When we first starting to chat about planning our honeymoon, the Maldives immediately came to mind. The crystal clear waters and white sand beaches sounded idyllic, not to mention Heather has always wanted to dive with whale sharks and it’s one of the few places in the world you can swim with them.
Thankfully, we came across Turquoise Holidays – from the moment we got on the phone they were clearly experts in the Maldives and were talking us through all of their favourite islands. After a look on their website, we quickly settled on Constance Moofushi – the “beach chic” vibe sounded perfect for a couple of weeks of pure relaxation.
From the moment we arrived, it very much lived up to expectations – arriving via sea plane was so much fun and we felt more relaxed from the moment we stepped onto the island. Mornings were generally spent on the terrace with a coffee and a book in hand (something by Márquez or Sagan are favourites of mine for holiday).
After fresh tuna and reef fish for lunch, we’d often spend the afternoon relaxing in the beach bar or snorkelling on the house reef. A couple of afternoons we went out with the islands dive centre too – a real highlight was spending an afternoon in the water with whale sharks – ticking off a bucket list item for Heather! One of my bucket list items was to see mantas too, but I knew we slightly out of season and they hadn’t been spotted for the last week, so our chances seemed slim. After a fantastic couple of hours swimming with multiple whale sharks, we were on our way back to the island when the boat stopped and they told us to jump in. We had no idea what to expect, then a couple of seconds after jumping in a manta ray swum up from below, quickly followed by half a dozen more. They were so graceful in the water and it was a real highlight of the trip.
One other thing I’d really recommend was making the most of their spa. The spa was over the water with glass cutouts in the floor so we could enjoy watching the fish swim by during our massages. We initially only booked in once, but it was so relaxing we booked to go a second time immediately!
The Maldives were just as magical by night as by day – the stars were like nothing either of us had ever seen before! On top of that Constance Moofushi boasts the largest collection of wines in the Indian Ocean, so most evenings were spent fabulous wine recommended by their in-house sommeliers alongside superb food.
The Maldives really are the perfect honeymoon destination – if you want pure relaxation, there’s nowhere better, whilst also having the option to be snorkelling or diving whenever you want. It also felt like it would be the perfect location for an intimate destination wedding!
Venue: Constance Moofushi | Travel Agent: Turquoise Holidays | Airline: Qatar Airways
