Maldives

Before I moved to Abu Dhabi I had a list of places I wanted to visit.  When I arrived, I made a few adjustments to my list.  When I heard how close the Maldives were to the UAE I told myself I had to make that trip happen.  So I did!  I told my boyfriend, Jason I was planning a trip to the Maldives for the both of us.  He didn't really know what I was talking about, but once he arrived he was so happy he went along with the plan.

The Maldives (aka paradise) wasn't a place where I could just get up and go.  I had to save a few coins in my piggy bank and do some research to make it all happen.  During the time it took me to plan my trip I picked up a few tips to share with the general public.

For those of you who would like to experience paradise here are some suggestions:

• Plan a trip within in a trip:  If you are coming from the states, make the Maldives the second stop of your trip.  Jason flew from America to Dubai.  Then we spent the weekend in the Maldives (round trip Dubai - Maldives).  A flight to the Maldives from Dubai is a lot cheaper then what he would've paid flying from America.
• Do your hotel research:  I had no idea where we would stay.  I used hotels.com and researched hotels for a few months to see what the best options were within our budget.  I eventually found a great deal with the Sheraton property.  I booked the hotel during the weekend and when I went back to show a friend during the week the price had gone up.  My suggestion is to set up alerts for certain hotels you are interested in and when the price drops you can be notified.
• When looking for hotels try to find all inclusive deals:  I didn't come across deals that included everything but I did find a deal that included all of our meals.  I'm happy we went along with this deal because it was one less thing we had to think about while relaxing on the beach.  Each property is it's own island, so you have limited options in where and what you will eat.  So make sure you book a resort that has plenty to choose from.  Once you get to your island, you stay on that island unless you book a tour.
• Sign up for rewards plans:  Anytime I book a flight or hotel, I sign up for the rewards plan.  I don't know if I will ever get enough points through these programs but you never know what the future holds.  With Hotels.com, once you have booked ten nights through their site you earn a free night on them.  The free night is based on the average amount you have spent on the ten previous nights you have booked through them.  So it might not necessarily be a "free night" based off of where you staying for your trip, but you will get a discount either way.  I was able to get a discount for one of our nights during our stay at the Sheraton.

All in all, I was so happy that I was able to make this trip happen.  Through my research I was able to book the trip I wanted without any compromises.  Take a look at my video from the Maldives.  Warning:  The pictures are going to make you want to start planning your trip right now.

Things you will see in this video:

• Our bungalow on the Sheraton Resort.
• Our awesome view from our deck of the ocean.
• Bats!  Yes, I said bats!  Fruit bats!  But still, they were bats!
• Fish in the water.  Unfortunately, it's not an underwater shot of all the awesome fish we saw while snorkeling.  I'm currently looking on Amazon for a waterproof GoPro camera.
• Fish we could choose to eat for dinner. 
• The beautiful sunsets.
• A Maldivian themed dinner on the beach.
• Jason and I being extremely happy because we were in paradise.