MaldivesFreak

For the most part, the max air temperature in the Maldives doesn't fluctuate more than 3-4 degrees and it almost never goes above 32 or 33 Celcius. The only times when temperatures are 'very high' is daytime, as opposed to nighttime. The difference in humidity between Bora Bora and the Maldives is negligible and the difference in sea temperature is only 1 to 1.5 degrees throughout the year. There are far more places on Earth with similar humidity and hotter temperatures than the Maldives and where the A/C keeps it cool.

Just by the room type I can imagine that you might have had problems. You have to consider the floor area and how hard the A/C has to work to cool all that space. Smaller rooms have proportionately less work for the A/C to do. I've stayed in plenty of OWVs in the Maldives in 4 or 5 different categories and they have been plenty cool enough. And yes, I'm not happy if the room isn't cooled to a nice, comfortable temperature.

Well, not exactly. It depends where you are talking about. As you can see from the graphic on the main page here https://www.seatemperature.org/, a huge portion of the Pacific is the same temperature as the Indian Ocean, and specifically, the area where the northern atolls of the Maldives are situated (and in the same band as Bora Bora). I check my weather app for the Maldives almost every day and the water temperature is, almost without fail, 29 Celcius, never exceeding 30 (which is consistent with that diagram). What you want to look out for is the resort and the maintenance crew. Sometimes you can get a bad A/C, one that needs re-gassing or repair, otherwise it really isn't an issue if you want a properly working A/C. I suggest you email whatever resort you're considering and specify that you need to be assigned a villa with a 100% functional and gassed A/C, and the engineering team to check your room out for any problems and gas it up beore you arrive. Any decent resort will happily accommodate your request.


I'll be blunt and say that's a pretty big bias you have there. Just because you had one bad experience (which sounded like a wear & tear/not freshly gassed issue and was in a huge villa), it doesn't mean that you need to avoid all the OWVs in a whole country! If you want the room to be a chilly 18-20 Celcius then by all means stay home, otherwise stop worrying, close the doors and windows (and make sure you leave it on when you go out) and just enjoy yourself!

bhrubin

You are confused and mistaken. The warmest ocean is the Indian Ocean--by a comfortable margin. The higher surface water temperatures thereby create issues for air con systems for the OWVs. (Sources: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Indian_Ocean AND https://thewire.in/2141/the-seas-hav...the-last-stop/ AND https://www.reference.com/geography/...9c947024a6e0d6

You make the mistake of believing air temperatures cause the relative problem. It is the warmer water temperatures in the Maldives that cause problems for OWV air cons.

Water temperature average differences of 1.5 C is a quite substantial difference when it comes to this issue. The much warmer waters of the Maldives and the resort lagoons therein are still substantially warmer than those in Bora Bora's lagoon.

You are again mistaken. The Royal Overwater Villa at the StR Bora Bora had 3 separate air con units. They were MORE than enough to normally work well even in April 2016 and in warm temperatures during the day. The villa routinely reached 18-19 C for me throughout the villa.

They worked fine until a tropical storm pushed warm moist air into the villa, which put too much pressure on the air con units to compete. That caused temperatures in the villa to increase to 23 C, which is very uncomfortable for me but which might be fine for other people.

The same thing that happened to me in the tropical storm in Bora Bora also happens with evaporating water causing moist warm air in the Maldives because of the warmer surface temperatures. They both interfere with air con working as well as it might in different circumstances. These are facts.

Plenty cool enough FOR YOU isn't necessarily the same as FOR EVERYONE. I heartily recognize that this issue is not one for everyone, only those who like or need it particularly cool in their room/villa. That isn't the majority if guests, I'm sure. But it is a significant minority. Americans are notorious for liking more air con and cooler temps than our European counterparts. No one is right or wrong; it's just a matter of preference.

You are making the mistake of assuming that because air con has been so good for you that is so good for everyone. I'd challenge that you're dead wrong. Most people operate in the 23-25 C range and find that perfectly fine. I and many other people do not.

You read your charts and info wrong. The Indian Ocean is much warmer on average than the Pacific, though there are times when in a moment that might not be true. The Indian Ocean is almost always warmer than the larger Pacific, and the area around the Maldive is almost always warmer than the area around Bora Bora/French Polynesia. These are facts. Please refer to the charts again and to the sources I've shared above.

You are arguing the wrong point. There are innumerable reports for almost every resort in the Maldives of air con not working as well as expected for overwater units. It's simple physics. Getting a new air con unit in the Maldives isn't so easy. Most people don't seem to mind, so that's great. But that in no way precludes what I've stated that air con doesn't work so well during the days in the warmer Maldivian waters--for someone like me who wants cooler temps than you might.

Newsflash: we are all different. And that's OK.

I didn't have a bad experience. I had a great experience at the StR Bora Bora. I had a bad evening where the tropical storm overmatched the air con units. That is pretty comparable to the situation that almost always exists in the maldives with the warmer surface temperatures.

I'm not sure why you're arguing the central point that air con is challenged more in the Maldives for overwater villas...since this is an accepted fact.

