Lisa's Travels

Posts Tagged ‘spa’

More than a thousand tiny coral islands scattered like glitter in the turquoise Indian Ocean, make up the Republic of the Maldives. These islands are the epitome of an island castaway. Beautiful ice-white sands, coral reefs, and fantastic marine life and diving make the Maldives as beautiful a getaway as you are ever likely to experience.

The Maldives island resort of Bandos is located in the North Mal Atoll, which is the closest atoll to the capital of Mal. Transfer from Mali, which is where the main airport is, takes roughly 20 minutes by boat and allowing you to easily nip back during your stay if you wish to explore the capital city which is more westernized than the remaining islands.

The diving in Bandos is spectacular with an excellent PADI dive school, shipwrecks to explore, and an abundant array of marine species from clown fish, barracuda, giant stingrays and my favourite the white tip reef sharks. For the water-sports lovers the reef also provides some sporting surf. I loved my last holiday when I got to do some kite-boarding here.

Bandos is designated as a 4-star resort and is currently equipped with around 100 standard rooms. These rooms alternate between twin and double bed layout and are nicely furnished with tiled floors and balconies, but you might consider the bathrooms to be on the slightly smaller side. Many of the standard rooms face west and provide good sunsets and are additionally gifted with one of the best sections of beach on the island.

The Junior suites are nicely decorated and I was lucky enough to stay in one of these during my recent visit. For people with small children I would just point out that at high tide the beach in this area of the island is pretty much completely submerged. The Beach water villas are two-storey, with an upstairs bedroom and a sea balcony. These buildings have been carefully and tastefully done to give you that superior feel, with the bathrooms half inside and half outside, complete with thatched jacuzzi.

The resort has made a huge effort to accommodate families, with purpose-built childcare facilities and friendly female staff on hand to look after the children.

Bandos offers the “Kuda Bandos Sunset Wedding” for couples intent on getting married in paradise which features a taste of traditional island ceremony including sunset boat ride and Maldivian drums. The ceremony is held on the beach of one of the uninhabited islands and later, the newlyweds can enjoy a romantic private dinner set on the beach of Kuda Bandos.

Jonathan is an enthusiastic diver and travels frequently to the Maldives to write articles on diving and about the Maldives in general. You can find more information about the Maldives at the Maldives Holiday Packages guide and about the superb diving island resort of Bandos Island Resort in particular.

There is only a few weeks left of summer, so you need to make the most of it with a few vacations. One great place to head out to is Thracian Cliffs located on the northern Black Sea Coast of Bulgaria.  If you are a golfer, you will love this resort.  The golf course was actually put in before the buildings, so you know it’s an excellent golf property!  They are hoping that it will become one of the top three in the world.  Now, if you are like me and could care less about golf, they have an excellent spa and marina too.  There is pretty much something for everyone here!