hyperzulu

Consider the people reviewing the resort and where they come from. I live in southern California and didn't consider the temperature hot. Someone visiting during London's winter months is probably coming into a difference of 40-50°F. I was in Dubai during the same time in early May and that was hot. I would say you really need to be careful with sun exposure at any time of the year. Wear sunscreen and a hat. The UV index seems to be very high to violet all the time.

alanslegal

Noodles for weak swimmers? I thought it would be the other way round, I mean, a non-swimmer with a life jacket strapped on, stays on the body literally forever, and they could float from the Maldives to Seychelles and be OK. A noodle on the other hand requires some form of control and as its not strapped on (ableit under one's underarms/chest) could dislodge, hence more riskier to non-swimmers/weaker swimmers if used inappropriately. Anyway we used life jackets in Seychelles and didn't like it, then used noodles on the Great Barrier Reef and enjoyed that way more. Even the GBR cruise company that we went on only allowed noodles to be used as aids and not life jackets. They also said life jackets are designed to put your head above water hence made it less favorable against noodles.

MaldivesFreak

As I mentioned, they use them for weak swimmers and kids on that excursion, to pull them through the water so they don't have to swim.

lhrhappy

I took the opposite approach on our upcoming (first) trip to the Maldives.

We'll be arriving MLE about 2130 after 16 hours in CX J, an overnight in HKG, and another 6 hours in CX J. I am certainly a novice, never having done this before, but I figured that I would prefer to wake up in my BV in paradise and enjoy a leisurely late breakfast at the resort rather than starting my day off by queueing up at the airport for a transfer. Am I totally off base? Or does everyone else value Hilton points higher than I do?

MaldivesFreak

Question is, how many nights are you there for? Presumably 5? Time is precious in paradise, that you will learn after your first visit.

And it might not be a question of the value of the points. When I pay cash I make it a point to O/N in Male, so it's a waste either way. If I were staying for a month (which, cross fingers, I'll be doing either this December or December 2018) then losing half a day wouldn't seem much of a negative, however I would still look at it as a waste of whatever I was paying with. To arrive into MLE say midday and get to Rangali early afternoon I could handle but checking in at 1AM and hitting the sack at 2.....no thanks. You'll probably be so tired that your breakfast will either be slept through or it'll be eaten while you're still half asleep!

Actually I would do the 1AM check-in, but only if they started pitching tents in the undergrowth for $100+++/pcpn and then start our actual holiday the next morning.

lhrhappy

HAH

We're going to be there for 9 nights, but I agree with you - that's still no reason to waste time.

I think that the factor that steered us in this direction is our difficulty in redeeming AA miles ex-flyover on premium products. We get to fly CX J (hopefully F if space opens up) on the way out, and we're booked in EY F (apartments on the AUH-JFK A380 leg) on the way back. If I could get in earlier, I would. Likewise, if I could leave later, I would do that, too. I feel like there are certainly a few things that could be improved about our schedule, but it's all subject to award availability.

ducksaucei3

Is scuba diving in July worth it? Would we be able to see manta rays if the "real" season is from Nov - Apr?

Would need to hurry and get open water certified beforehand. I've never dived before, and certainly don't want to spend close to $500 for certification + dives if it won't be worth it.

captainamerica

I wont have enough hilton points for my 5 night stay for another month. Is it worth reserving my 5 nights in cash right now (to ensure space doesnt fill up) and then just canceling it in a month when I have enough points?

gnomey

I heard this technique doesnt work for Hilton. It may work for other hotels e.g., Fairmont

Also, am I right that for 5 nights, you need 380K Hilton Points to perform the point-redemption transaction? And not 475 Hilton Points? My understanding is that the free 1 night is discounted at the point of transaction, and not like rebate style where you must have the full 95K points x 5 nights up front, then they give you back 95K points after that

captainamerica

I'm assuming they won't let me call in and change my reservation from a cash reward to a point reward. But what if I first cancel my cash reservation (which opens a room) and then call and ask to make a reservation with points. I don't see why that wouldn't work. Has anyone done something like this before to ensure there is room availability?

Cynicor

It won't necessarily open a room if they oversell. Which they do; they oversell the base BV massively as they know many people will pay for upgrades either in advance or on arrival, or just upgrade a diamond guest (they have heaps).
It's a risky strategy, I'd just await the points.

goliath

Correct.

MaldivesFreak

I don't know if Manta Point is deserted in the off season for mantas. Perhaps manneca or other divers can chip in here. Best to send an email to the Dive Centre and ask if you want an up-to-date answer.


If you are a HH Elite or a returning guest they would possibly help you on this but it would depend on timing and how well they know you. If you didn't leave it until the last minute you'd have a much better chance. As you can imagine, revenue generated by a cash sale is worth much more to them than a points booking where they earn nothing, hence they'd be reluctant to do this kind of thing on short notice and you certainly wouldn't want to go making a habit of it.

onlysuites

I got forced to do this due to a delayed incoming QR flight. I wouldn't suggest it as you need to fly on a jam packed flight to a local airport at 11pm. Then take a speedboat for 30 mins to the resort. Its far easier spending the night in MLE and getting up nice and easy to walk onto a sea plane without any headaches of checking in. I got in at 1am as the Island time is one hour ahead and by the time I had settled in it was close to 3am.

MaldivesFreak

If I understand correctly you can't get a flight a day earlier or one departing a day later, so the 9 nights at Rangali are pretty much fixed; it's either 9 nights with the first one pretty much wasted or you overnight in MLE and only stay 8 at the resort?