One Friday morning in Dubai, I woke up and packed a stupidly small backpack with a handful of things for a night away in Abu Dhabi. About 7 hours later, I found myself lying on a sun bed, sipping a mojito on an island in the Maldives – wondering what the hell had just happened.
It’s not often that someone can outright surprise me, let alone my boyfriend; however, on this occasion (there was no particular ‘occasion’ by the way), he executed his plan with cunning precision and strictly enforced a “no questions” policy as we drove to Abu Dhabi.
Now, you may be thinking, “surely you knew something was up when you took a turn for the airport?” and you would be right. I thought to myself “is he seriously taking me to Muscat for the night? I’m really not feeling this, but I’ll act surprised because it’s a kind gesture”. Yes, I was that person, thinking those thoughts because, well, pre-coffee Siobháin at 06.30 in the morning is just not a nice person. No judgement, please.
We arrived at the airport for a standby flight with Etihad, headed to the staff travel counter (perks of his job) and checked-in. Actually, he checked-in while I aimlessly stared into space until I heard the lady behind the counter say “Flying to Malé today, sir?” at which time my pre-coffee ears perked up and my brain semi-kicked into action because Malé definitely wasn’t in Muscat the last time I checked. But it was still too early to be alert enough to register exactly where Malé was.
Anyway, fast forward one hour and we’re sitting in the front row of a business class flight (I know, I couldn’t believe it either) with a glass of champagne, and I’m almost pee-ing with the excitement of it all.
We landed in Malé about four hours later and were taken by speedboat to Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa for our whirlwind adventure.
24 hours in the Maldives
No doubt, there are people out there who think it is absolutely absurd to fly to the Maldives for one night, and I get it, but the spontaneity of it all and the champagne-fuelled return flights made it bearable; I assure you. In fact, if you love action-packed adventures, then it’s more than enough time to pack in the following:
A night in the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort and Spa
What made it possible to enjoy 24 hours in the Maldives was the nearby location of Sheraton Maldives in relation to the airport; it takes just 20 minutes by speedboat to arrive at the resort, which sits alone on Furanafushi Island. We booked an affordable deluxe room and got upgraded to a beach cottage upon arrival; there are even more luxurious options, including dreamy over-water villas with private pools. The resort is also home to 7 bars and restaurants, of which we tried at least 4.
A visit to the Shine Spa island retreat
I had never realised that we lived in a world where there were spas sitting on their own islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean – until I stayed at Sheraton Maldives, and I have yet to to visit a spa on its own island since. And I don’t mean that the spa was on the same island as the resort; you actually had to cross an overwater walkway to get to the spa that sat out in the sea. It was incredible, so I stayed way longer than I should have, basking in the surreal luxury of it all.
Snorkelling around water villas and jet-skiing
The resort has its own water-sports centre, so the morning after we arrived at Sheraton Maldives, we went snorkelling and snooping around in the ocean beneath the overwater villas. The only thing we regret is not taking a GoPro – not for the photos but for actual proof of how glass-clear the water was and how insane the colours of some of the fish were; we’re talking electric pink, neon yellow and some straight-out-of-Nemo cartoon colours.
We also took a jet-ski for a 30-minute spin along the front beach of the resort, despite the water becoming extremely choppy; it made for some interesting and unexpected jet-ski jumping, by accident.
Sunsets… and some casual sharks
The beaches at Sheraton Maldives are dreamy; the only flaw is that the front beach looks out at some construction that’s happening in the distance, so you have to try to pretend that that is not happening, or you can just skip around to the side or the back of the island if you want nothing but ocean.
To make up for it, at around 5.30pm everyday, there is a sunset shark feeding session at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa, where you can actually stand in the shallows of the ocean while baby sharks swarm around you. It’s a pretty intimate affair and definitely worth getting off your sun-lounger for.
Leaving the island life behind…
Runway to runway, this whirlwind adventure took 36 hours (24 magical hours at Sheraton Maldives, just over 4 hours on both flights, plus some commuting time), and I would do it all again tomorrow. If I could change anything, it would have been the fluctuating weather – which is always an out-of-your-control risk when you have limited time. We experienced the dreamy blue-sky backdrop, but also some thundery skies at certain intervals of the day.
I always feel compelled to tell like-minded people that 24 hours in the Maldives is totally doable if you’re flying in from a nearby country like the UAE; it was far better than any weekend road-trip, and we didn’t have to take days off work. Do we want to go back, hop on a seaplane and experience another – more remote – island? Of course. But did it provide a glimpse of the luxury island life without breaking the bank? Yes – food and drinks are expensive in the Maldives though; remember, you can’t just ‘pop out’ for dinner.
You will, of course, leave the Sheraton Maldives wishing you had ‘one more night’, but leaving with the feeling of wanting more is always better than the feeling of missing out.
Leave a Reply