India and Maldives Vacation: Part 11.5 – Maldives with the Meyers

 

India and Maldives Vacation Index:

1. Introduction
2. Overview and Statistics
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Dehli and Agra
5. Jaipur
6. Hyderabad
7. Aurangabad/Mumbai
8. Making Peace with the Poverty
9. Quotes
10. Top 10 Favorite Things About India
11. Maldives & 11.5 Maldives with the Meyers
12. Top 10 Favorite Things About the Maldives
13. Paris
14. What We Would Have Done Differently & What We Did Right
15. Meanwhile, Back At Home…..

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 Dear Friends,  guest blogger Mike is here at Alicia’s request to show what the Maldives was like from our point of view.

 

We spent so much time with Alicia and Ben that it was sad to split up at this point.

 

We went to a different resort. I like to say better resort, but that’s just because I’m competitive. While we waited for our seaplane at our resort lounge in the airport we were treated to a buffet and fresh squeezed fruit drinks. Sarah skipped all of it and went right to the complimentary massage. 

 

The Lounge was beautiful. We were supposed to be watching a safety video on a flat screen on the back wall but it was hard to take your eye off of the view.

Our Seaplane ride was very fun. We had a 30 minute flight from Male to the Conrad Hilton Rangali Island. I had heard that it was a very good resort but it exceeded all of our expectations. It was voted twice as ‘Best Hotel in the World’. I agree.

 

Just like Alicia said, the pictures don’t do it justice. Only one picture of the whole bunch is photoshopped to make it more vivid. Presents to anyone who can recognize it & name it in the comments.

The seaplane pulls right up to this hut that separates the two islands. The staff are waiting for you with smiles and cold face clothes which were very refreshing. The whole resort is made up of these two islands that you could walk around in about 15 minutes.

From here they took us to reception which is on the main island. This is the reception area. They gave us coconut milk and explained that they would need to place a “small hold” on our credit card for $2200 to cover incidentals while we were there. Keep in mind the rooms were already paid for so we were kind of surprised at such a high price. It soon became apparent why they expected such a large spend.

The coconut milk drinks were delicious. I think it was to keep you distracted while they swiped your credit card. Most hotels vacuum or sweep their lobby area. Here they rinse it down and then rake it to make it look nice.

The room we had our first night was a king beach villa. It was fairly large. More than I expected. About 1600 square feet according to the website. The fountain to the left of the picture was very relaxing to listen to. I asked our attendant what the purpose of that fountain room was. He said, “It is to house the fountain.” Of course, every hotel room should have one.

This shows the TV that never got watched. Sarah really liked the couch. It was a snugly place to relax without lying down on the bed.

 

Outside the room we had our private beach area. I really liked this feature. More than I expected. You’re never more than about 40 steps from the ocean in this room.

The bathroom area was all outside. No air conditioning, which was strange at first but worked well after coming back to the room wet from the ocean. Taking a shower outside was also a little strange. Seeing blue sky above you while showering is just bizarre but fun.

The tub in the garden area was also very relaxing although it was so big that it took about 30 minutes to fill it up. Also, on the way back you had to make sure you stay on the stones so you don’t track sand back into the room. Alot like Alicia & Ben we were served the strangest fruit while we were on our island. Every day was 5 or 6 different fruits that I’d never seen and had no idea how to even go about eating. This first one took us a few minutes to get opened up.

This fruit basket looks like a peach, tomato,pear, plumb, and a piece of bark. Each one though was a different fruit we’ve never tasted before. Except for the plumb. It was actually a plumb.

The path from our back door to our beach was beautiful. This was our beach. We loved it. All the stress and cares of life melted away right here.

This first night we stayed on the beach and watched the sunset wondering how Alicia and Ben were enjoying their resort. Little did we know they were still flying and wouldn’t arrive for several more hours. Point Hilton.

When we first arrived on the island, our attendant greeted us. “Good morning Mr. and Mrs Meyers Silver and Gold Hilton HHonors members”. I asked which one of us was gold and which was silver. He said, “I’m sorry sir, Mr Meyers is silver and Mrs Meyers is Gold. But you will both enjoy free breakfast because of your status.” I was a little sad about Sarah being more special but the free breakfast helped. We took advantage of all the free activities while we were there. We gorged ourselves on breakfast so that we wouldn’t have to eat lunch which was expensive. Once again, lots of fruit that we didn’t recognize. The beach is behind Sarah. They had a juice bar with a chef that would make you any combination of fruit juice you wanted. Just pick your fruit and hand it over and 2 minutes later you have your juice. It was incredible. Point Hilton.

