Our Maldives Overwater Bungalow Experience & What to Know Before Going to Maldives

This is a guest post by Valerie of StorymakersTravel.com 

First Impressions of Maldives

Imagine a world where love exists in everything you see. A world where people smile at each other, you hear laughter throughout the day and the sun shines down brightly, creating an ocean of the bluest color that can not be seen anywhere else in the world.

That place exists! All you have to figure out is how to get there. It has been said that “Love is Maldives, Maldives is Love.” Known as one of the most romantic destinations in the world, a destination wedding couples and honeymooners dream, the Maldives is a perfect escape for couples wanting to escape from it all! And there are over 1000 islands!

White sand beaches stretch for miles and the most amazing blue water that I have ever seen. I think I said, “wow! this water is amazing” about a million times during the four days I was there. The friendly locals and complete tranquility of the peaceful islands was a great way to relax!

Staying in a Maldives Overwater Bungalow – what it’s like

There are few things cooler than sitting on your overwater bungalow balcony and watching the many blacktip shark and stingrays swimming around you! And, when you are ready, you can just jump in and start snorkeling with them! An added bonus is that the balcony steps had snails in the morning. We would sit there and watch them slowly move back to the ocean. The strange thing is that they seemed to only be on our balcony and none of the other guests. I love having those kinds of memories to reminisce about with my spouse!

Our time together at the Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort

We went in October of 2019 and stayed at the Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort (our last international vacation before COVID-19 shut the world down). Each resort is on its own island, so you will only interact with other guests staying at your resort. October is always our favorite month to travel because it is our birthdays and anniversary and usually a more affordable time to travel someplace due to it not being tourist season. We only paid about $400 a night and that included the seaplane ride from Male, the countries capital. Our stay included breakfast, but we chose not to add on the all-inclusive plan and pay as we go for lunch and dinner.

The downside of going during the slow season is that it is rainy. We got a lot of rain, but we also had plenty of sunshine, and the storm clouds, sunrises and sunsets were phenomenal to watch! Of course, my husband and I are from Phoenix, Arizona, so we soak up the rain anytime we are around it! As strange as is sounds, my favorite part of the days were when it rained! Truly, only a person who lives in the desert can appreciate the rain that much!

Once we arrived at our resort, everyone was so helpful. They took our luggage to our bungalow while we walked the long boardwalk to reach it. The first thing we saw was a baby shark! Soon after, we saw the stingrays. It was unreal!!! When we arrived at our door, I wanted to take a video because it was our first time in an overwater bungalow. Because I am a travel agent specializing in romantic honeymoons, I knew my clients would love to see what it’s really like.

The bellhop was smiling so big before we even opened the door, and he said, “You are going to like this” Well, we got such a surprise! They decorated our bed with flowers and gave us dessert for our anniversary!


The people at the resort were so kind! Some of the nicest people we have ever met! It actually started at the boutique hotel we stayed at on Male our first night. They knew we were flying to the island the next day, but because I am a travel agent, I could reach out to them and ask if they could surprise my husband with something for his 50th birthday. When we arrived, they had these delicious fruit juices for us and in our room, they had a big birthday cake! It was chocolate and some other flavor we could not figure out, and we ate it while it rained!

Two nights later, we came back from a day of paddleboarding and snorkeling and were resting when our doorbell rang, and we received a nice bottle of champagne and another cake as gifts for my birthday!



We were treated like royalty and those are the things I ask for when my honeymooners or any client goes on vacation! Little touches like that can make your vacation so much more memorable!

So now you know the Maldives is a very romantic place to visit. But, I want to share with you some facts and helpful tips.

What to know before going to Maldives

1. The best time to go is when you can afford to. We got our good rate by going during the low season. If you don’t want rain, this is not for you.

2. It is not easy to get to. We had already been traveling in Malaysia, so we just hopped on over from there. But, I have researched this for clients many times. It can take around 24 hours from LAX, depending on several factors. And there are some routes you might want to avoid.

3. If you do not choose to do an all-inclusive plan, know that we paid $28-35 for chicken nuggets, depending on whether it was lunch or dinner. We chose not to go the all-inclusive route because we didn’t think we would eat that much and could just skip a meal. Well, we are not water sports people and did not realize how ravenous it can make a person! I never did figure out if doing the AI plan would have been better financially. I just drank the free champagne they gave me and let it go!

4. It is a Muslim country and you should respect their rules. There are signs in the airport and other public places to make travelers aware of customs. If you are in a resort, you can have alcohol and wear the usual Western swimwear. I chose to be more conservative, but many did not.

5. On our island, there was a gym and one store for gifts. We also had a game room with pool and darts as well as movies on the beach every night.

6. I would highly recommend using a travel advisor to plan your vacation, especially now that COVID-19 is changing the way the world will travel. We can find you the best value for your money, have access to add on’s not available by booking with an online travel agency, such as Expedia, and you have a real human to talk to, should you need something. This is more important now than ever due to the fluidity of the travel world today.

7. The Maldives is very flat. It is actually the flattest country in the world. If you plan on hiking mountains, that is not going to happen. If you love lying on the beach, soaking up the sun and water sports, go to the Maldives because it is truly the most beautiful water you will ever see!

Whether you are going for your wedding, honeymoon, anniversary, or just because…you will not be disappointed in the Maldives. All those pictures you see in magazines do not even compare to how pretty it is in person!

When you are ready to plan your vacation, please reach out to me at val@storymakerstravel.com or call 678-571-8349. I would love to help you plan your Maldivian vacation, so yours is as romantic as mine was. I have a soft spot for fellow members of the Romantic Explorers community so please let me know if that’s you when you contact me!

Loved this blog? Let us know by leaving a comment below and tell us if the tips have helped your dream to visit Maldives come true!

Save this recommendation for what to know before going to Maldives by clicking on the image below and saving it to Pinterest.