Sun, Sand and Sea | Vivanta By Taj – Coral Reef, Maldives

10 years of marriage is the first of the major milestone anniversaries and it was time for celebration.  My hubby and I wanted some time to ourselves, hence decided to treat ourselves to a quick getaway to an exotic destination.

Our choice of destination was without a doubt – Maldives as we have been playing around with visiting this destination for a long time now and finally decided to go for it.

After a lot of running through options given by our travel agent, we finally decided to settle with a familiar name – Vivanta By Taj – Coral Reef. It was time to splurge and the images we saw of this resort were breathtaking and we were all geared up for a 4 days of sun, sand and sea.

Our flight was via Colombo and luckily enough we did not have more than an hour layover at Colombo before we took off to Male, Maldives. Though we had to get our visa on arrival, the airport is well organized and it took about 15-20 mins to get through the formalities and before we knew it we were been herded by one of the Taj personnel to our speed boat who would take us to Hembadhu Island, to Vivanta by Taj – Coral Reef, Maldives.

The speed boat ride gave us our first glimpse of the beautiful turquoise waters of Maldives and even though we were a bit tired after the flight, that sight just got us smiling. Male, is a bustling little town and though we did not explore it, the ride took us around a bit of the town.

Though the speed boat ride was supposedly 45 mins to our island, it felt like 15 mins thanks to wonderful sights we got to see during this trip. On reaching the island, we were greeted by a friendly and young chap who it seems was to be our personal attendant during this entire stay.

The 5 star resort gets its name from the coral reef lagoon and is about 32 kms in its entirety.

The resort has 2 options – Beach Villas and Water Villas and we decided we wanted to stay on the waters and hence opted initially for the Water Villas. Though we had seen many photos of the sea view and rooms, I was awestruck with the first glance of our room and our luxurious accommodation was all I wished for when we first planned this trip.

Our water villa was spacious and sophisticated blending a touch of beach decor along with essentials such a flat-screen TV with home theatre system and iPod docks. It was also equipped with a minibar stocked with snacks and beverages.

Our villa also had an outdoor shower area with a private deck with views of the lagoon and own private snorkelling.

The rest of the day was spent walking through the island taking in the natural beauty and dramatic sunset ocean view. Since I am the planner between us, I spent a little time planning a few activities we could try our hand at over the next few days here.

As much as the hubby and I wanted to take it easy and wake up late the next day, we were quite excited and was up and headed to breakfast earlier than we wanted to. We had a little surprise waiting for us at breakfast, since it was our 10th wedding anniversary that day, our personal attendant had made sure it was conveyed to the hotel staff who arranged a delicious pancake stack as a make do cake. A great way to begin the day!

The Latitude is their all day multi-cuisine restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had all our breakfast here and some of our other meals too. This restaurant has a changing menu everyday and I cannot resist sharing some of the dishes we had during our stay.

The resort also has a Pizzeria which is open a few hours during the day as well as Open – The Grill which serves South American and sometimes Japanese cuisine. Their open air bar — Reef Bar is adjacent to the pool is located centrally and is beautiful especially at night.

The first day we spent most of time relaxing by the Pizzeria.  We also managed a visit to the Dive Centre to get some snorkeling gear and bit of a lesson on do’s and dont’s when snorkelling.

Our sea villas were a divers dream with 360 degree view of the ocean and every morning we woke to the calm and serene waters of the ocean something I miss even to this day. The next few days began always with a swim in the ocean followed by snorkelling which worked a great appetite for breakfast.

Every evening there was a small get together near the waterfront where the staff lead us through a session of Sting Ray feeding. This activity brought out the kid in me and I made sure I was there every evening to feed the Sting Ray’s and the few eels, baby sharks and other fish who braved coming near us humans.

Though I love doing nothing on a vacation, I could not resist using their fitness centre and was surprised to see many like minded people working out.

The island resort also offers plenty of options to spend time at leisure like spa, swimming pool, facilities for sports, day lounge with board games, library, water sports and boutique. The resort also arranges for excursions and sightseeing tours, on request. Though we did not want to step out of the island, we did use some of the island facilities and especially enjoyed a game of table tennis every night before dinner.

Before we knew it, it was time to bid adieu to a unforgettable and blissful tropical holiday at Vivanta By Taj – Coral Reef with a promise in our hearts to return.

For Reservations:

Email – vivanta.coralreef@tajhotels.com

Ph – 960 6441948 / 960 6643884