What 368 DialAFlight clients thought of The Maldives

Eric could not have been more helpful every step of the way - we WILL be using DialAFlight again

Glen was amazing!

Jim Camahin was exceptionally polite, professional, friendly and helpful. He made the experience very seamless and stress free - couldn’t ask for more.

Danny Sharma was amazing in all respects. Thank you

Please tell other visitors to Maldives they need to fill out immigration info online before leaving UK as very stressful doing it in airport after queuing for an hour only to be sent away .. staff member Nicole is a diamond

Roy gets it right every time

Excellent service as always from Stacey Rayner. Great holiday and some wonderful memories. A*

Thank you Bradley! Incredible holiday. It was flawless

Jim is an excellent and professional member of your team - second time we have booked with him and he's been amazing.

Lloyd was excellent. Really felt looked after. Thank you

Excellent arrangements. Darren Is amazing as always. Definitely recommend to friends and colleagues.

Excellent as always

Excellent customer service

Very helpful and great service

Would not recommend a stop in Abu Dhabi if layover is 4 plus hours as facilities are poor.

Not only excellent service from staff but also very competitive price for holiday

Gary and Tammy were very helpful and ensured that best flights were booked despite the airline constantly changing them.

Excellent. Richard is been amazing. Nothing is too much trouble.

Toby was excellent, easy to get hold of and delivered as per request. We will use him again for future holidays for sure.

Glen Blackburn really understood what my wife and I required from our holiday. He provided us with all the relevant details that really made it easy for us to make a decision. He understood exactly what we wanted, keeping in line with our budget and provided a first class service.

Marie was amazing throughout the whole process.

Thank you to Seymour who organised this long awaited break. We are both front line NHS staff and we really needed this. So thank you for not turning me away as many other companies I contacted who would not help or reply or consider looking for deals! Thank you. We will definitely recommend to our friends and family.

Very efficient service.

As ever, another smooth holiday just finished. Excellent service. We always book through DialAFlight with Clark Maroof and his colleagues!

I would like to thank Ben for sorting out a lovely holiday for us both - we had a fantastic time and we would recommend you to all our friends and family

The trip was excellent and all went to plan. Good communication from Des during the whole process. Will def use again.

Totally fantastic service, recommendations and flight times - will definitely be booking again.

Holiday destination was fantastic. Everything ran extremely well and DialAFlight did a amazing job for us. All bookings and changes we were kept informed of and all ran smoothly. I would have no hesitation in recommending them.

Always willing to assist and help with even the silliest of questions. Thank you for everything.

Stafford was brilliant, and kept us in the loop. He was really friendly and helpful, made our holiday process so easy and made sure we were happy with everything. Would definitely recommend DialAFlight.

Picture perfect

Epic luxury on the beach

Personal infinity pools, private island dining and even an outdoor cinema on the sand - Tammy Hughes finds that pampering in the Maldives is of blockbuster proportions

Sitting next to Miss Chatty, as she texts and eats a deafening packet of Kettle Chips, ruins a trip to the movies. I'd much rather sit on a beach in front of the big screen, being served champagne cocktails and canapés - at least I would after my recent trip to the Maldives, where the fivestar resort of Moofushi puts on this excellent service for guests.

When I came back from the Maldives relaxed and sporting a winter tan, some friends asked whether I'd been bored 'on a desert island with nothing to do’. But far from sitting on a sunlounger all day (although you can do that if you wish) I found my five-day stay at the Constance hotel resorts of Halaveli and Moofushi surprisingly active.

Barefoot on the beach at Halaveli

Halaveli has a private island setting in the Maldives’ North Ari Atoll. It's a magical location where the blue of the sea and the white sandy beaches contrast magnificently with the surrounding luxuriant green foliage. Moofushi boasts the ultimate barefoot chic, with villas on dazzling white sand or on stilts that float above the turquoise water of the Indian Ocean.

Moofushi floats above the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean

As well as sparkling white beaches, turquoise sea and all inclusive drinks, both resorts have excellent diving, gym, spa, kids' club, watersports and superb restaurants.

At Halaveli, all accommodation comes with its own infinity pool. And here you can upgrade to a beach villa with an outdoor bathroom and private beach access.

Halaveli is the sort of place you can imagine Madonna or Angelina coming to top up the tan and have bit of R&R. If you do want to venture away from the accommodation you could arrange to jetski over to a nearby island to have dinner cooked by your own private chef. Or you could dine at the exceptional Jing restaurant – I loved the lobster bisque, caviar blinis, sea bass noodles and yellow fin tuna chunks. All restaurants at Halaveli and Moofushi have their own very helpful sommelier to help you navigate impressive wine lists.

Dining with a view

One activity not to be missed is the diving. It’s been nine years since I did my diving qualification in Ko Tao, Thailand, but after my first dive in the Maldives I soon got back into the swing of it.

Some incredible sights awaited me at Moofushi. Although the resort may appear to be an island in the middle of nowhere just a few metres underwater is a fishy metropolis.

Coral reefs are teeming with life and almost immediately I was swimming with schools of brightly coloured or silver fish, black jack fish, sharks and sting rays. After that initial dive I couldn’t wait to get out again and at dinner that night I was told that we were heading out the next day to see the manta rays. I wasn’t really sure what they were and I thought the bloke telling me about them was getting very excited about a fish.

It turns out that manta rays are quite big fish and as the largest member of the ray family they are roughly the size of a small car. They are giant and graceful creatures

Diving with graceful manta rays

The mantas seemed completely untroubled by the groups of divers that had come to see them and fly so close that you can almost touch them. I have to say that I owe an apology to that enthusiastic man. He was totally correct, it is an unmissable experience.

After the dive with the mantas it was time for some relaxation and a delicious buffet lunch of seafood accompanied by a crisp rosé.

More fabulous relaxation was to follow as I was booked into the spa for a massage. The spa at Moofushi is a series of water villas which have a glass wall allowing you to look out on the crystal clear sea (merely describing it as blue doesn't do it justice - it's a sensational glittering hue that's a visual feast).

But best of all the floors also have a glass window, so if you can fight the urge not to close your eyes you can watch the fish swim by while you have your massage.

Obviously I could only keep my eyes open for four seconds before I dropped off into a semi-coma, but I did manage to see a couple of baby sharks.

Halaveli also do spa treatments and offer a special ‘after-sun’ massage, perfect for the pale skinned guest such as me.

First published in the Mail Online - November 2016

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