Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Day 1 and 2 at the Conrad Maldives: beach villa, overwater spa, Atoll Market, snorkeling - March 28-29, 2014


Trip Index

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Kaleb and I got off the seaplane and met Naoko, our resort host.  She led us to a lightly air-conditioned lounge adjacent to the pier where we received a cold towel to wipe down our sweaty skin.  The lounge and pier were located off the center of a long bridge connecting the resort's main island to a smaller second island.  Naoko then led us towards the main island to the reception desk.

lounge
Naoko insisted on carrying my backpack!

While we sat down and waited for our room keys, freshly opened coconuts were served.

fresh coconut juice

Naoko led us to beach villa #206, our home for the next two nights.  Based on comments posted on the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island thread on Flyertalk, I emailed the hotel directly to request a beach villa closer to the house reef for snorkeling.  This villa wasn't the closest, but it was still a nice location across from the diving center and was pretty quiet.

What a beautiful accommodation with lots of space! (perhaps a bit too much wasted space...)  Naoko showed us around inside before departing.  Our luggage arrived shortly afterwards.  Remember I booked a massage for this afternoon earlier in the seaplane lounge?  It had taken longer than expected to arrive to the island so I called the spa and asked to move it an hour later so we could unpack, which was not a problem.

king size platform bed
fruit and champagne...part of Gold member benefits
sink toiletries; shampoo/conditioner was outside
sink soap
Nespresso machine
complimentary coffee and tea
zen-like courtyard
shower at right; steps to outside tub

Grand tour of the beach villa as narrated by Kaleb (2:39): (click here if you cannot see the preview below)


It was time for my massage at the Over-Water Spa, located on the small island.  Instead of walking across the long bridge, we took the dhoni transfer which sailed back and forth between the islands during the day.  Another option to hop between the islands was catching a ride with staff on a golf cart.

here comes the dhoni
people and carts on the bridge

Kaleb walked with me to the spa, then left to explore the little island.  I checked in with the receptionist and was given a robe to change into.  (no slippers...everyone at the spa was barefoot, including the employees!)  The spa had two individual bathrooms to change in, no locker room.  There were two spas in the resort, this one and a larger one on the main island.  I selected the Over-Water Spa so that during my massage, I could look down through the floor to watch fish swimming!

welcome drink and cold towel
sitting in the "waiting room"
heading out to the treatment room
looking down the head rest through the floor

After my treatment, I sat in the relaxation room enjoying hot tea and treats while gazing out onto the tranquil azure ocean as the sun was setting.  This was a great start to enjoying paradise!

very relaxed
ahhhhhh
tea and cookies
large jacuzzi off the deck (I didn't have my swimsuit though)
standing on the deck; water villas nearby
sunset in paradise

For dinner tonight, we rehydrated a freeze-dried backpacker meal, ate from the fruit basket, and enjoyed the bottle of bubbly.  It was really fun to use the outdoor shower.  I didn't consider using the outdoor bathtub because it would take 40 minutes to fill up and to me, seemed like a huge waste.


Saturday morning, we went to Atoll Market restaurant for a buffet breakfast.  Daily breakfast is complimentary for Hilton HHonors Gold and Diamond members.  I got Gold status from having the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card...the annual fee is $95 but it more than paid for itself during this stay.

The restaurant was open-air with a sandy floor.  Food selection was decent, with Western favorites such as bacon, sausage and eggs, Eastern and island specialties like congee, sushi, and curry, and a nice selection of delectable baked goods and fresh fruit.  There was a chef station where you could order omelettes and fried eggs.

dig your toes in the sand
some hot foods
fresh honeycomb
sushi and cold cuts
pastries
flaky goodness
fresh fruit
one of my many plates

After breakfast, we stopped by the diving center to pick up some fins for snorkeling (we brought our own mask and snorkel) as well as signing up for a diving trip the next day.  We had to do a mandatory orientation dive in the resort lagoon so we scheduled it for this afternoon.

It was a very short stroll from our villa to the part of the beach where the resort cleared a pathway through the coral in the shallow waters to reach the house reef.  There were lots of fish to see.

28-second clip of snorkeling: (click here if you cannot see the preview below)


Afterwards, we relaxed for a bit on lounge chairs under a palapa before heading to the diving center for our orientation dive.  We were fitted with a short wet suit, buoyancy control device (BCD), weights and regulator; we already had our mask, snorkel and fins.  The instructor asked if we were okay to walk a short distance to the lagoon with our equipment and tank on...no problem!  It was a bit heavy for me but nothing more than when I went on my open water dives during training.  If it was a problem, someone would have carried the equipment over to the water's edge.

We walked into the lagoon until we could be fully underwater kneeling down, then following the instructor's lead, Kaleb and I showed that we were capable of clearing our mask as well as recover our regulator.  Then we dove around the lagoon for another ten minutes.  The water was warm, which Kaleb and I enjoyed very much since he had previously dived in cold quarries and I had completed open water training in a 48 degree lake.

lagoon
"George" the heron skulking around

It rained cats and dogs for the rest of the day so we stayed in the beach villa and read our Kindles on the patio.  When the rain stopped, it became paradise once again.


For dinner, we had instant noodles and the rest of the fruit in our basket.  The big breakfast that we had in the morning was enough to carry us through the day, plus we had snacks in the room.  There was an afternoon tea complimentary for all guests served in Mandhoo restaurant on the main island from 4-5pm, but throughout our stay, we never had time to go as we were always busy.  I had heard that it used to be substantial, with sandwiches and pastries, but due to past guests hoarding the food (no doubt fueled by the high prices of food in the restaurants), the offering had been paired down to a small assortment of cookies, so we didn't miss much.  There also was a free happy hour from 5-6pm in Vilu restaurant for guests on the smaller island as well as Hilton HHonors Gold and Diamond members; we made it there a few times, to be discussed in a later post.

Tomorrow, we move to the water villa on the smaller island and head out diving with manta rays...stay tuned!

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