some replies try reading through our hotel reviews as there might be some information there for you as well.

Click Here for hotel reviews

Komandoo fits your requirements - no kids allowed after Jan 2007, all inclusive, very small (60 rooms), great snorkelling and fab views of the Indian Ocean!

Angsana is a little more special (and more expensive) but only full board, only 45 rooms and again great snorkelling/views.

I like the look of Mirihi but havent been - available on BB, HB or FB. Hoping to try here next year.

Hope this helps.

I'd also say look at komandoo but would also throw in a deluxe land villa at Veligandu or a water bungalow at Lily Beach.

Both are smallish (80 rooms, all inclusive with great service, the snorkelling (especially at Lily Beach) is outstanding.

Many Thanks for your suggetsions I am going to investigate both now i have an idea where to start, they sound exactly what we are looking for!! I wonder if you can advise on transfers from Male airport, we are booking flights and hotel seperately and not using a tour operator, an ideas on how to book transfer to island direct?? Do you suggest Sea plane or boat? Also suggestions on website to use to book hotels would be appreciated

only thing decided at the mo is flying with Emirates from Glasgow,

many thanks in advance for you help

You could try Sun Island - It is a 5 star resort that is cheaper then most 3 or 4 star resorts in the Maldives

Transfers to Sun Island is either by speedboat (2.5 hours) or via Seaplane (30 mins)

You can see my Sun Island report at:
http://h1.ripway.com/Dept-PB/sunisland/sunislandjune.html

It is really best idea to book through a travel agent as both times we have been to the Maldives there has been a 24 hour flight delay on the return - Fortunately the tour operator allowed us to stop at the resort an extra day on both occasions and we were also allowed to claim compensation (£50 per person & an extra day in paradise !!)
If you booked the accomodation & flight seperatly yourself - you would be expected to leave the resort and make your own arrangements for the delay.

If you book through a travel agents you can still request to travel via Emirates (via Dubai - but there usually is 4-6 hours between flights at Dubai, and sometimes overnight stay) ---- would be quicker to get a direct flight which would just be over 10 hours.

Thanks for the advice Daza, unfortunatley no option but to book seperately as I am using Buy and Fly points for the flight, never done it this way before hence the reason for all the questions. Are delays very likely? Was it the airline that caused delay or was there a weather problem or such like? Really want to visit Maldives but dont want to stress myself going DIY if its gouing to prove difficult, any advice??

Christine,

once you choose a resort, simply ask them to book your transfers for you and they will arrange it all and add it to your hotel bill. All of the islands (Komandoo, Veligandu, and Lily Beach) will need seaplane transfers which cost around $150 per person return.

You need to decide how big an island you want to visit - personally I like smaller islands with less than 100 rooms, so for me Sun Island (as Daza mentioned it above) with it's 350 rooms and being the biggest resort island in the Maldives is just too big for us - I simply don't want to walk for 15 or 20 min to get to a bar or restaurant in the kind of heat (42 degrees) that we experienced on our trip in May. I know that a lot of people rave about it though - I guess it's all down to personal prefernce.

Tracy

No problems with the weather - delay was due to the plane going tech

But couldn't think of a better place to be strandard for 24 hours --- at least we didn't get taken to the airport and left there like many European resorts would have done.

Most resorts will allow you to book through their own websites.

Here is Sun Island's site -- you can get an on-line quote from here:
http://www.sunislandmaldives.com/

==================================

Just done a quote for when we go...... and got the following:

Quote includes:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accommodation at: Sun Island Resort
From: Tue - 03rd Oct 2006 till Tue - 17th Oct 2006 for 14 nights.
Room Category: Super Deluxe Room
No. of Rooms: 1
No. of Adults: 2
Meal plan: All-inclusive
Return Transfer: Sea Plane

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total quote, including all service charges = USD 3672.00 (£2,017)

NOT including any flights......

==================================

We only paid £2,830 with flights included & FREE insurance, so unsure how much it would have been to book seperate flights but there is only a £400 per person difference from booking through a reputable tour operator..

for veligandu use crown tours maldives

they arrange the transfer for you as well as your rooms, its who virgin use

we spent our honeymoon here & it really was heaven! we are saving to go back!

thanks for all the valubale feedback I am starting to narrow it down, just realised that the emirates flight from Male to Dubai is at 2.30am, I see from previous posts that seaplanes only operate during daylight hours, can you please advise how we would get back to the airport for this flight as per previous replies all islands recommended require seaplane transfer aarrhh!! just when i thought I was getting somewhere is there any easy answer to this??

I eagerly await reply, so I can carry on trying to decide.

thanks in advance

hi Christine

this is the flight we caught back, you go out on the last sea plane flight around 4pm, then have to sit outside the airport until 11pm. it was very tedious (also a dry airport!!) but dont let that put you off..
the only other way round is getting the flight the next day at 9:30 am, but that would mean a stay in an airport hotel & a stop over in colombo
we decided aginst that hence the reason we were on the 2:30 am flight

Rachel