01Overwater Villas
Thatched villas on stilts with a ladder straight down into the lagoon. Most resorts build a row of them over the house reef, so snorkelling starts at your door.
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Wake above the reef, swim before breakfast
Maldives
The Maldives is around 1,190 coral islands strung across the Indian Ocean, most barely a metre above the sea. You step off a seaplane onto a wooden jetty, drop your bags in a villa built on stilts, and find the house reef ten metres from your ladder — parrotfish, turtles and coral in water so clear it hardly reads as water.
Best timeNovember to April, when the dry monsoon brings calm seas, daily sunshine and the clearest underwater visibility.
Ideal duration5-7 days
Great forHoneymooners, couples and families who want a proper switch-off
Trip highlights
Seaplane hop over the atollsSleep in an overwater villaSnorkel the house reefPrivate sandbank picnicSunset dolphin cruise
Top places in Maldives
01
02Seaplane Transfer
The red-and-white floatplanes are how you reach most resorts. Twenty to forty minutes flying low over the atolls, and the view from the window is the trip's first highlight.
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03Sandbank Picnic
A bare crescent of sand that surfaces at low tide, miles from anywhere. Resorts run you out by boat with lunch, an umbrella and nothing else.
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04House Reef Snorkelling
Shoals of powder-blue surgeonfish, parrotfish and reef sharks patrol the drop-off. Most house reefs are shallow enough to snorkel straight off the beach, no boat needed.
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05Malé
One of the world's most densely packed capitals, and worth half a day: the fish market at dusk, the 17th-century coral-stone Friday Mosque, and real Maldivian short eats.
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