Why the Maldives is perfect for a girlfriends' getaway
Give me a poolside cabana, a pina colada, a DJ spinning some feel-good tunes, and – most importantly – the company of a few of my favourite women, and I’m as happy as the proverbial clam. Make that a giant Indian Ocean clam, because that’s where I find myself on my latest jaunt with some of my besties.
Since celebrating turning 50 in the company of 13 girlfriends in Ibiza five years ago, girls’ getaways have been sacrosanct to me – the first thing I block out on my calendar when I’m planning my travel year, before I’ve even thought about where I’m taking my kids. Sure-fire escapes from domesticity and responsibility and the need to be the sensible adult all the time, overseas breaks with like-minded women who really get me have become essential to my mental health.
Long the preserve of couples, especially honeymooners, the Maldives might not be the first place that leaps to mind when you think about a holiday with girlfriends – especially when some of you are, like us, separated or divorced. Will all those loved-up couples canoodling in hammocks and gazing into each other’s eyes over candlelit dinners on the beach give you the ick?
But I’d argue that it’s the very elements that make the Maldives a favourite for tropical couples’ getaways – superb spas, cocooning overwater and beach villas (some with their own hot tub or pool), fantastic food and drink to suit all moods and tastes, and world-class diving and snorkelling on house reefs – that also make it perfect for holidays with female friends… Or at least, for those holidays when you’re all agreed that what you need is a deep dive into full-on, unadulterated indulgence.
Our Ibiza upgrade, as I’ll call it, was also encouraged by Virgin’s launch of direct flights to the Maldives from London Heathrow for the winter season (something that’s proven so successful, the airline has already announced the service will be stepped up to daily in winter 2024–25). No longer do you have to swap planes in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, and the outbound flights (10 to 11 hours) are overnight, meaning you can get your head down for much of the time and arrive refreshed enough to make the most of your first day in the Indian Ocean sunshine.
Unable to choose between a couple of sister resorts within an easy boat ride of each other in the Noonu Atoll, a 45-minute seaplane ride from Malé International Airport, we opted to mix it up a bit with a two-centre holiday. The far-flung location gives them both an intoxicating castaway feel that is lacking in some resorts closer to Malé, but their vibes are quite different.
Sun Siyam Iru Fushi has just over 200 villas, and this more intimate scale makes it perfect for a wellness retreat, while Siyam World (actually the largest resort in the Maldives) has nearly 500 villas, and with that come more restaurants, bars, pools and countless other facilities that even run to a floating water park and a riding stables with thoroughbreds for the ultimate beach ride.
Our first port of call was Iru Fushi’s award-winning Spa by Thalgo France, and I can hand-on-grateful-heart say I came away from it feeling like a different woman. It wasn’t just the treatment itself – a mind-blowing full-body Ayurvedic massage culminating in the practice of shirodhara, whereby medicated oil is slowly dripped onto one’s forehead to hypnotic effect. It was the whole caboodle: the gorgeous surroundings of carved wood, tactile pathways and lush foliage dotted by shimmering pools, the welcome tea ritual, and most of all the smiling, soothing, intensely empathetic therapists.
You can also do yoga at both resorts, and again, the sunset session that we took with Ayurvedic doctor Arya Sugahan on the beach at Siyam World was unlike anything any us had experienced in our 25 to 30 years of yoga. Arya seemed to tap into my sense of midlife sadness and confusion and stressed the need to release my emotional baggage into the ocean and to start listening to my inner voice, though new-to-me techniques such as butterfly poses and bee breathing.
Within just a day of arriving in the Maldives, the cough that had lingered since my last bout of Covid two months before had evaporated, showing just quickly one sinks into relaxation and rejuvenation here. It begins the moment you step off your flight at Malé, in fact, when Sun Siyam staff whisk your luggage off and bus you to their air-conditioned seaplane-terminal lounge for complimentary food and drink before your gorgeously scenic flight to the resorts – all part of the adventure (especially, if like me, you’ve got a thing about barefoot pilots…).
And the seaplane ride alone shows you how special the Maldives really is – how it’s not just a generic beach destination. Sure, we spent a lot of time draped lizard-like on the beach or by the pools or in the spas. But we also did a lot that is either unique to the Maldives or has a special relevance here, from whizzing down the water slide of our villa into the Indian Ocean to dancing barefoot and ecstatic on the sand to indigenous bodu beru drumming. We also spent time with the islands’ marine biologists, learning about dolphin conservation with one and planting coral onto frames with the other, before snorkelling out to watch them being lowered onto the seabed to help sustain the reef.
Best of all, on many levels, was the opportunity to visit a local island, to get a sense of the ‘real Maldives’ and the people who live here. As well as being a world away from life at the resort, these islands are places where you can see where your money as a visitor is going – the group’s sustainability program, Sun Siyam Cares, matches government funding for the building of mosques and schools and other initiatives. For me, meeting and chatting to locals going about their daily business, from children attending classes in school to women growing herbs and veg (for themselves and the resorts), reinforced the good that global travel can do.
We are all foodies, my friends and I, and we were also blown away by the offerings at both resorts. With about 20 restaurants between them, and countless bars where you can also eat, it’s impossible to detail even the few we had time to sample, but I’m still dreaming about the dishes I sampled at Kaage at Siyam World – a brand-new restaurant showcasing ‘back to the roots’ Maldivian cuisine as it’s cooked in the kind of homes we saw on the local island.
Here, tucking into such delights as carpaccio of local tuna with wild arugula, coconut and passionfruit, which seemed to convey the soul of these islands, we were not only unfazed by the presence of lovey-dovey couples – we barely even registered them. The same went for the rest of the trip. My friends and I only had eyes for one another, and for the delicious plates of food, and for the big wide Indian Ocean unfurling in front of us, brimming with possibility, far from all cares.
Virgin Holidays has five to 10-night all-inclusive holidays at Siyam World, with Virgin Atlantic flights from London Heathrow.
Virgin Holidays offers seven to 14-night all-inclusive holidays at Sun Siyam Iru Fushi, with Virgin Atlantic flights from London Heathrow.
Visit sunsiyam.com for more information on the hotels.
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