What I Wish I’d Known Before Our Family’s Trip to the Maldives
know what you're thinking! Maldives, what is there to know, but pack your bathing suits and go enjoy a heavenly holiday in the breathtaking waters of the Indian Ocean. And that's what we did. We packed lots and lots of bathing suits, slippers and of course some "Instagrammable outfits" for our evenings in Maldives. Little did we know before arriving there with our family and two nieces, all three kids between the ages of 3-10 years.
We booked our tickets 6 months in advance, and departing from Tirana, Albania, the best option for us to travel was Fly Dubai. We choose this airline because it had one layover in Dubai and the total flight length was divided in half. So we traveled for 5 hours to Dubai. Had a layover of 3.5 hours and then another 5 hours to Maldives.
Sky above, sand below and peace within..
Our plane landed in the Maldives early in the morning, and we were so excited for the week ahead. But then—what a surprise…
The weather was not the best, I may even say terrible. December was supposed to be the dry season in the Maldives, but a cyclone had hit India, and the islands were feeling the aftereffects. Our plane struggled a bit to land, circling the airport a few times while we waited nervously. Not at all how I imagined to film the landing for our YouTube Vlog. But finally, we made it. Even with the bad weather, it still felt like a dream to just be there.
As soon as we stepped off the plane, we were hit by the intense heat—even though it was pouring rain. Dressed for the chilly airport and flight, we instantly felt overheated. We headed to pick up our luggage, but surprise number two was waiting for us—all six of our suitcases were missing. We waited and waited with three very tired kids, but nothing showed up. Finally, we went to the information desk, only to learn that a system glitch during our transit in Dubai had caused confusion. They weren’t even sure if our luggage had left Dubai at all. To make things worse, the plane that brought us to the Maldives had already taken off for Colombo, Sri Lanka—so we could only guess that our bags might have gone with it.
We filled out some forms with our hotel details, luggage descriptions, and sizes, and the airport staff assured us they would contact the hotel as soon as they had any updates. With the scorching heat, we stepped outside and waited for our boat transfer to Villa Nautica Paradise Island Resort. They offered us water during the ride, but it wasn’t exactly cold or refreshing. Still, the kids absolutely loved the experience which lasted around 20 minutes.
As soon as we arrived at the resort’s little port, our host greeted us warmly and helped us into a buggy, taking us to the reception and waiting area.
Those pool days
Husband, with a view
ven though the weather wasn’t perfect, our resort truly felt like a paradise. When booking, we knew our hotel wasn’t the most luxurious—it was a five-star economical option. For our dates, the average cost per room (since we booked three together) was around €2,000 per room, including the boat transfer and all-inclusive meels. Since we arrived early in the morning, around 9:30 AM, we had to wait a bit for check-in. Our host, Ermie, was incredibly sweet and did her best to get us into one of our rooms by 10 AM so we could freshen up and let the kids rest. But in the end, all seven of us—four adults and three kids—crashed in a triple room with just one double bed and a sofa bed. That alone shows how exhausted we were!
After some rest, we woke up to find out that our luggage was still missing. With the intense heat, our only option was to head to the gift shop and buy something to wear. Of course, we picked out beach dresses for the girls and swimwear or T-shirts for the rest of us—it was just too hot.
Our luggage started arriving one by one, beginning on the first evening and continuing until the second night. So, for the first two days, things were a bit uncomfortable for us.
The resort offered various activities and tours, with extra payment, which of course were quite expensive. The bigger kids and guys choose to go snorkelling and see the fish but that activity was cancelled due to bed weather so they rented some equipment and went snorkelling within the hotel and enjoyed the little fish and little sharks which were typical in the area.
But let’s stop talking about this and start talking about the resort. As I mentioned we did not expect luxury but the island, even though small was quite lovely. With a lot of greenery, trees and amazing view. Our rooms were basic because we had chosen standard villas. A part of the resort, including the main pool and deluxe rooms were fully renovated but ours wasn’t so it was quite basic (as expected, no surprise there). The pool area was lovely, the buffet restaurant was quite big and with a lot of food options but not as much fish options as we expected. Everyday we had tunna option and just 1 night out of 7 we found shrimps in the buffet. We were under the expression they would serve more fish being near the ocean.
As far as the animation goes, we were quite board. During the day it was quite and during the nights there was a mini-disco for little kids (around 30 minutes) and then live music with mostly put you to sleep. So most of the nights we headed to our villas and enjoyed some drinks by the terrace. If I could do it all again, I would have choosen a maximum of five nights in the Maldives and a layover of tw nights in Dubai (or three), to make things more interesting.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, it was full of surprises and here goes another one: what we did not expect at all was to get a terrible sunburn with a black sky and rain, even though we were having fun in the pool as it still was very hot. The sunburn turned into an infection as our skin and face was swallowed and our eyes felt so heavy. Luckily we brought so many medicines for this trip including sunburn allergy and biting cream but they did little to help as our swelling continued until around the end of our holidays. So our tip: put lots and lots of sunscreen in Maldives even though the weather may look bad because that sunburn is the worst.
Considering the long flight, and not many entertainment options in our resort, we would probably never go to Maldives again with three kids. Maybe a romantic trip for two in a more luxurious hotel but this, don’t think so.
Before booking our tickets for Maldives we were even considering The Dominican Republic and right now it feels like that would have been a better choice for our family but without trying we would not know for sure. Anyway, that’s a desire for the next family trip. Meanwhile take a look at our YouTube Vlog:
BICA FAMILY
Hi, we are Bica family! We are Eneida, Dolsin, our almost 5-year-old Doen, our little one Ian who is 3-months old and our golden Shadow. As a blogger family we love to share our stories, experiences, and trips with the world! From fashion to parenthood, parenting to travel, we have a wide range of experiences that we love sharing with our online friends. We strive to bring our followers unique content that is both informative and entertaining.
