The idea of jumping off the overwater villa into the ocean sounds appealing, but in reality, it can't be completed at some resorts.

1. The distance between the villa deck and the water is too high (8-12 feet)
2. The depth of the water is too shallow
3. There are sometimes corals immediately underneath the villa which would be exceptionally painful and bad to break.

Having been to both the Sheraton Full Moon Maldives and the Park Hyatt Maldives, you could not safely jump off the deck at either of those places without hurting yourself or the corals.

I'd stick to keeping this dream alive by taking a boat trip and jumping off the boat, like they do on reality television dating shows.

As far as substitutions, Phuket has some overwater villas that are expensive, but not as expensive when you consider the additional airfare to get to MLE. I have not stayed there.

If you are on a budget, consider that adding Maldives to your trip will result in probably $3,000 USD by the time you add in airfare from SE Asia, transfers, food and accommodation. You could get some pretty rock star experiences for that price in Thailand (or elsewhere).