Paradise Found!

I’ve travelled the world for many years with my daughter, experiencing European culture, American hospitality, Middle Eastern luxury and Asian adventures.  However, we had both always expressed a longing desire to experience the ultimate experience of a trip to the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives.

I’ll be honest and admit that the expected high cost was one of the reasons this hadn’t been researched further.  Another potential concern was ending up on an over-commercialised island resort that had been created purely to provide 5 Star Luxury Spa experiences for pampered guests, rather than the authentic, back-to-nature experience we were seeking.

However, after months of research and review reading, we eventually found an island that ticked all of the boxes and was within our budget, for a 10 day trip in May.  This turned out to be the 3 Star Embudu Village Resort (http://embuduvillage.com/) on the South Male Atoll.

Embudu Village is a very small island, measuring just 380 metres x 150 metres (yes, metres!), located 455 km north of the equator and just 10 km south of the island capital of Male.  The location was perfect for a Spring vacation.  Not too hot during the day and the occasional evening rainfall burst to clear the air and freshen up the plants and trees. 

It was also perfect because after a 13-hour journey from the UK, via Istanbul, with Turkish Airlines (who are very good, by the way), we were transferred to the island on a speed boat, just for the two of us, which felt very special indeed and an exhilarating start to the holiday.

As with all Maldives island resorts, one hotel takes up the whole island, but I would use the term ‘hotel’ loosely for Embudu Village.  It comprises central reception, lounge & restaurant buildings (all of which are open-sided), surrounded by a series of beach bungalows scattered throughout the grounds.  It also has a beautiful beach bar, to watch the sunsets, a water sports centre, a small spa facility and some games equipment.

However, the icing on the cake was the fact that I had upgraded to a water bungalow.  Now I know that I said I was on a budget but our dreams of being on such an island had always included staying in an over-water bungalow, surrounded by clear turquoise seas, with an outside deck area and tropical fish visible through the glass viewing pane in the floor. 

Then thank goodness I did pay for the upgrade because the water bungalow delivered exactly that and furthermore, I thought we may never be able to go back there again, so we might as well experience it to the full!

All meals were included, and we were provided with a vast banquet of varied choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.  There was something available for every taste and nationality, so no need to worry about not liking the food.  We chose not to upgrade to the inclusive drinks package and given the very reasonable priced drinks that were on offer (despite the captive audience), this was a wise decision.

However, the main highlights of our stay were the staff and the island itself.  From the second we walked off the speed boat, we were encouraged to take off our footwear and they more or less stayed off for the remainder of our stay.  The island was covered in sand and there was something very liberating and back-to-nature about walking around every day on pure fine sand.  We even went for regular barefoot evening runs around the island, which provided us with a nice 800 metre ‘track’ between the beaches and the palm trees.  There was also an abundance of wildlife on the island.

But it was the staff that really made our stay so special.  The Maldivians are extremely generous, humble and polite people and the service we were offered was always genuinely friendly and authentic. 

Other highlights of the trip were snorkelling off their own personal reef, canoeing around the island, stand-up paddle boarding and obviously just relaxing on the pure white sand beaches (please note, not a motor to be heard!).  We also had a couple of very close encounters with Tiger fish and small sharks but apparently, they are relatively harmless in this part of the world 😃!  However, for this reason alone, I would strongly recommend taking a waterproof camera.

Diving courses and trips were also available for those looking to put in a little more effort but we decided that the occasional run and daily walks to the beach and restaurant were just about the limit of our desire to exert ourselves on this trip.

So, in summary, this really did turn out to be the holiday of a lifetime, which actually exceeded our expectations and provided us with lasting memories of our adventures.  So please, if you ever have a chance to experience such a holiday, you really should go for it.   
  

You can forget your phones and social media here, as this is a destination to get away from it all, reconnect with nature and realise that material things do not make you happier – that always comes from within!