And I am finally back! After a short birthday holiday in Malta and Sicily, I found the courage to start writing again and I decided to post the article that I promised a long time ago: The Top Things to Do in the Maldives!
As I have shortly mentioned in my previous travel blog, when I thought about traveling to the Maldives, I imagined that we will get bored just by staying on the beach all day long.
Today, after actually visiting this amazing country, I wish we had some more days just to relax and take advantage of the white sandy beach and the crystal clear water. We had so many activities to choose from that we tried to squeeze them all in our 8 days adventure.
I will start with all the activities we did on the amazing local island of Omadhoo where we stayed at Kirulhiya Maldives Guest House (if you haven’t read it yet, I wrote an entire article about our stay there – to read it click HERE), followed by the ones we did on the resort island in addition with all the prices and essential information.
1. BEACH ALL DAY LONG
Ok, I know this isn’t an actual activity, but when it comes to the Maldives, enjoying the amazing beaches is mandatory. And, a big plus is that this is free (probably the only free thing in the Maldives). All the articles, pictures, videos regarding this amazing country show you how beautiful the beaches are, being on every top of the world. White sand, amazing turquoise water, can it get better than this?
I will show you a few more pictures with the bikini beach on Omadhoo Island just to tease you. This beach was located less than 5 minutes away from Kirulhiya Maldives Guest House and it was almost empty all the time which gave us all the privacy in the world.
PS: Don’t forget the sunscreen and the mosquito repellent because they can bite even in daylight if you stay under the palm trees and close to vegetation.
2. WATCH AMAZING SUNRISES AND SUNSETS
One thing I totally loved on Omadhoo Island was the fact that you get to see both sunrise and sunset every day (if you are not lazy, of course). I must admit we didn’t make it to the sunrises, but we watched every single sunset and it was amazing and different every day. So many shades of pink, purple, orange and yellow, we couldn’t get enough!
I don’t know if you have the same feelings, but I find peace in watching sunsets with babe by my side, of course!
You can even choose to go for a sunset cruise to see it from the water which will cost you 45$/person at Kirulhiya Maldives less than the private resort price 65$/person.
3. BREAKFAST ON A SANDBANK
One of my favorite activities in the Maldives and one that we will sure remember for years was having breakfast on a sandbank in the middle of the ocean.
We visited sandbanks before in Zanzibar, but this was even more beautiful because it was really small and we didn’t have to share it with anyone. We discussed with the representatives of Kirulhiya Maldives and they told us the best hour to catch the low tide and enjoy that amazing sandbank. This time can obviously be different and you should listen to your hosts because they know better. For us the best time was 9 am so at 8.30 we were ready for our new adventure.
You get close to the sandbank by speedboat and here starts the exciting part: you have to go by kayak from the speedboat to the sandbank so they can protect the corals. You see the amazing place where you are going to have breakfast and you cannot believe your eyes!
We spent approximately 3 hours on the sandbank, enjoyed a simple and delicious breakfast, put up the drone for some amazing pictures and left when the high tide came wanting to return one day.
The price for this magical experience is 40$/person without meal included and 50$/person with meal included. It can be breakfast or lunch based on the tide.
PS: We could not find this activity in the resort so I don’t have prices to compare.
4. LUNCH ON A DESERTED ISLAND
If you liked our breakfast on a sandbank, you will sure love this next activity too, our very own Robinson Crusoe moment.
Our second day in the Maldives, Kirulhiya took us to the most amazing deserted island located close to Omadhoo and we spent the day there while also having a quick lunch.
The water was amazing and the corals offered us the best snorkeling spot. It was my first meeting with baby sharks which kinda scared me because I was waiting for their parents to appear anytime.
We shared the island with four other tourists but we stayed on one side and they chose the other so we still had all the privacy we needed.
The price for this activity is 40$/person for the half day activity and 80$/person for the full day activity with lunch included.
PS: As I said above, you also have a killer snorkeling point so you get to check two things on the list!
PS2: We didn’t find this activity on the resort island so I cannot compare prices.
5. VISIT ANOTHER LOCAL ISLAND
If you want to learn some more about how the locals live or just change the scenery/beach for one day, you can choose to visit another local island.
We did this one day and visited a nearby island (not sure about the name though) that offered us another beautiful beach and awesome snorkeling spot. As I have already confessed in my previous articles, I was a little (ok, more than a little) afraid to enter the ocean because of the sharks roaming nearby, but my boyfriend went snorkeling and explored all the area and he saw stingrays, lots of Nemo and Dory fish and many other colorful species.
I have to say I liked Omadhoo beach better because of the privacy, since on this island we had to share it with around 8-10 other tourists.
This is why I always say I cannot vouch for every local island when it comes to privacy since there are clearly bigger ones than Omadhoo.
The price for Island Hopping (Local Island Tour with lunch included) is 40$/person. The price for almost the same activity in the resort (visiting another resort and a local island) is 68$/person (half day, no lunch included) and 87$/person (full day, lunch included).
6. ROMANTIC SUNSET DINNER
Another activity that we really enjoyed and recommend is dinner on the beach at sunset.
We kept this one for the last night at Kirulhiya Maldives and it was the perfect way to end our adventure on the local island. It was so romantic and sunset offered us the best view.
We took my favorite food one last time: tuna fried noodles with egg and we spoiled ourselves with lobster too. Yummy! I am craving right now!
The price for a sunset beach dinner, romantic dinner night or beach barbeque is 25$/person. I don’t recall the prices for this in the private resort, but it was more than 100$/2 persons and you had lots of tourists around you doing the same activity. We said pass and kept the beautiful memories from Kirulhiya Maldives where we had the beach all to ourselves!
