Prior to getting married, we had traveled to 10 different countries together and dreamed of a honeymoon that was going to top it all. Here is what we decided on for our once in a lifetime bucket list trip:
Day 1: Fly from Vancouver, BC to Hong Kong
Day 2: Hong Kong 24 hour ‘layover’ - JW Marriott
Day 3: Fly from Hong Kong to Male, Maldives - Hotel Ocean Grand at Hulhumale
Day 4: Seaplane from Male to our first resort - Hurawalhi Island Resort
Days 5-10: Hurawalhi Island Resort
Day 11: Boat ride from Hurawalhi to Kanuhura Island
Days 12-16: Kanuhura Island
Day 17: Seaplane from Kanuhura to Male and fly from Male to Hong Kong
Day 18-19: Hong Kong - Ritz Carlton
Day 20: Fly from Hong Kong to Vancouver, BC
Hurawalhi Island Resort
Kanuhura Island Resort
Why we chose the Maldives
We wanted to experience an incredible place to celebrate our honeymoon and there are so many popular honeymoon destinations around the world! Our first runner up was Bora Bora, and we would have considered Patagonia or New Zealand if it was during their summer months. In the end, we chose the Maldives and we are so happy that we did!
With the Maldives being significantly further from the US than Bora Bora, we figured this was our chance because we might not get the opportunity for such a long journey ever again. We also did hundreds of hours of research and talked with friends that have visited both the Maldives and Bora Bora to come to our decision. Some of the biggest advantages we discovered about the Maldives is that the level of service is unmatched, the culinary scene is exceptional, and with hundreds of luxury resorts, competition in the area sets the bar very high. One the contrary there are only five resorts to chose from in Bora Bora and they are seldom updated. In the end, we found the Maldives to be the best value for us to spend 14 nights on the islands.
Getting there
Being halfway around the world, and with no direct flights from the US, the Maldives is quite challenging to get to. The main international Maldivian airport is in the capital city of Male and there are only a handful of direct flight options to get there (below). Many of these do not operate year round, and only fly during the high season (US winter months). Below, the bold flights also operate during the low season (US summer months). You’ll notice that many of the European direct flight options only fly during the high season.
Cities with direct flights to Male:
Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Bengaluru, Colombo, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Thiruvananthapuram, Vienna, and Zurich.
We flew Hong Kong Air round trip between Vancouver, BC and Hong Kong (allowing us to have a few days on each side exploring Hong Kong) and Cathay Pacific round trip from Hong Kong to Male, Maldives. Hong Kong Air actually had very reasonably priced Business Class seats available which allowed us to lay down on the 14 hour flight to HK (a life changing experience for an overseas flight!). For those in the US, we were able to use our Alaska Airlines miles to book Economy Plus seats on Cathay Pacific for our round trip flight between Hong Kong and the Maldives. In order to redeem Alaska miles on Cathay, you must call Alaska to book as the flights are not listed on Alaska Airline’s website.
Once you land in Male, you still need to get to your island! The Maldives is made up of ~1190 coral islands arranged in 26 atolls. They stretch roughly 466 miles from North to South (over half the length of the California coast!). Of the 1190 islands, ~132 of them are resorts. Most of these resorts are only reachable by seaplanes that are run by the local Maldivian airline, Trans Maldivian Airways. There are a handful of resorts close enough to Male, that they can be reached by boat. Read about how to pick resorts, in our blog post The Maldives - How to Stay at Multiple Resorts.
The round trip Trans Maldivian Airways flights are usually booked through your resort, and generally runs $500+ round trip per person! There are also “strict” luggage weight restrictions for these sea plane flights, so make sure you check with your resort on the requirements which can vary slightly. It’s also worth noting, that the sea planes only fly during the day (~6AM-6PM). Therefore, depending on when your international flight lands in Male, you will likely have to spend a night in Male on one or both sides of your island resort stay! Factor this in to your schedule as you’re booking your flights and resorts.
Fun layover in Hong Kong
Sunrise seaplane to Hurawalhi
Kanuhura beauty
How Long should you stay in the maldives
We REALLY wanted two weeks of beach time for our honeymoon but also didn’t want to completely break the bank doing so. The good news for the Maldives, is that the (US) summer months are considered the “off season” with the bad news being it’s also the “rainy season”!!!! With it being the off season, the resort pricing we found to be HALF AS EXPENSIVE as the equivalent bungalows in Bora Bora. We were still torn, because the last thing we wanted to do was have it rain every day. As you can see below, there is definitely more rainfall in the Maldives during the US summer months, compared to January-March.
Although the chance of rain is a bit higher in July, the lower prices actually made it much more possible to stay for longer! We decided that it would spread out the risk of rain by staying for two weeks during July, at a lower nightly price than the high season. Of course, we did have a few cloudy and rainy days, but in general it would be a quick shower and we could still be outside for most of the day!
Read more about traveling to the Maldives during the rainy season and why we highly recommend going in July: Visiting the Maldives During the Rainy Season (May - December)
How we chose our resorts
With our honeymoon being a once in a lifetime experience, we wanted to experience more than one resort! Read about the details of how we were able to stay at multiple resorts: The Maldives - How to Stay at Multiple Resorts.
In short, some of our biggest factors included:
Distance to airport
Proximity to our other resort (access by boat ride)
Reviews, reviews, reviews!!!
We spent hours reading through TripAdvisor reviews to understand all of the small differences between the resorts. One of the biggest differences between Hurawalhi and Kanuhura is that Hurawalhi was adults only - this ended up being a very noticeable difference for us “honeymooners”!
We also wanted to have amazing food, and both Hurawalhi and Kanuhura hit it out of the park! The all-inclusive plans are nothing like the rest of the world. The buffets are curated by world class chefs and it’s just like a 5-star restaurant. We recommend splitting up your stay between all-inclusive and non-all-inclusive so you can spend some days experiencing restaurants that are not part of the food plan.
Our Resorts: Hurawalhi & Kanuhura
Hurawalhi Overwater Bungalows
Kanuhura Overwater Bungalows
Timeline of planning
We suggest planning your trip to the Maldives at least 5 months in advance in the off-season, and longer in the busy season. Contrary to popular belief, you can make it work somewhat ‘last minute’ in the off season. We planned our trip in mid February for our July honeymoon.
As always, reach out if you have any questions!