Sand and the buffet is behind me. It really was strange having sand in all of the buildings.  The pool looked incredible but the ocean behind it looked even better so it didn’t seem like that many people went in the pool. Man it was pretty though.

The water-sports center had sailboats, jet-skis, kayaks, kite surfers, motor boats, surf boards, and wind surfers. If it didn’t have and engine it was free to use, so of course I wanted to go sailing. Our reliable sailboat just before I found out that I needed to pass a sailing test prior to them trusting me with Sarah’s life. I’m not going to lie, it’s been several years since I’ve been sailing. I was a little nervous.

After a quick test and a couple of helpful pointers from the staff I was pronounced mostly capable and we were ready to head out.

I had a really good time with the sailing. The wind was strong and we got going at a decent clip. Sarah was slightly nervous because the float plane lands right where we were sailing and we had a close encounter. Point Hilton.

After the sailing we decided it’s time to see the friendly fish that the staff kept talking about so we went snorkeling.  The reef starts just 40 or so feet from shore so you don’t have to swim far at all to see crazy amounts of beautiful fish.

Dorry

A unicorn fish. I didn’t even know they existed.

The huts behind me are where Sarah got her message later that day. Nemo

Gill

The obnoxious fish from the dropoff scene of Finding Nemo.

This was the best snorkeling I’ve ever done. It beats out all of the SCUBA dives we’ve done as well. It really was impressive. Everywhere you look this place was gorgeous. Just looking back at the island from the water made you want to take a picture of the island. Words cannot describe nor pictures do justice to the beauty that is there. 

We got burned that first day so Sarah got a rash-guard shirt. Looking good Sarah. Point Sarah. Our attendant asked if we were interested in upgrading the next night to an overwater villa. He asked if we’d like to look at one first. We took a look and didn’t need any additional convincing. They didn’t have any more of the standard overwater villas so we got the superior overwater villa which meant we got a Jacuzzi on our deck as well. It’s a tough life. The boat went from the main island where our beach room was the first night over to the “quiet island” where most of the overwater villas were. We were usually the only people on the boat which made the resort feel even more secluded. I liked that.

 

Sarah ended up getting a 2 hour message at the overwater spa. I wasn’t there to take pictures during but imagine that it looked something like this from the website. Sarah did they hit you with that palm frond? Funny story from the spa: Sarah needed to use the rest room and she was ushered out onto an open air deck with a toilet that faced the ocean. She said she was nervous a boat would go past while she was there exposed to the world. Luckily it didn’t.

Sarah said that she loved the spa. After finishing there our new room was ready and Sarah found me napping in our little villa.

 

Most comfortable chair ever! Perfect for watching the sunsets.

Best view from a Jacuzzi ever. Point Hilton.

The crabs climbed up the stairs from the ocean onto our deck. Sarah loved playing with them.  The jacuzzi was so relaxing. This storm was coming in about sunset and it was so nice to relax and watch the weather. 

The whole island had hammocks setup in strategic locations that offered some shade. They were very comfortable. Sarah was nervous I’d fall asleep in one that was in the sun and get burned. 

I am Sarah, hear me roar!

Sarah caught me relaxing at the end of a hard day snorkeling. The first night we ordered room service. It arrived just after sunset. We ate it while watching our jacuzzi change colors. I accidentally left the multicolored light and the heater on. It had started raining and we asked the gentleman who delivered the food if we should turn it off before going to bed to save power. He just laughed at us and said power is not a concern here. As far as we could tell there were no concerns here. It was a very relaxing place.

The one dinner we ate at a restaurant on the island was incredible. We considered dining at the underwater restaurant but changed our mind when we saw the $450/person price. This restaurant cooked all the food for the underwater restaurant but was much more reasonable. 

This is what we would have seen in the underwater restaurant. We could see the glow of it from our table and that was enough for us. 

There was live music and Sarah and I enjoyed relaxing this evening listening to the singer. Sarah even has a new favorite song.

All of the paths on the island looked like this. Every once in a while you would see a bat in the trees.

We forgot to take the sign off the door and our turn down service was missed on the last night. Disappointing. Who are we? The Clampett’s?

Very sad faces before having to leave the island. 

It really was that blue. More even. BEST. VACATION. EVER. This one is going to be hard to top.