2008-08-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

I never knew what paradise meant until I'd been to Banyan Tree Maldives - Vabbinfaru...

After a long extended wedding, we really needed a break, and eventually decided on a week in the Banyan Tree resort in the Maldives.

We arrived late at night after a four hour flight from Singapore to Male, followed by a 20 minute speedboat ride to the island. Even though it was dark, we could see how clear the water was through the background lights on the jetty and could even see baby sharks swimming around! We were greeted by the hotel staff who took our luggage, and provided some refreshments while check-in was processed. After this, we were taken to our deluxe beachfront villa, nr 12, Lajjehi Faana - each villa is named after a kind of fish, and ours was Garoupa !

The next morning, I woke up to this view....

I was absolutely stunned, it was such an idyllic scene, something that I had never believed to be real, only seen in postcards and holiday brochures! I couldn't wait to get out there!!!

We had been worried about the weather, since we were visiting in mid-May (the start of the monsoon season), and also since weather reports predicted thunderstorms for every day of our trip, but we found it very pleasant indeed, and when rain did arrive, it passed by very quickly, and normal service resumed.

Here are a few scenes from around the island:

From the jetty looking back onto Vabbinfaru:

From the bar area looking out to the jetty:

From the Sunset jetty at the back of the island:

Our deluxe beachfront villa:

So, what can you do at Banyan Tree Maldives?

Mainly, you relax... of course, there is the excellent beach and great weather (though the sand is a little coarse, but apparently this is the same throughout the Maldives) but you can also go to the spa for a massage (book early!) do some watersports, such as windsurfing, catamaraning, snorkelling, diving,etc or take an excursion to an outlying island, or fishing!

Snorkelling was amazing, especially for me as I'm a weak swimmer. I never thought I'd be able to see those amazing scenes of coral and the beautiful fish who live in them. I'd highly recommend taking a good underwater camera though, and not one of the disposable ones we had! It's also possible to take a boat (every two hours) to the neighboring Angsana resort to snorkel there.

The Banyan Tree is a little different to other resorts in the Maldives, in that it established the first marine biology lab; while there are now others, it still has the largest, with a dedicated team researching marine life at Vabbinfaru, and also at the Angsana sister resort a short boat trip away. Lectures are held to educate visitors of the conservation work being done to preserve coral, and also baby turtles.

In relation to this, there is stingray feeding (picture above) every day, and also a turtle cage where baby turtles are released into the wild after six months, to give them a better chance of survival.

Food at the resort was excellent, with a buffet breakfast and lunch, and an a la carte dinner. In fact, we were so relaxed whilst we were there, that the only thing taxing our minds was what to eat! As part of our honeymoon package, we were also treated to "in-villa dining" where our dinner was prepared on the decking of our villa. It was absolutely fantastic, as we watched the sun go down as we ate:

So, were there any bad points? Yes, leaving was definitely the worst. You may have read on other reviews about ants in the villas, and yes they are there; but they won't bother you, just let them get on with it, after all, they were there first! Overall, this resort is brilliant for a honeymoon and I would highly recommend it; if you really want to get away from it all and relax, this is the one!

Vabbinfaru, Banyan Tree Maldives