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Maldives honeymoon ideas

Our Maldives honeymoons look beyond the resorts and seek out alternative, low-key romantic adventures which feature local island hopping, cookery courses with families, and planting a tree to celebrate your marriage. Less castaway, more conviviality, and every bit as special as you could want for your first week of wedded bliss.

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Maldives honeymoon ideas

The most stereotypical of honeymoon destinations? Our alternative honeymoon ideas will make you look twice.

Oh, my spangled emperor, my giant sweetlips, my strawberry hind – no, you’re not talking to your beloved, but to the reef fish you’ve just seen on a snorkelling trip. Giant sweetlips are named for their prominent mouths, whilst a spangled emperor is handsomely flecked with bronze and blue scales.

So fabled is the Maldives as a honeymoon destination that it seems that even the fish have overblown, romantic names.

Heading to these island archipelagos is the antithesis to planning a big wedding: no crowds, no schedules, no formalities, and probably no shoes – the Maldives are the perfect place to drift in the first few weeks after wedded bliss.

What if you want a richer vacation than the limbo state of island isolation offered by resorts? Our indulgent Maldives honeymoons invite you to go deeper and see more: to stay local, to island hop, and to combine the Maldives with nearby Sri Lanka for even more culture.

“A honeymoon in the Maldives can be so much more than a resort escape,” says Ruth Franklin, founder and director of our Maldives-based partner Secret Paradise. “Choosing a local island tour opens the door to a deeper, more enriching experience and could be the perfect start to a life of adventures together!”

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Introducing the Maldives for newlyweds

The Maldives has been welcoming honeymooners since tourism came to the islands in the 1970s. There are 1,192 islands in the Maldives, and of these there are over 100 resort islands – private entities that are for the sole use of a particular resort. Once you’re here, you’re likely staying for a week – bar the odd boat excursion.

Whilst most honeymooners’ photography albums show the islands as eerily unpeopled paradises, there’s a lot of life to see outside the frame. There are 187 inhabited islands in the Maldives, known as local islands, where Maldivian people live. Hanimaadhoo (population: 2,500), one of the largest islands in the Maldives, comes to life in the evenings when people finish work and school, and hang out on the beaches. You might be invited for dinner with a local family, or learn how to fish – learning a new skill as a couple is supposed to strengthen your bond (although you’ve already fallen hook, line and sinker for each other, of course).

Spending time on both local islands and resort islands means taking part in more experiences that bring you closer together, Ruth explains, “It’s a chance to connect not just with each other, but also with the people, culture, and natural beauty of the Maldives.”

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What do our Maldives honeymoons entail?

Spend a few days honey-marooned on a private beach, followed by a few days touring local islands.

Variety and choice

You could split your time and get the best of two or more very different places: “A split stay, where you combine a stay on a resort and a stay on a local island, allows couples to enjoy both luxury and authenticity,” says Ruth. This might mean a few days honey-marooned on a private island in a villa built over the water, followed by a few days touring local islands.

You could combine the Maldives with Sri Lanka: two’s company, after all. The destinations are around 470km apart and the flight from Colombo to Male lasts less than two hours.

Nature and seascapes

There are 1,100 species of fish, five species of turtle, plus showy creatures like whale sharks and manta rays, dolphins and sharks in the Maldives, an island nation that’s 99 percent ocean. You can take part in boat trips to snorkel on reefs, or explore your islands ‘house reef’ from the shore at your leisure. If you’re ready to take the plunge into a new life together, try staying at a boutique dive hotel on Dhigurah. Out of the water, borrow a bike and cycle around the island, or enjoy a private dinner on the beach.

Sustainability-focused vacations

If honeymoons are all about starting a new chapter, then there’s no more apt activity than learning about some of the new sustainability initiatives pioneered by Maldivians on their islands. These are woven into your stay – you’ll get briefed on the reef before you snorkel above it, learn about the importance of seagrass for sea life, and be shown how local organisations are protecting and monitoring manta rays, turtles and whale sharks. For the ultimate romantic gesture, what about planting a coconut palm on an island as part of a reforestation initiative, knowing it will grow as your lives together grow? And for an unconventional souvenir, when you fly home, take any plastic waste from toiletries bottles or food with you when you go – it’s very difficult to recycle these in the Maldives.

Communities and culture

One thing you’ll see a lot of if you’re on honeymoon are two-seater swings – romantic, no? But the comfiest chair in the Maldives is the joali, a cross between a hammock and a deck chair that can be propped up on a sunny street corner, or under a tree. Their seat is made from a single line of rope knotted into a web. On our vacations, you might learn how to make these knots, a local craftsperson showing you the process – the reward being a lovely sit down afterwards.

Whilst you’re on local islands, swap happy hour for hedhikaa: sweet and savoury snacks served with black tea – the perfect afternoon aperitif. Or try mixing up a dish of mas huni – flaked tuna mixed with coconut, onion, lime and chilli – a typical speedy breakfast, served with roshi (flatbread). Local guides are key to unlocking these Maldivian experiences for you.

Cultural customs

A caveat: some typical honeymoon behaviour may need tempering in the Maldives when you’re visiting local islands.

The Maldives is a Muslim country – this means that there’s no drinking on local islands. Some hotels get around this by offering a floating bar off the island. You should have shoulders covered, and keep your upper arms and legs covered when bathing; this means not wearing your usual swimwear unless you’re on a dedicated ‘bikini beach’, or on a private beach owned by a hotel. Even on resort islands, nudism is prohibited.

Same-sex relations are illegal in the Maldives – meaning that you could face jail time. Though same-sex couples do book vacations in the Maldives and visit resort islands, sadly this is not a honeymoon destination that could be said to be fully open to all.

When to go on a Maldives honeymoon

Certainly not before the wedding! The Maldives low season actually lines up with the northern hemisphere’s prime wedding season. If you’re going straight after a summer wedding – from May to the end of September, there’s more chance of heavy rain showers, but you might see turtles laying eggs in May and June and those eggs hatching in July and August. If you want the typical Maldives honeymoon experience, perhaps wait until peak season (dry season), which runs December to April.