The Maldives
Romance, exotic locales, snorkeling, diving, even over-water designer villas
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok6HT7fACHJttSSMUY84R3AH1KTm4wyghURmI2c7C6nct3L3XAL_O2jNUocGKwgDWvxz-PZ3PBkSJ4zgVYeTWYeY8Z4adQB_sr6bBOaDUfbkT5LLKdaqrMTcF-sTKvc4YCf3S/s400/Untitled-1.jpg)
Anantara is actually three island resorts in one - Anantara, Anantara Veli and Naladhu - and excels in dining options. Dine by Design lets guests select the where and when for a romantic meal, such as a beachfront dinner with heart-shaped palm fronds and candlelight. The variety in dining options, such as Italian, fusion and Thai, becomes important on longer stays, which is the norm here.
There's even a disappearing dining venue: When the tide rises, the lagoon sand spit where lunch was served is covered in water. There also is a Thai cooking class, a wine guru and a salt sommelier, who offers a delightful tableside presentation of salts, chutneys and mustards. The breakfast dhoni picnic and snorkel resulted in great underwater footage of swimming with a green turtle. Surfing lessons are available, and the over-water spa is another jaw-dropper. Prices start at $780; www.maldives. anantara.com, 960/664-4100).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTE_NffMSJ9qcvscRc38erAhGw1a8w5TeUAM2gqK8SYBRC0LZcqbufjG-BfKU6gnX3ppWyxj1EYvHNn8Og7hLqdU0eFhkWq4PTByqTiEqPCFDhg4rKnto5M8rkWL5LCmGQRE4/s400/20080530-204116-pic-804911474_t756.jpg)
Naladhu, meaning "pretty little island," is across the lagoon and part of the dine-around program. Here 19 colonial-style houses offer nearly every amenity imaginable, from private swimming pool to a massive deck with palm trees, a daybed, a swing bed, and an adjacent bathroom with outdoor shower, steam room and chaise lounge, plus see-through tub. Breakfast at 5 p.m.? No problem.
Or arrange impromptu excursions to see spinner dolphin. Quite a few guests seem never to leave their rooms. Rates begin at $871 per night for the buy-five-get-seven special; www.naladhu.com, 960/664-1888.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgMNVkICiw2CK7cpuP1DbLBf_ZjpN4JNSNiSRmrhgV4To4y89e6sn7iCvhj29y-Xk6a251pC2QRb89_Nkdr2sY6L1o16Ei4PkKD8Kc5BGNU0LFQEvgR17h3hNHJQp_0UyStioL/s400/20080530-204116-pic-442087879_t756.jpg)
Cocoa Island is a quiet, small-island getaway but still upscale. Focusing on healthy eating and spa therapies at its Como Shambhala Retreat, Cocoa strives to provide a peaceful, harmonious sanctuary (the meaning of "shambhala"). Spa treatments are complemented by a hydrotherapy pool and free yoga classes.
Vegetarian dishes with organic ingredients are a specialty. Great dive sites are nearby, and the resort is an easy speedboat ride from Male. All of its 33 villas are over water, including the original dhoni-shaped villas. Prices start at $590; www.cocoaisland.como.bz, 960/664-1818.
The 150-room Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, one of the Maldives' largest resorts, is actually two islands connected by a walking bridge. Arrival is by seaplane.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDRnY07RVAjiQ7pSPyn3AJOK8Y1iPZIoDI3VT-OPvZ3h1dguGTxUkG6bqvrMplqS9hM9uP3QYBI2MqRRolq-b3ZVRKb6juNU5yrkoS8WKba_iJiMyNhjoqac1EhIoVMuQQ3cX/s400/20080530-204116-pic-397681195_t756.jpg)
The quiet side, Rangali Island, is usually preferred by honeymooners (50 villas), while the more populated Rangali Finohlu has the pool, watersports and the must-see Ithaa Restaurant, said to be the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant. Ithaa, which means "pearl," seats 14, and cost $2.5 million to construct. Couples may have their wedding ceremony here.
The 21 over-water spa villas, each with its own treatment room, are part of the Spa Retreat, a destination spa set on stilts over the ocean off the main island, while the Over-Water Spa offers glass-floored treatment rooms above a coral reef in the resort's lagoon.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbcmvFL3hnZQJ51FUJ8Jyx0Umsh9ZjJq2OJrXLrVSqRWOSpoZHU0n8HV26wge_ZMLiZ0PWKSdFWVv1ExGZ95LI3CPWuSbcA6NP5LwFexa22cJFItT8bzz-91Kaebe_3Bipmo3/s400/20080530-204116-pic-130297637_t756.jpg)
The property has 10 dining options, from in-the-sand Japanese cooking to the outstanding spa restaurant to a popular international buffet.
The 10,000-bottle wine list is impressive, as is the wine-and-cheese bar with black-sand floor. The wine cellar has special tastings and dinners with tabletop, pop-up TV screens for presentation. Rates begin at $585; www.conrad hotels.com, 960/668-0629).
