Things to do at the St Regis Maldives

Posted By Jon Nickel-D'Andrea on Sep 19, 2019 | 1 comment

Mention the Maldives and images of pristine turquoise blue waters come to mind. Overwater bungalows with direct jump-in access to the water and romantic sunsets are commonplace in this island paradise.

While it’s on almost everyone’s wish list, getting there can be a challenge. Flights are often ridiculously expensive and once you DO get to the islands, a barrage of expensive hotels with overpriced meals await. Never mind the flight distance involved, those expensive factors are enough to turn some people off and have them looking for cheaper destinations.

Lonely Palm Tree

Getting to paradise and back doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We booked a ridiculous, normally unattainable luxury vacation valued at almost $46,000 for a grand total of $1,818… for two people!

Considering that’s usually the price of a regular coach class ticket to the Maldives, that’s one heck of a steal.

In the series of posts to follow, we’re going to walk you through all the experiences that we enjoyed on this trip. While most people would consider this once-in-a-lifetime, with just a little legwork and dedication you can have a luxury getaway to make Instagram followers drool with envy.

As soon as we got off of the Seaplane from Male Airport we knew this was going to be a stay very different from all the rest.

The staff was all waiting at the dock to give us a welcome to the island. There was a light rain and the staff walked us up to the waiting area with large umbrellas.

Waiting for us in the arrival lounge were two coconuts, a fresh welcome after a hot, sweltering, airport arrival.

You can read about the entire Overwater Villa in our previous post, but suffice it to say we’ve never seen anything quite like it before.

Getting Around

The island itself Is pretty compact so getting around is a breeze. Of course you can walk, and you can even call one of the butlers to come pick you up. With that said, you can also take one of the two bikes assigned to your villa. They’re a super convenient way to move around the island with bike parking at each point of interest.

The paths are lit at night as well so don’t worry about getting lost (plus the island is less than a mile around).

If you’ve come to relax, then this is the place for you. Some of it you can do without even leaving your villa. How about a nice soak in your hotel villa bathtub?

Sunbathing

There are a couple beach areas to lie out and relaxed, but the best one is right by the main restaurants. Every morning at about 7am the staff comes by and opens up all the umbrellas and puts out the large beach towels.

Water stations are replenished quite frequently with ice so they’re always cold, and don’t worry about bringing sunscreen. You can leave it at home since they provide both SPF 30 and SPF 50. They even have aftercare lotion as well. Nice touch!

Watersports, Diving and Snorkeling

While you could head out snorkeling directly from your overwater villa, there is a proper dive and watersports shop stocked with all the latest SCUBA gear.

You can head straight out from the dive shop into the hotel’s house reef. Some of the best snorkeling we’ve had ever was here, with the coral reef extending out quite a ways and eventually dropping off into the sea.

Kayaks are free to rent as well, but if you want a glass bottom kayak, you’ll pay for that. You can also rent a SeaDoo, but they’re quite pricey.

Our one-day SCUBA adventure cost $602. That included full gear, tanks, two dives, private boat, instructor, taxes, fees, and tips. While more expensive that most places, it was about the same price that we paid in Kauai. The seas were crystal clear and there was plenty of sea life to entice any seasoned diver.

Activities

You won’t get bored at the resort as there is plenty to do. Your butler can help with reservations, but just simply walking around the island you’ll find lots of distractions.

There’s an outdoor theatre so you can watch movies at night. The selections change daily, and it’s pretty cool to sit down with a cold beverage and watch a movie in the sand.

Want to rent your own yacht for the day? No problem. If you’re feeling like dropping a few thousand an hour is your speed, feel free!

Wine tasting? You can do one of those as well. The wine cellar is quite expansive (and expensive) but there are some very rare vintages among their collection.

Massage time? You can get yourself a free 15 minute back and shoulder massage one night a week at their guest appreciation event, or you can of course head to the Iridium Spa for some incredibly luxurious pampering.

They’ve even got a garden where they get all of their local produce. You can book a dinner in the garden where your food will be made from some of the locally grown produce. Talk about farm to table!

With no shortage of things to do, you might just forget that you went there… to relax!