Arriving into Maldives is like nowhere else
As you approach Velana International Airport you begin to see the stunning Atoll’s, or clusters of island’s beneath, each surrounded by their own Coral Reef. There are 1192 individual islands in the Maldives which are spread out over 1,000kms North & South of the equator. Of these about 200 islands are locally inhabited, just over 150 are tourist resorts and the remaining islands are uninhabited.
Velana International Airport is pretty much a runway in the ocean
Until 2019 the airport operated with just one runway, but since 2020 a second runway has opened which, along with a new Sea-Plane Terminal has increased the airport’s capacity to support the number of new resorts that have opened in recent years. One side of the airport handles the speedboat transfers and the other side handles the sea-plane operations. Once you clear customs and immigration, you are met by our resort staff in the arrivals area outside the terminal building, who will arrange for your onward transfer to your resort.
Private Island Resorts
Unlike most destinations in the world, the concept of Maldives is : ONE ISLAND ONE HOTEL.
Some islands like Kandolhu for example you can walk around in just 7 minutes – others like Kuramathi are 1.8kms long which takes about 25 minutes to walk.
In recent years, guest house style hotels are opening up on the local islands, which are certainly a more affordable way of visiting the Maldives. However, please bear in mind, as Maldives is a Muslim country, you must respect the local customs and culture on these islands. Alcohol cannot be purchased and there are limited and quite basic dining facilities.
The tourist islands all offer restaurant & bar facilities as you would expect at home.
Above and below the water
Being an island nation, most of the resort leisure facilities are water based activities. Once you’re a confident swimmer, you’ll probably spend hours in the warm Indian Ocean waters snorkeling with opportunities to see Clown fish, Turtles, Eagle Rays and Manta Rays. Depending on the time of year and the Atoll your island is located in, you may even be lucky enough to swim with Whale Sharks.
All our resorts offer a wide choice of water sports from glass bottom kayaks to wind surfing and from wake boarding to kite surfing. In addition each island has it’s own PADI certified dive centre. For the more experienced divers certain resorts such as Kuramathi & Maafushivaru offering “blackwater” dives. In fact Kuramathi Maldives is one of only 3 resorts in Maldives to have it’s own decompression chamber.
Weddings in Maldives
Currently is is not possible to get married in the Maldives, however, most resorts do offer “renewal of vows” ceremonies or non-legally binding wedding ceremonies. In such cases, most couples would have a civil wedding at home, before heading out to the Maldives for a ceremony at their chosen resort.
Wedding packages are tailored to each individual couple with average prices varying from USD$1500 per couple upwards, depending on individual requirements such as photographer, number of photos, videographer, special dining arrangements, floral arrangements etc.
Please contact our Sales Team for full details.
