Travelzoo offered a one week stay at the You & Me resort on the Raa Atoll for less than one half the listed price. We paid approximately $5,000 for a week in what they call a Dolphin Villa with a plunge pool. In addition, we paid about $1,000 for the two of us for the round trip seaplane ride between Male and the resort.
The First Day
The trip started off wrong. Visitors do not need a visa. However, it is necessary to register online before passing immigration.
In Malaysia, they have the same requirement. However, they have computers set up in the entrance hall that make the registration fairly easy.
In Male, the capital, they have a single computer available, but it is useless. The registration process requires both a picture of your passport cover page, and a picture of you, but they don’t have a camera on the computer.
I tried to register with my phone. The entry website would not accept a photo of my passport nor a selfie. I tried uploading the needed photos but I kept getting a message that I had to upload an image … even though the files I was uploading were JPGs.
My phone is an Android. My girlfriend’s phone is an iPhone. She had much better luck that I did. She completed the registration for me. If it hadn’t been for her, I would probably still be there trying to get into the country.
My point is, if you are coming to the Maldives, make sure to complete the online registration before you get there.
There’s another reason you should complete the registration in advance. It says, that you are not allowed to bring alcohol with you, something I did not know. I didn’t know that the Maldives is a Muslim country.
I knew that there was a 10 hour time difference between the East Coast of the USA and the Maldives. I was sure I would wake up in the middle of the night for several days and that would be an ideal time to catch up on e-mail. I knew that it was not possible to get a drink between midnight and 10 AM (or, at a minimum, ridiculously expensive to do so), so I bought a bottle of Spanish brandy in the Philippines, had a couple glasses in Malaysia, the night before I flew to the Maldives, and then packed the bottle in my suitcase.
The Maldives X-rayed my bag, saw there was a bottle of liquid in it, and put 3 stickers like the one in the picture below on my bag. Customs confiscated the brandy. If it hadn’t been opened they would have let me pick it up when I left the country.
The stickers were designed to be permanently fixed. I had to use a knife to scrape them off which damaged the suitcase.
I was annoyed. The Maldives may be a Muslim country but they are perfectly willing to sell alcohol to visitors as long as they can sell it for 5 times the going rate, but I am not allowed to bring a small amount for personal use with me.
We were met by an agent of You & Me resort. He took us to a lounge to wait for our seaplane. He said to help ourselves to food and beverage. I asked if I could get a glass of wine. He told me the only place int the Maldives, I could get an alcoholic beverage is at one of the many approved resorts.
I had never flown on a seaplane before. It was from the company TMA or Trans Maldavian Airways. They claim to be the largest seaplane company in the world and I believe them. There must have been 15 seaplanes at the docks.
The plane was full and stuffy. There were a couple of traditional electric fans mounted on the bulkhead to provide circulation.
Our bags had to come in on a later flight due to weight limitations.
The cockpit was open to the rest of the plane so we could watch the pilots and the dashboard.
We flew at about 500 feet or 150 meters above sea level. As soon as we left Male, we started passing over resorts like the one shown below.
After about 40 minutes, we landed. An alarm sounded for about 2 seconds and the landing was a bit rough. Most of the passengers disembarked. We were the only two passengers remaining.
We took off again and flew for another 6 or 7 minutes to the Raa atoll.
The Resort
We were met by the attendant who had been assigned to us. He drove us in a golf cart to our villa. It was the 16th villa on the left along the boardwalk shown below. It was the first villa with a plunge pool. It took between 5 and 10 minutes to walk from the beach along the boardwalk to our villa.
The villa consisted of a large room with a bed in the middle, a refrigerator and shelves on the left, a large bathroom with two sinks and a shower that opened to the rear terrace, and the terrace with the attached “dolphin pool”. There was a ladder descending into the ocean, but our attendant advised us not to go in because the current was very strong.
Our reservation was supposedly “all inclusive”. The refrigerator contained soft drinks, juice, beer, and wine. There were 3 half-size bottles of spirits (rum, vodka, and Jack Daniels). We were allowed to help ourselves to the non-alcoholic beverages, but we would have pay for anything alcoholic. For example, it would cost $50 if we opened the half bottle of Jack Daniels.
The only alcoholic drinks included in the all inclusive package were drinks from their restricted lists of beer and wine at lunch and dinner and from a more complete list of spirits and drinks between 10 AM and midnight at the Cheers bar which was about a 15 minute walk from our villa. More about that later.
From our bed, we could look out onto the ocean. We could hear the surf crashing on the reef. One night, the ocean was especially rough and the villa shook as the waves crashed against it.
We saw many beautiful sunsets from our balcony.
