Originally Posted by Derman0524

Anyone know what times the seaplane flies out at? As well, is the STR Male airport lounge 24/7? Our flight from Abu Dhabi lands at 5:30am in Male and unsure about the details surrounding what our day will look like. I guess one of the pros is that we'll be amongst the first in the STR lounge and can bum around for some hours even if we'll be super tired.

Will they be offering any food and drink in the airport lounge?

We land April 23rd any info would be greatly appreciated

Originally Posted by kaptain72

Making our first trip to the Maldives in mid-March and very excited. A few questions:
1) We're flying Qatar and have 9-ish hour layovers each way in Doha (evening/night outbound and overnight return). I booked the Oryx airport hotel each way. Is that the best option?
2) We're in SOWV and I've ready people struggling to get an umbrella from the resort. Shade is important for both of us. Has anyone tried packing a portable umbrella that clamps to a chair? Any other alternatives?
3) I know it's all about relaxation but any must do activities? The fishing looks interesting and we'll definitely be snorkeling. I'm an experienced scuba diver but reviews in here lead me to believe it's tough to get out to interesting sites with other experienced divers through the resort.

Thank you in advance for responses.

Originally Posted by houstr8male

We also booked the Oryx hotel both ways with 8-9 hour layovers to and from the US on Qatar. It is pricey but well worth it IMO. Having a quiet and private room is far better than sitting in a lounge assuming you have access. I've used the Oryx quite a few times. We had a large deck umbrella for our SOWV. The sun blasts the deck in the afternoon so I'm not sure how the resort could justify not providing an umbrella. My fiancé did the parasailing which she enjoyed. We didn't do other paid activities but enjoyed several spa treatments.

Originally Posted by houstr8male

We also booked the Oryx hotel both ways with 8-9 hour layovers to and from the US on Qatar. It is pricey but well worth it IMO. Having a quiet and private room is far better than sitting in a lounge assuming you have access. I've used the Oryx quite a few times. We had a large deck umbrella for our SOWV. The sun blasts the deck in the afternoon so I'm not sure how the resort could justify not providing an umbrella. My fiancé did the parasailing which she enjoyed. We didn't do other paid activities but enjoyed several spa treatments.

Originally Posted by LovetoTravel83

Our class of travel had first class included and Alsafwa lounge provided rooms for all of us. We had two rooms all together and had a good night sleep.

Originally Posted by kaptain72

Thank you. Did you have to request the umbrella in advance or was already set up for you? Based on your username, I'm guessing our departure airport is the same (IAH). And I didn't know they offered parasailing, that would be fun, thank you.

Originally Posted by kaptain72

We're traveling business but is the fare class that doesn't include lounge. When I looked up the price of Alsafwa for two people, it wasn't much cheaper than getting the room at Oryx ($275 vs $300 USD). We went with the hotel for the privacy but was curious of others thoughts so thank you. If Alsafwa was included in our fare we definitely would gone that route.

Originally Posted by kaptain72

Making our first trip to the Maldives in mid-March and very excited. A few questions:
1) We're flying Qatar and have 9-ish hour layovers each way in Doha (evening/night outbound and overnight return). I booked the Oryx airport hotel each way. Is that the best option?
2) We're in SOWV and I've ready people struggling to get an umbrella from the resort. Shade is important for both of us. Has anyone tried packing a portable umbrella that clamps to a chair? Any other alternatives?
3) I know it's all about relaxation but any must do activities? The fishing looks interesting and we'll definitely be snorkeling. I'm an experienced scuba diver but reviews in here lead me to believe it's tough to get out to interesting sites with other experienced divers through the resort.

Thank you in advance for responses.

Originally Posted by Crandolph2001

We are here now..
2. All SOWV have umbrellas. The 2 bedrooms and the sunrise do not.

Originally Posted by noeatbutgo

Thank you.
Just to be clear- are the umbrellas handy-ones or big ones like parasol?

Originally Posted by Crandolph2001

We are here now..

1. Yes, Oryx is the best option if you can get in, it books up a lot
2. All SOWV have umbrellas. The 2 bedrooms and the sunrise do not.
3. We are experiencend divers as well, although we have only done one dive so far, there was only one other diver on the boat and he seemed experienced as well. If you let the dive shop know you are well experienced and want to go to deeper and more challenging sites, they will take you. The snorkeling here is good to excellent too on the two house reefs. We have spent over 3 hours snorkeling in the first two days here and have seen 2 black tip reef sharks, a spotted eagle ray and a large stingray. Plenty of life on the reef, especially at the wall.

Originally Posted by westcoastscott

Last week we landed about that time and got to lounge in about an hour. We then flew to the resort at 930 Male time. Remember the resort is not the same time as Male it is another hour later then Male. They have a nice food offering in the lounge.