7. SNORKELING ADVENTURE
If you are passionate about marine life and snorkeling/diving, then you are in the right place. The underwater life is extremely active around Omadhoo Island too so you don’t need to go too far. Still, there are some renowned snorkeling and diving points that you can visit.
One day, we jumped on a boat and visited two amazing spots that truly took my breath away. Even though I am a good swimmer, I almost panicked when I first jumped into the water in the middle of the ocean.
The water was so deep where we jumped and all of a sudden a big coral rock appeared with amazing marine life. I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore and went back to the boat to calm myself. I was only thinking about sharks and whales and rays! My boyfriend is braver than me and snorkeled around for ages. He got to see so many species of colorful small fish, big scary ones like barracuda and yellow tuna, different rays, one sea snake, starfish etc. After a while of talking to myself, I got the courage and jumped into the water again so we snorkeled together.
Sadly, there were no manta rays or whale sharks for us which made me sad even though the thought of meeting them scared the hell out of me and I am not sure I would have been brave enough to stay in the water. They are amazing creatures and I would love the chance to see them once in my life.
The prices for these activities are different based on what you want:
– Snorkeling to nearby reef – 30$/person
– Snorkeling Adventure – 40$/person
– Manta Trip nearby – 60$/person
– Manta Trip faraway – 120$/person
– Whale shark trip – 150$/person
There is also a dolphin tour available for 50$/person, but we had already experienced that in Zanzibar J
8. FRUIT BREAKFAST ON THE BEACH
If you have read my previous article, you already know about our two epic breakfasts at Kirulhiya Maldives. The first one was on the sandbank and the second one on Omadhoo Island at Bikini Beach. I asked Ahmed to help me fulfill one of my dreams, being inspired by Aggie or Travel in her Shoes, as you probably know her from Instagram.
In our Male tour, we went to the local market and I picked the fruit myself with the help of Ahmed, of course, and the result was amazing.
On that morning, we chose a delicious Maldivian breakfast together with the fruit. We had eggs with Roshi and Mashuni, yummy local dishes. Although this kind of breakfast is not included in your reservation, I recommend trying it at least once to experience more the Maldivian life.
This type of activity is not offered on a regular basis by Kirulhiya Maldives, but I am sure you can discuss it with Ahmed if it is on your bucketlist and he will help you!
9. MALE TOUR
As I have already told you in my previous posts, the best way to understand how the Maldivians live is by taking a Male Tour, which is the capital city and, based on your flights, it can be offered to you for free from Kirulhiya Maldives if you book an airport pickup.
I must warn you that the local life will be different from Instagram pictures where you can only see the luxurious part in popular resorts.
You will walk around the city and you will see the main mosque, police headquarter, fish & vegetable local market, the only park in the Maldives, where tourists actually pay a fee to enter, the house of the former president etc. You can also buy souvenirs from local shops, exchange money, eat something delicious at a restaurant, depending on the time you have.
The price for the Male Tour is 20$/person, but you can get it for free if you book airport pickup from Kirulhiya Maldives (you can find all the details in my previous post – click HERE).
PS: Be sure to dress modestly while covering your knees and shoulders in the Male Tour as a sign of respect for the locals.
10. CANDLE LIGHT BEACH DINNERS
I have to take a moment to tell you about all those amazing beach dinners we had at Kirulhiya Maldives. I am so sad pictures won’t give enough credit since the light was nonexistent there so we couldn’t shoot properly. Every dinner was special and never in the same place.
Let me just say a few words about my favorite one. Imagine having dinner on an empty beach, under the full moon, surrounded by candles and top that with amazing live music, voice and guitar, by an extremely talented local from Omadhoo Island. And the first song he dedicated us was: “Nothing else matters”. Goosebumps! No words to describe the feeling and you have to feel it on your own!
The price for romantic dinners on the beach is 25$/person. I am not sure though which is the price for live music, but you should talk with Ahmed and he will be happy to provide all the details J
These were the activities we chose when we stayed at Kirulhiya Maldives, but the list is even longer. I will post the complete list so you can decide what is better for you. I have to say that service charge of 10% and tax of 12% are not included in the prices and will be added to the final bill.
In the end, I want to mention some activities available in the resort that seemed interesting to us.
While we stayed in the resort, we got to do 2 free activities that I liked:
1. STINGRAY FEEDING – every night after sunset, there was a special place on the island where you could feed the peaceful stingrays by hand. It was an amazing feeling and we were happy to do it under proper supervision.
We saw stingrays everyday on Omadhoo Island too while we stayed at Kirulhiya Maldives, especially during sunset, but you cannot feed them by hand since it can become dangerous.
2. SHARKS FEEDING – every night between 6.30-7.30 p.m., you could watch the sharks feeding from a deck situated a few meters away from the overwater villas where we stayed. We were literally shocked to see how many sharks gathered there in the evening and how big they were. As you can easily imagine, they roam freely in the ocean and they choose to come around sunset because they know they will receive food. They are supposed to be friendly and there weren’t any reported incidents in the resort so far. Still, I have to admit I could not enter the water anymore after seeing them.
One activity that I found interesting in the resort and I am sad we didn’t have the time to experience is taking a sea plane ride above the Maldives. This is very good for the ones that have night flights as we did because you cannot see anything and I am sure the view is pretty magical. As you can imagine, this won’t come cheap: 15 minutes flight will cost you 163$/adult and 157$/child.
I will post one more article about the Maldives, but I cannot promise when I will write it. I want to tell you more about our luxury resort experience and overwater villa stay. I am sure many of you will also want to read about this one so I will try to post it as soon as possible.
I will also continue the posts about Sri Lanka since I have only given you half the information.
Malta and Taormina blogs will follow in this order because you asked for them on Instagram and so much more is coming!
Stay tuned!
Blonde around the World
