What to know before travelling:

When to go: The best time to be in Maldives is between November and April, as the high season falls between December and March. The monsoons run from May to October, peaking around June. In this period of the year, the temperatures are still warm, but rain is more likely and there is a risk of storms. Maldives generally has a warm, tropical climate with average highs at a consistent 29°C to 31°C year round and average lows rarely falling below 24°C.

Travelling from London: If you fly during the monsoon seasons there are no direct flights to Male International airport, so you will have to go through the pain of a transfer. However, during dry season there are direct flights, so you can sleep your way through the flight and wake up directly in paradise!

No shoes, no news: Yes, there is absolutely no need to bring shoes to Maldives. You will end up spending most time bare footed walking on the white sand, so if you are thinking of which pair of shoes will match your dress best, think again because you probably won’t be wearing any most of the time.

Time zone: Maldives has its own time zone, which is +5 GMT, and it can varies from resort to resort. You will have to manually change your clock once you arrive or you will be constantly late for your snorkeling excursions.

Underwater camera: Chances are that this will be one of the few times that you will see such breathtaking underwater life, so make an investment and buy an underwater camera. Trust us, you will regret not having one!

Our experience

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Arrival

We arrived at Male International airport at around 2.30pm local time, where the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island had arranged the transfer to the island. We were taken to a lounge to relax after our long flights before boarding our seaplane.

It was our first time on a seaplane, so we were really excited to see all the atolls from above, and it was the most beautiful experience.

Once we spotted our resort we just couldn’t wait to get off!

Day one

We couldn’t have imagined a better and warmer welcome to the island by the Conrad Maldives’ staff. Everyone was cheerful and they escorted us to the most beautiful Beach Villa, where we would be spending two nights.

The Villa was absolutely gorgeous. It featured an outdoor shower and the prettiest outdoor bathing pavilion, plus a private walkway that brought directly to the beach. We were lucky enough to see a very beautiful and colourful sunset on our first day and we couldn’t resist having a quick swim before heading out for dinner.

For our first dinner at the Conrad Maldives, we had a spot reserved at the Koko Grill for a whooping ten-course menu, which was located on the other island. The restaurant’s location was seriously stunning, as it was outdoors under a blanket of stars.

The chef was cooking live right in front of us and he explained what we were about to eat.

We totally recommend Koko Grill if you are looking for the perfect romantic venue and if you love seafood as much as we do.

After this really filling meal, we walked back to our villa on the other island. While we were on the bridge we spotted so many fish that we attracted from the bridge’s light and we were trying to figure out what they were. We swear that we saw a dolphin, but we were later told that they don’t swim near the resort (so disappointing!).

Day two

Good morning beautiful Maldives! We woke up with the sound of the sea and tropical birds, and we couldn’t wait to try the breakfast at the Atoll Market. As you all probably know by now, we are definitely breakfast obsessed and we were really excited when we saw what was awaiting us.

The Market is what breakfast dreams are made of! There are eight different types of kitchen, so you could find varieties of Japanese sushi, English continental breakfast, tropical fruits, omelettes, crepes and much, much more. Seriously, we have never seen anything like it and walking on white sand while filling your plate with delicious fruit and pastries was definitely a great experience.

Ithaa – The underwater restaurant

We had been dreaming about this place so much that we couldn’t believe our eyes when we were actually there. We had a spot reserved for Champagne and canapés reception, which we enjoyed while hundreds of different species of fish swam right next to us.

Ithaa is situated five metres below the ocean, and its name means ‘mother of pearl’ in Dhivehi, the Maldivian language.

No wonder it has been rated ‘the most beautiful restaurant in the world’ by the New York Daily News!

After this once in a lifetime experience, it was time for us to explore a bit of the island while heading to Mandhoo Spa Restaurant for lunch.

The restaurant is open-air and over-water, so you can imagine what view it had over the ocean! While we were having our main course the waiter called us outside to see while they fed the sharks. It is incredible how they were so punctual and that they knew that it was lunchtime for them as well.

They are like sea puppies by the way – totally harmless – so don’t be alarmed!

This was probably one of best meals that we had on the island.

Their menu is specially prepared to energize, detoxify, relax and fortify your body according to the five basic elements of air, water, fire, earth and plant.

We tried a variety of things, but what really stood up were the reef fish and scallops with cannelloni of feta and roasted pistachio, lemon grass, chili and warm orange vinaigrette. Almost all the fish is local, so it is always fresh!

We continued the day walking on the beautiful white beaches, stopping only to take pictures or for a swim in the crystal clear water.

For our second dinner on the island, we tried the Sunset Grill, which was located on over-water terraces, where we could admire a beautiful sunset.

Everything on the menu was really tempting, but we had to go for the Grilled mixed Seafood platter, which included the most gigantic prawns we had ever seen (almost the size of a lobster!).

Have you ever seen anything like it? We then learnt that these are Sri Lankan prawns, so if you ever see them on the menu don’t hesitate to get them.

Day three

For our third day we had two excursions planned, but unfortunately the weather was a bit unpredictable and windy so we decided to postpone them to the next day.

We instead spent some time in the beautiful infinity swimming pool and decided to have lunch at the Rangali Bar before being transferred to our Water Villa on the other island.

The Water Villa was spectacular, located over-water and overlooking the Indian Ocean. The Villa had a beautiful private terrace, where we spent a quite a lot of time sunbathing and enjoying our plunge pool.

With no doubt our favorite part were the stairs that led directly to the most amazing crystal clear water, full of beautiful corals and colourful fish.

We couldn’t wait to put on our snorkelling masks and swim through the corals. When we did it for the first time it was absolutely unbelievable!

We spent the rest of the day being amazed by all the different variety of colourful fish, snorkeling through the turquoise lagoon and getting out only for the sake of dinner!

Our third dinner was at Ufaa, which means happiness in Maldivians, a Chinese culinary concept restaurant set on a beautiful white beach. We really enjoyed trying various Chinese specialties, even though we made the unforgivable mistake of trying to order sushi in a Chinese restaurant!

Day four

On our last full day at Conrad Maldives the weather was simply perfect! We woke up quite early to enjoy our snorkeling excursion in the Ocean and we were picked up with a boat and taken off the coast, where the water was deeper.

It was one of the best experiences of our lives; there are just no words to describe the feeling of what we saw underwater! Corals, turtles, baby sharks, and mantras, they were all swimming right next to us.

We had lunch at Rangali bar, fueling up after having spent the morning swimming in between the corals.

Our second excursion was the Lucky Dolphin Sunset Cruise, where we were picked up in a luxury yacht and drove into the sunset, hoping to see some dolphins. We were lucky enough to spot quite a few, playing and jumping near our boat. They seemed so happy and free!

Our last dinner was a lovely Maldivian night, where we had the opportunity to try the local food and to learn a bit about Maldivian traditions. We enjoyed our night so much and we met the nicest people that were hosting the evening.

Day five

Our last day had come! We decided to fight the sadness of leaving by ordering in room service and by enjoying our breakfast on the private terrace, admiring a beautiful sunrise for the last time.

This is not a goodbye beautiful Maldives, it’s a see you soon again!