Maldives Travel Guide

Why go
These are the most beautiful small islands on the planet . They are safe, there are no hawkers selling sarongs and tours and taxi unless you get them, no distractions . There is no agriculture and no industry and turquoise lagoons are clear. Strange to think that the idyllic Maldives have only been a holiday destination for 40 years or more.

The Maldives consist of 26 coral atolls in a chain down through the equator. Within these 26 atolls are about 1200 islands and about 200 of these are inhabited and 100 are stations .

That does not mean it is not also one of the holiday destinations of the most sophisticated in the world. A race to the top has seen the quality of the service, rooms and food increase exponentially over the last 10 years. Now, instead of the dreaded buffet , it is superb à la carte cuisine , there are cellars cheese , meats , wine and chocolate. First underwater restaurant in the world under the water nightclub and spa underwater are to be found here.

The explorer Thor Heyerdahl perfectly summarizes in his book The Mystery of the Maldives : " This afternoon we had the most beautiful islands of palm trees I've ever seen with the sun low on our starboard , he threw on a bright window . small islands , which seemed to float by as flower baskets ... Under the spell of this picture of an earthly paradise , I made an entry in my diary that the Maldives is more beautiful than all the coral atolls in Polynesia " .

When to go

The Maldives has a mild climate, with year-round temperatures between 79F and 86F (26C - 30C) . He never suffers from tornadoes if it has a monsoon season in November is better to avoid unstable time and may persist well into December, but then the rain tends to be short, afternoon breaks only.

High season extends from November to April , with Christmas and New Year is the most expensive time to travel. The months are perfect January, February and March, when the sky is blue and calm water , it could be glass .

April is a period of " shoulder" , prices are lower, then it may see the start of the low season when the weather is less predictable but rarely severe enough to disrupt a holiday.

Getting there

Flights

Vacationers arrive at Malé International Airport. This takes all of Hulhule , which is like a powerful aircraft carrier , a short distance from the island capital, Malé Island.

All charter flights from the UK are direct , as are regular flights operated by British Airways ( ba.com ) and most regular flights Sri Lanka ( srilankan.com ) , although some go via Colombo thereof . Other carriers go through their hubs Emirates ( emirates.com ) via Dubai , Qatar Airways ( qatarairways.com ) in Doha and Oman Air ( omanair.com ) by Muscat . Direct flights take between 10 and 11 hours. A free 30-day visa " is issued to visitors on arrival.

Transfers

Transfers used to be a matter of jumping in a dhoni and blowing off your station . These days the stations cover the entire archipelago so that your transfer could be done by boat, plane, or both. Outboards have replaced Dhoni for stations closest ; seaplanes take clients to the most remote and plans with fixed wheels are invited to five regional airports, where there is another trip on a speedboat.

But there are two more obstacles to negotiate before you can go around your station : wait immigration queues and waiting times long enough to transfer . Be patient and know that once you reach your station , frustration and anxiety slides here soon.