Trip Diary Context: The purpose of my trip diaries are mostly to serve as a photo dump for me and a list of restaurants and activities we did so I can easily find it later should we return. I hope they inspire you for places to see and go should you travel to the destination described in the post. This is the second post in this trip diary series and you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Since every day in the Maldives is identical. This post will be a little different. I will consolidate what our typical day in the Maldives was like and list out our dinners. Then we will dive into our trip home via Dubai.

Our Typical Day in the Maldives

We slowly woke up to watch the beautiful sunrise. Some mornings we went for a bike ride to witness it and other mornings we ran.

As there was never a need to rush in the Maldives we would then sip coffee on our terrace and admire the sea.

Generally we would then bicycle to breakfast around 9:30. The buffet was massive and if that wasn’t enough, we also could order whatever we wanted off the menu. Barista coffee drinks were also available. We generally stuffed our faces since this was our last meal until dinner as we did not want to take our a second mortgage to pay for lunch every day.

After breakfast we would bike around the island once or twice before settling back into our room to sunbathe, swim, snorkel, read and spend a little time in the bedroom.

In the afternoon we would bike to the gym to take a break from the sun. Typically we would return to snorkel off our villa. By the afternoon we were starting to get tired from the sun and napped. Naps were brief as we had to get ready for the million-dollar sunset from our terrace. While we were watching the sunset one evening, we decided to host Marius from France for the year. I am writing this with Marius already here and it was the best decision Mathew and I have made in a very long time.

We also had a view of the St. Regis Whale Bar to watch the traditional saber ceremony all St. Regis hotels conduct. Although few have the view this one has.

We tried three different restaurants at the St.Regis. We would either walk or bike to dinner depending on the location.

Cargo: Middle Eastern Fare (our favorite, in the jungle)

Orential: Asian Fusion (excellent on the beach)

Alba: International Cuisine (meh but cheaper)

We would either walk or bike to dinner depending on the location. After dinner we would ride/walk to the Whale Bar to listen to music before making our way back to our villa. We would listen to the waves crash beneath the villa before falling asleep. Each morning, we would wake up and start again!

Our 30 Hour Trip Home

Unfortunately, Matt insisted we leave the Maldives and return home. We woke up and had one last breakfast at the St. Regis before our very long trip home. We took the sea plane back to Male and spent some time in the lounge. Our sea plane was delayed, and we almost missed our check-in window, but the St. Regis staff worked their magic and had the counter stay open just for us.

Next, we flew from Male to Dubai for our nine hour layover.

Originally, we were supposed to meet our friend for the day, but he decided to be a turd so we instead ubered to the Dubai Mall and Fountains.

We had a wonderful Lebanese dinner overlooking the fountains at Abd El Wahab, Souk Al Bahar.

We walked the mall for a bit, but I was starting to fade as it was already a very long travel day and I was fighting a mild cold. Not to mention we still had a 14 hour flight to Newark, a layover and then a short flight to Portland.

We decided to Uber back to the airport and rest in the Emirates lounge.

After a shower I felt better and we made our way to the gate to board our flight back to the states.

Our layover was uneventful in the Polaris lounge before our short flight to Portland where my brother picked us up (thank you Brian!)

Our two weeks adventure in the Maldives and Thailand with a taste of Dubai was wonderful. Matt and I will forever cherish these memories. We tried booking variations of this trip for years, but always had to cancel. Due to health reasons we thought we would be cancelling this one too. Thank you Matt for 10 years and a wonderful vacation.

Bon Voyage,

Andrew

PS Stay tuned for a post on tips for the Maldives