For more in formation, go to visitmaldives
Romance, exotic locales, snorkeling, diving, even over-water designer villas
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok6HT7fACHJttSSMUY84R3AH1KTm4wyghURmI2c7C6nct3L3XAL_O2jNUocGKwgDWvxz-PZ3PBkSJ4zgVYeTWYeY8Z4adQB_sr6bBOaDUfbkT5LLKdaqrMTcF-sTKvc4YCf3S/s400/Untitled-1.jpg)
Anantara is actually three island resorts in one - Anantara, Anantara Veli and Naladhu - and excels in dining options. Dine by Design lets guests select the where and when for a romantic meal, such as a beachfront dinner with heart-shaped palm fronds and candlelight. The variety in dining options, such as Italian, fusion and Thai, becomes important on longer stays, which is the norm here.
There's even a disappearing dining venue: When the tide rises, the lagoon sand spit where lunch was served is covered in water. There also is a Thai cooking class, a wine guru and a salt sommelier, who offers a delightful tableside presentation of salts, chutneys and mustards. The breakfast dhoni picnic and snorkel resulted in great underwater footage of swimming with a green turtle. Surfing lessons are available, and the over-water spa is another jaw-dropper. Prices start at $780; www.maldives. anantara.com, 960/664-4100).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBTE_NffMSJ9qcvscRc38erAhGw1a8w5TeUAM2gqK8SYBRC0LZcqbufjG-BfKU6gnX3ppWyxj1EYvHNn8Og7hLqdU0eFhkWq4PTByqTiEqPCFDhg4rKnto5M8rkWL5LCmGQRE4/s400/20080530-204116-pic-804911474_t756.jpg)
Naladhu, meaning "pretty little island," is across the lagoon and part of the dine-around program. Here 19 colonial-style houses offer nearly every amenity imaginable, from private swimming pool to a massive deck with palm trees, a daybed, a swing bed, and an adjacent bathroom with outdoor shower, steam room and chaise lounge, plus see-through tub. Breakfast at 5 p.m.? No problem.
Or arrange impromptu excursions to see spinner dolphin. Quite a few guests seem never to leave their rooms. Rates begin at $871 per night for the buy-five-get-seven special; www.naladhu.com, 960/664-1888.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgMNVkICiw2CK7cpuP1DbLBf_ZjpN4JNSNiSRmrhgV4To4y89e6sn7iCvhj29y-Xk6a251pC2QRb89_Nkdr2sY6L1o16Ei4PkKD8Kc5BGNU0LFQEvgR17h3hNHJQp_0UyStioL/s400/20080530-204116-pic-442087879_t756.jpg)
Cocoa Island is a quiet, small-island getaway but still upscale. Focusing on healthy eating and spa therapies at its Como Shambhala Retreat, Cocoa strives to provide a peaceful, harmonious sanctuary (the meaning of "shambhala"). Spa treatments are complemented by a hydrotherapy pool and free yoga classes.
Vegetarian dishes with organic ingredients are a specialty. Great dive sites are nearby, and the resort is an easy speedboat ride from Male. All of its 33 villas are over water, including the original dhoni-shaped villas. Prices start at $590; www.cocoaisland.como.bz, 960/664-1818.
The 150-room Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, one of the Maldives' largest resorts, is actually two islands connected by a walking bridge. Arrival is by seaplane.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDRnY07RVAjiQ7pSPyn3AJOK8Y1iPZIoDI3VT-OPvZ3h1dguGTxUkG6bqvrMplqS9hM9uP3QYBI2MqRRolq-b3ZVRKb6juNU5yrkoS8WKba_iJiMyNhjoqac1EhIoVMuQQ3cX/s400/20080530-204116-pic-397681195_t756.jpg)
The quiet side, Rangali Island, is usually preferred by honeymooners (50 villas), while the more populated Rangali Finohlu has the pool, watersports and the must-see Ithaa Restaurant, said to be the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant. Ithaa, which means "pearl," seats 14, and cost $2.5 million to construct. Couples may have their wedding ceremony here.
The 21 over-water spa villas, each with its own treatment room, are part of the Spa Retreat, a destination spa set on stilts over the ocean off the main island, while the Over-Water Spa offers glass-floored treatment rooms above a coral reef in the resort's lagoon.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbcmvFL3hnZQJ51FUJ8Jyx0Umsh9ZjJq2OJrXLrVSqRWOSpoZHU0n8HV26wge_ZMLiZ0PWKSdFWVv1ExGZ95LI3CPWuSbcA6NP5LwFexa22cJFItT8bzz-91Kaebe_3Bipmo3/s400/20080530-204116-pic-130297637_t756.jpg)
The property has 10 dining options, from in-the-sand Japanese cooking to the outstanding spa restaurant to a popular international buffet.
The 10,000-bottle wine list is impressive, as is the wine-and-cheese bar with black-sand floor. The wine cellar has special tastings and dinners with tabletop, pop-up TV screens for presentation. Rates begin at $585; www.conrad hotels.com, 960/668-0629).
For more in formation, go to visitmaldives
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