Bandos, Maldives

This was the view from our room. If you are going to the resort, opt for either the water villas or beach villas. We went with the beach villa. The villa in itself is spacious with the sitting and TV room on the ground floor and bedroom with a beach facing balcony on the first floor. The shower and jacuzzi were in the open area on the ground floor. The structure of the room helped keep the clutter and chaos to the minimum. The rooms in themselves were tastefully done.

Clear blue waters of the island almost felt unreal. The fishes in all their colours made their appearance.

Different shades of blue is what you get in Maldives.

There is one big difference that we noticed in our travel to the country. Unlike any other travel destination, there was no agenda that we had here. All the islands look and feel more or less the same, and hence you can take a ferry to various islands and see more or relax at one as we did. The only agenda we had was to eat and relax.

The lighter colour of the water comes from lighter tone of the sand, which is a beauty in itself.

Evenings were milder on the skin and soul. Though, we had read the peak season in Maldives continues till April end and we traveled end March early April, the days during this time were scorching, and gave us enough sun burns to remind us of the memories of the trip for days after we returned.

I can still hear the calming sounds of the waves as I see the pictures from this trip.

This was my view from my favourite beach-bed right in front of our villa. This view and my book - if ever a time machine is invented, this is the time I would pick to go back to.

The restaurants at the resort offer a variety of cuisines to take a pick from. From continental, local, Indian, Sri Lankan, Thai, and Japanese... All you need to do is keep picking a different restaurant every day and you are sorted. One thing to note is if you take a meal package at the time of your booking, your meals are provided at one specific restaurant that limits your choice of cuisine to an extent.

It was as easy and laid back a vacation as it could be. The resort in itself, was a comfortable distance from Male. It took us about fifteen to twenty minutes to reach the resort on a speed boat arranged by the resort. For children in particular, the resort has a child club, baby sitting facilities... The restaurants were open to tweaking their dishes slightly to cater to their young guests. The husband also went for scuba diving and his account of the experience does sound encouraging, with views of coral, beautiful fishes of all sizes and colours, and the deep blues of the ocean.

Do book the resort after checking how far it is to reach from Male, if that is a consideration for you. Some atolls are far enough to require another plan ride from Male.