Originally Posted by kyushuman

Hi, newcomer to Maldives here. Have 4 Marriott free night certificates that I was able to redeem. So, while I generally wouldn't spend $800/night on a hotel anywhere, I could this year!

Looking to visit the Le Meridien in June and then another place (maybe an all inclusive or something?) and seeing many hotels on islands fairly close by (not on the same island though). Do I have to return to Male and fly back? Are there intra-island boats? Would getting a boat end up costing as much as a flight and taking a whole day with departure and transfers etc? Doing research on Maldives hotel-to hotel transfers hasn't found me much information.

To avoid the extra $450-550 per person in fees, we'd probably just stay somewhere near Male if necessary since we'll have the 5 nights at the LM already, and adding cash nights there would be cost prohibitive. In addition, seems that many people say 8-10 nights at the same hotel might be a little boring, though I'm sure I could fill up my time!
Thoughts/ideas? Thanks in advance.