I'm not sure why you're arguing that I would therefore opt for the beach villa option in the Maldives to avoid that possible overwater air con issue. What difference does it make to you if I avoid the overwater bungalows in the Maldives? I still want to go and enjoy the Maldives, and I believe the air con will be better for me in a beach villa. You're welcome to stay where you want, and I'm welcome to stay where I want. But there's nothin wrong with me pointing out for others that air con can be an issue for overwater environments...and letting everyone else judge for themselves.

I'm not avoiding the Maldives; I am avoiding overwater villas because of my concern that their air con won't work sufficient to my needs. There's nothing wrong with that. There is something wrong with your being so perturbed by that, though.

I'm sorry that the facts and my needs don't agree with your world view of what I should be doing. But if I want a villa in the Maldives to have great working air con, I will prefer to take the beach villa and not an overwater villa. I am entitled to choose for myself, and that has no bearing on your experience at all. So please stop trying to tell me what I have to do.

MaldivesFreak

First of all I didn't say that the Indian Ocean was not warmer. No need to misrepresent what I said.

Sorry for mistaking your "occasionally had air con issues" as normal issues that are usually encountered (and complained about). I have read thousands and thousands of posts here and reviews on TA re Maldives OWVs and have never seen anyone mention this particular issue. Had I known that you were referring to the A/C encountering issues due to a storm I wouldn't have said what I said.

It seemed to me (and another poster here) that you had not been in an OWV in the Maldives and we just tried to allay your fears. That's all.

Have fun wherever you travel! ^

CalGuy

Does anyone have the menus to re-upload? Some of them (e.g. the min bar menu) are leading to a 404 error.

shingu79

Does flying in and out of the island exclusive to St Regis or can we book with another private charter?
I know everything is expensive here, but like to save where I can. Family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 children is coming out to $2000 for the 45 min round trip.

Are there any other options?

VCURamFan

The seaplane I took was not exclusive, we stopped at another resort before StR. The water was too rough to land at the resort, we we landed in the water and took a boat to resort. Took 1.5 hrs or so total.

MaldivesFreak

No. The resorts only deal with TMA (Trans Maldivian Airways, the seaplane company) and they have it monopolized. There is no other company/competition. The only other option in the Maldives is a domestic flight at night (if you arrive in MLE near sunset as the seaplanes only fly during the day) and then a speedboat ride to the resort but it depends on the resort's location. Some resorts (including this one) do not arrange a domestic flight and only have a seaplane option. There are ferry services that will get you close to most resorts but there's no way to book them online. That and foreigners have to get a permit to travel to local/non-resort islands. Then you need to organize a speedboat and again, there's no way to do this on your own.

Transportation to resorts in the Maldives for foreigners = Lambs to the slaughter!

MilaidhooMaldives

It sounds like the price you've been quoted is for a shared seaplane which may or may not land at another resort first. You can book a private charter seaplane but that would be a lot more expensive and is still with the same seaplane company because there is only the one company. You'd book that through your resort too.

Other options may include a domestic transfer followed by a speedboat, but honestly, that wouldn't be fun and once you've rented a private speedboat, I would doubt it would be that much cheaper and would certainly be a lot more hassle.

Kat

Land-of-Miles

If you think the shared seaplane cost is expensive, my advice is simply not to go because it sets the bar for everything else when you are there (and represents fair value I think).

There are resorts much closer to Male which rely upon much cheaper boat transfers even high end resorts.

I think to really enjoy a Maldives holiday you need to have a mind set that isn't constantly looking at the cost of everything, if you do that it will overshadow every thing that you do and I don't think that would make for a great break.

You don't have to disregard costs entirely but don't focus on them as a primary thing is my top tip. If you have to watch every dollar, this frankly is just not the place for you. There are many other parts of the world (or even the Maldives) where you would have a lot better time if that is the case.

MikeFromTokyo

To echo what others have said, high end Maldives resorts are not the best choice if one is already concerned about the cost of sea plane transfers, which are by the way competitively priced at this resort. Even if all or part of the room rate is paid in points, you can expect a week in the Maldives to cost a five figure amount.

And a chartered flight would cost thousands more than the shared transfer price, btw.

MaldivesFreak

It never is. The resorts price it exactly the same so no $ to be saved there. For a true indication just how much they will take you to the cleaners, check out this post.


Exactly this.

Although I don't happen to agree with seaplane transfers being fairly or reasonably priced (compare the seaplane transfer costs when the oil prices differed by $50 per barrel and you'll see what I mean), they are the best way by far to get there. Relax and enjoy the ride!

mebluemouse

We are thinking about going there with our 1 year old baby. It will be a very long trip from US to the resort. Not sure whether it worth the trouble.

Anyone has similar experiences or suggestions? Thanks!

Land-of-Miles

Whether it is worth the trouble depends on your frame of reference and location.

The only place which even possibly compares is French Polynesia. If you are West Coast based then that may be a better option.

Nowhere in the US, Mexico, Caribbean Africa or Europe comes even close though.

The Maldives are 2 well connected longhaul flights away from most cities in the US, unless you were thinking of going economy, I don't think travel is that much of an issue, it is a relatively civilised trip.

CalGuy

Asking again if anyone can repost the menus. Most of the links in the wiki are bad.

MaldivesFreak

Have greyed out the menus that have dead links and made a note in the wiki. Hopefully someone can come along and post them to a site that will host them for longer than a couple of months.