Rangali Island and Male, Maldives (May, 2013)

Our business class flights on Singapore Airlines were awesome (and totally free since we used 30,000 US Airways miles each - 60,000 total - to book Bangkok, Thailand (origin) to Singapore (23 hour stop) to Male, Maldives (destination) to Singapore to Bali, Indonesia (open jaw) all in business class and the $222.04 in taxes and fees for both of us were paid for using 22,204 Capital One points).  We were able to sleep most of the ~5 hour flight to Male.

Once we arrived in Male, we were escorted to the Conrad Hotel arrivals lounge.  They took pretty good care of us there, with drinks, food, scented towels, and welcome kits.  It was about an hour before they escorted us to the seaplane that would take us to our hotel on Rangali Island, where we were scheduled to stay 4 nights at the infamous Conrad Maldives.  We used 145,000 Hilton Hhonors points for the 4 nights (36,250 points per night) using an American Express AXON award booking, so we paid no cash out of pocket for the hotel nights.  These rooms normally go for over $1,000 per night.  The seaplane was pretty cool, besides the fact that it cost ~$1,000 roundtrip for both of us (can't use miles or points to reduce the cost...ouch!).  We got to see a bunch of the islands that make up the Maldives from the air.  After about 30 minutes we splashed down on the water at the Conrad hotel.

They checked us into our room (#122); we walked around a bit and checked out the island.  The weather wasn't spectacular...it was cloudy and beginning to rain and very windy.  Walking out of our room to the beach was a bit disappointing with so much wind and the waves being pretty bad.  The staff was distracted and we quickly found out why...the Conrad hotel staff was playing in the championship game in a nationwide Volleyball tournament against the staff from a rival hotel chain on a different island.  We stopped in to watch the game.  It was pretty intense; it seemed that every hotel employee was there at the game and cheering passionately.  Everyone was happy and excited since the Conrad staff won the best of 5 series and the championship trophy (apparently, the Conrad had fallen short for the past 3-4 years).  After wandering the island a bit, we quickly found out that we were on the bad side of the island...the snorkeling, and the calm water was on the other side.  We asked if they would switch our room and they obliged the next morning.

Cody, on the pristine beaches of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

Our first scuba diving experience.  We were able to go down 40 feet with a guide, even though we were not certified.

Eliza, relaxing in one of the many hammocks at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

Eliza on the ferry between the 2 Islands that make up the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, with the overwater bungalows in the background.

Midnight fishing trip...we caught some small fish with just fishing lines and our bare hands.

Our deck in the room we paid to upgrade to (the overwater bungalow).

Eliza, on the deck of our overwater bungalow at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

Cody, walking down the steps into the crystal clear water at our overwater bungalow at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

The place was more or less deserted and we were on the end of the long pier in one of the more upscale overwater bungalows at the resort.

Fish surrounding the underwater restaurant, where we had lunch.

Clown fish.

We ate lunch at the underwater restaurant.

Lunch in the underwater restaurant.

Spectacular sunsets.

Eliza, looking hot outside our private overwater bungalow.

Room #214 was much better.  We were steps from the beach and the best snorkeling we've ever experienced.  The water was calm, no wind or waves crashing in on the beach...it was beautiful.  Also, the violent weather passed and we were left with sunshine for pretty much the rest of our stay in the Maldives.  We relaxed on the beach under our grass hut and Cody went snorkeling and chased a 6 foot reef shark for about 10 minutes.

We booked a scuba diving course in the afternoon of our 3rd day, and, to our surprise, they let us go down nearly 40 feet after we passed a few minor competency tests.  It was both of our first scuba dive, but it won't be our last.  We went snorkeling on the reef and booked a dusk/night fishing trip where we hauled in a few fish just holding the lines with our hands...no fishing poles (pretty much everyone else on the boat got seasick besides us and the crew).

We attempted to go snorkeling with the whale sharks the next day, but ended up paying $250 just to ride around on a boat and look for them...that's right, they didn't find any - maybe next time.  We spent some time relaxing by the pool, lounging on the beach, and snorkeling on the reef before having dinner at the Rangali Bar.  We thought it would be a shame to come all the way to the Maldives and not get an overwater bungalow room, so we decided to splurge and upgrade our room to an overwater spa retreat room.  The room was pretty awesome.  It had a jacuzzi out on the balcony and steps going right down into the crystal clear water below.  It had a separate private massage room that overlooked the ocean (overkill), so we gave each other massages to skip the $150/hour fee. With Bangkok and Bali on the agenda for our trip and the $7-10 massages you can get there, we figured the fee was a bit steep.

Our last day on the island, we splurged and booked lunch at Ithaa, the underwater restaurant ($463.32 for both of us...ouch!).  I guess it's one of those things you have to do, just because it's there, it's unique, and it's not something you see every day.  We spent time lounging on our deck in the bungalow, in the hot tub, and swimming at the pool and relaxing in the hammocks before catching the seaplane out to Male on the way to our next destination, Bali, Indonesia.

When we arrived in Male, we booked a tour of the city, which was something we wanted to see, but not very eventful.  We bought some souvenirs and headed back to the airport after a few hours in Male.