Anyone been to the Maldives and have any suggestions on where to stay? Are there some good deals to be had in terms of packages?

The Maldives have always been on my dream travel list. It looks so beautiful but seems so far to travel for someone living on the West coast of the US. Do you dive?

Here are a couple of sites that might be useful.

Visit Maldives

Lonely Planet Guide to Maldives

Trip Advisor Maldive forum

Marta, thanks for the links

I don't dive but I want to learn, I probably will not dive on this trip. Actually I am heading to Bangalore, India for 2 wks in Feb '09 and planning to take a flight to Maldives for 3-4 nights to get some R&R! It's an hr and a half flight from BLR. I admit otherwise it would be a very long trip.

I found another site that seems to have some very good prices on resorts (considering all of them are pretty expensive).

http://www.gate2maldives.com

and an incredible video!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-toQZUBdrEs

if you can I would really recommend the diving. I am by no means an expert - only done it a couple of times - but it is an amazing experience and a whole new way to experience the sea...

Hi, thanks! do I need to get a certification for that? If so, can I get it here in Los Angeles and how long does it take?

I spent a week there in 2000. We flew a charter from Frankfurt and the flights only went on a weekly basis.

We stayed at an all-inclusive and you absolutely must do that; the food and drink were astronomical. I don't remember the place we stayed but I wouldn't recommend it anyway. We had a water hut and that was pretty cool, but it was short on amenities (for my standards and for what I paid).

We booked through a travel agent in Germany. I would wait until you get to Bangalore and go through a travel agent there.

I have had the fortune to vivit twice. My favourite was the Angsana, Ihuru island
http://www.angsana.com/en/ihuru/index.html

Reason: The islands are minute and it was just 25 minutes away from Malé by speed boat, meaning that if boredom sets in you can at least get to Malé for the day. Secondly, it is just a few 100 metres from its more expensive and upmarket Banyan Tree sister Hotel and there is a boat that goes across every hour or so, so again, if you feel you need a change of scenery, it is easy to do. One can even canoe across!

Angsana Ihuru is nothing short of superb! Diving is spectacular (dive school on the island) and the reef is just a few metres from the shore line with a very steep drop, so spectacular for fish. Full marks to them also for an environmental policy and a turtle breeding programme which are wonderful.

All inclusive is the way to go - food and drink are very expensive as everything has to be bought in. However - true paradise has to come at a cost.

100% recommended. I cannot wait to return.

Michael