When it got dark, a light went on in the pool. All the villas with plunge pools were lighted with blue light.
There was a large, bright full moon while we were there.
Dining
You and Me had 5 restaurants. Breakfast was always in the Sand and dinner in the Sand did not require reservations. Two nights a week, dinner in the Sand was from a buffet and the other 5 nights, it was a la carte. One buffet was of Maldivian and the other was Indian.
Lunch was available without reservations at the Green Carpet which was next to the pool.
There were two specialty restaurants that required reservations for lunch or dinner: La Pasta and the Rising Sun. A description of the fifth restaurant, H2O, follows in the next section.
Lunch at the Rising Sun
In general, the food at all the restaurants was excellent! They offered specialties such as lobster for $70 or $140 and a steak for $100, but the standard menu was so good that we were not tempted by the specialties. In my opinion, the awards they display for their food are well-deserved.
On the other hand, their house wines were acid and I thought one of the two beers they offered was terrible. They had quality wine available at a hefty price.
We had one waiter who regularly tried to persuade us to have lobster for dinner and to get a bottle of wine for $100 or have a glass of champagne for $20. I started call him Mr. Lobster which he thought was funny. From talking to him, I learned that he was Muslim, didn’t drink wine, and he didn’t like lobster. That didn’t stop him from trying to sell them to us.
H2O – The Underwater Restaurant
You and Me had an underwater restaurant named H2O. We were told that the price for eating there was $300, but our voucher gave us a 20% discount. Since the price for our stay was for the two of us, I assumed the $300 charge was also for the two of us … it was not. Dinner cost $300 per person. Lunch cost $200 per person. If we wanted wine with the meal, we would have to pay an additional $170 (for both of us, not per person).
We had lunch there one afternoon. We skipped the wine, but still had to pay $21 for water.
As you can see from the pictures, the view of the marine life was impressive.
The meal was good, but portions were small. We had to leave an hour and a half after arriving.
I felt that we had to try H2O once while staying at the resort. I don’t regret eating there. However, the total bill came to $341. It would have been $490 if we had had wine. I would not go back. I would rather eat in a 5-star restaurant and then visit an aquarium.
Cheers
The only place we could drink anything alcoholic other than beer and wine with our meals was at the Cheers bar. Although they charged for most of the spirits, they did have a reasonable selection of quality spirits that were included in the all-inclusive package. I did not feel deprived at all.
Their signature cocktails were good. I especially liked the “Deep End” and I noticed it was popular with many of their other guests.
The bartenders were from India and Sri Lanka. Talking with them was a real pleasure.
The Resort
The island environment was magnificent. The sand was soft and clean. When we walked on the boardwalk from our villa to the island, we saw schools of fish day and night. On one occasion, when I was snorkeling not 4 feet from the shore, I suddenly found myself in the middle of a large school of fish.
The ocean and the clouds and the moon were gorgeous. It is easy to understand why people dream about vacationing in the Maldives.
At night, the boardwalks and garden circles were attractively lighted.
Back to Male
While we waited for a flight back to Male, I saw an enormous bat whiz by the reception area. Unfortunately, it was gone before I could get a picture. I asked about it and was told it was a fruit bat. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say its wingspan was as large as that of an eagle.
Our flight back to Male was much more comfortable than our flight to the resort.
As you can see in the photo below, our pilot flew barefoot. He was certainly more skilled than our prior pilot. The landing was gentle and no alarm sounded.
We stayed overnight in Male in the Beehive Hotel. They sent a driver to pick us up at the airport. The van drove from the airport across the China-Maldives Friendship bridge and arrived almost immediately at the hotel.
The hotel was reasonably priced and comfortable. On the other hand, food served in the restaurant was made from instant or frozen products. They did not have some of the items on the menu. Oh well, at least it was not expensive.
We did not get a chance to explore Male. What I did see, did not impress me. I did find it interesting to watch people surf by the bridge.
Our room was supposed to have a balcony with a city view. This was not something they should have bragged about … it looked more like a slum to me.
The next morning, they drove us and numerous other guests to the airport.
After checking in and going through security, we entered the duty-free shop. Of course, they had one section devoted to selling alcohol. I couldn’t help but remember how they confiscated my bottle of brandy when I arrived and feel annoyed at what I consider to be the hypocrisy of the Maldives. Alcohol is against their religion unless they can make money selling it to you.
I started this entry by saying that I probably will not go back to the Maldives. The truth is, the islands and beaches really are special. In spite of my complaints, I don’t regret going. However, the world is big, there are lots all-inclusive resorts, and I hope, with time, I can find one somewhere else that can compete with the Maldives without the aggravations.