Starting to gather ideas for resorts for a 10th anny.

We want to do a "middle of nowhere island paradise" trip for our 10th. Likely 7 nights that will take 10-11 days of travel.

Have always wanted to do Bora Bora but man has the overwater bungalow gotten expensive there.

Maldives looks to be a less expensive option. Haven't looked into Fiji that much.

Will want to do some diving, fishing, boating, and staring at the sunset from a hammock over the water.

Maldives option I'm looking at is the Ayada resort. Bora bora is the st Regis.

Plan to use miles for flight and probably drop between 12-15k.

I have a texags client doing a split stay at Four Seasons Bora Bora and St. Regis Bora Bora (not til Nov). I previously had clients stay at Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts. I felt like it priced decent for what you got there.

I know I've had someone do a short stay in Fiji but I cannot remember where. They did a quick trip from Australia.

We eloped at Matangi Private Island Resort in Fiji. It was phenomenal (at least it was 10 years ago), but a ***** to get to.

corndog04 said:

---

We eloped at Matangi Private Island Resort in Fiji. It was phenomenal (at least it was 10 years ago), but a ***** to get to.

---

Yeah the small islands are tough.

Fortunately this one we're looking in Maldives is very chauffeur'd

Lounge at the airport in Male. Seaplane (I think?) to the local smaller airport. Then speedboat from there to the small resort island.

AA flight with points goes from DFW -> JFK -> LHR -> Doha -> Male. 30+ hour travel but it'll make it feel like we're on the other side of the world, which it is.

Fiji Airways just announced a non-stop A350 flight operating from DFW.

Think they'll code share with anyone? I've got AA miles. Round trips to Maldives are 105k right now

The diving in the maldives is great. When I went we took a float plane from Male direct to our resort and it was awesome. The airport hotel in Doha was also reasonable if you want to grab a couple of hours of sleep on your layover. We flew IAH direct to Doha then to Male. It wasn't bad at all.

Maldives is basically a hotel on its own island but heard the same about bora bora

maldivesag said:

---

Maldives is basically a hotel on its own island but heard the same about bora bora

---

This is correct on Bora Bora for all the high end resorts as each is situated on its own island, unless you stay on the main island of course. However, it's a short water taxi to the main island and easy to rent a car to spend the day on the main island. Also you can get day passes to spend at the other resorts which is fun, but each resort is pretty large and awesome in its own right so unless you are staying more than say 4+ days you can easily spend all your time at one resort. The water is incredibly clear and 15 shades of blue, but the snorkeling from the beach on Bora Bora is not very good given the sand bar nature of the resort islands as there isn't any coral with easy access from the resorts, however many resorts have their own man made snorkeling lagoon. But the diving is really exceptional and you can also take snorkeling trip which are also great. There are a number of dive shops that will pick you up at your resort and take you for a half day snorkel / dive trip for a pretty reasonable cost from what I can remember.

ChoppinDs40 said:

---

Think they'll code share with anyone? I've got AA miles. Round trips to Maldives are 105k right now

---

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/fiji-airways.jsp

akaggie05 said:

---

ChoppinDs40 said:

---

Think they'll code share with anyone? I've got AA miles. Round trips to Maldives are 105k right now

---

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/fiji-airways.jsp

---

interesting... that looks better than 30 hour travel day to the Maldives.

Anyone have recommendations on Fiji? looks to be a few different islands to focus on.

If going to Maldives, check to see if Qatar Airways has a codeshare flight with American. It's a direct flight from DFW to Doha and the service is much better.

EMY92 said:

---

If going to Maldives, check to see if Qatar Airways has a codeshare flight with American. It's a direct flight from DFW to Doha and the service is much better.

---

They do but doesn't appear I can book that one with miles. Maybe that changes when it actually comes time to book this.

Haven't been, but I like this guy's reviews:

https://theluxurytravelexpert.com/maldives/#hotels

Other Bora Discussions

Mentioned on this thread but if you really wanted to get away and do something different Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, combined with a trip to New Zealand. There's a poster on here going in September I believe, looking forward to the trip report.

I've read lots of Bora vs. Maldives pro/cons articles and they seem to say, unless you are combining the trip with a stay in Dubai, the travel for the Maldives isn't worth it when Bora is a lot shorter.

East Dallas Ag said:

---

Other Bora Discussions

Mentioned on this thread but if you really wanted to get away and do something different Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, combined with a trip to New Zealand. There's a poster on here going in September I believe, looking forward to the trip report.

I've read lots of Bora vs. Maldives pro/cons articles and they seem to say, unless you are combining the trip with a stay in Dubai, the travel for the Maldives isn't worth it when Bora is a lot shorter.

---

I plan to do 3/4 dives while I'm there which I know is far better in Maldives vs bora bora.

Agreed though. Travel to Maldives looks to be a beating.

I looked at the Cook Islands also but I want an overwater bungalow, not sure those exist.

I wonder if anyone has done Seychelles. That looks neat.

We did St Regis in Maldives and it was awesome and definitely recommend. Make sure you fly Qatar airways and try and fly business to experience their q suites.

The travel is a beating so make sure you stay 2 weeks at least. Diving is the best I've ever done. Heck snorkeling is better than some diving I've done.

2 weeks not in the cards, especially at $1,500 to $2k a night. Probably 7-8 nights

What's the best airline to use w/ United miles to get to either Bora Bora or Maldives? Have a **** ton of United miles (~800k) & Hilton points (~2M) I've been banking over the years to use on 1st class seats and a few nights of overwater rooms hopefully one day with the wife.

Jock 07 said:

---

What's the best airline to use w/ United miles to get to either Bora Bora or Maldives? Have a **** ton of United miles (~800k) & Hilton points (~2M) I've been banking over the years to use on 1st class seats and a few nights of overwater rooms hopefully one day with the wife.

---

Not sure on conversion but here's what my research has shown (I'm an American miles guy).

I don't believe any US carrier flies into Male (Maldives) so getting first class is hard if not impossible with those miles.

That being said, I can do RT right now on American for 105k miles. Not the best path to get there but not the worst. Either way you're looking at 2+ days to get there since you go east. 1+ getting home.

You mostly fly Qatar from Doha in there. I think Singapore also goes to Male.

Over water bungalows could be hard to secure with points, and maybe not sunset or Mountain View ones in Bora Bora.

That being said, if they offer it, you'll be able to get that with miles and points. I could see you using all 2mm points though (if they're similar in value as Marriott).

My rub with Bora Bora is there's only a handful of resorts and less with over water bungalows. And they're proud of those.

Maldives has way more options and levels of luxury. Maldives has some resorts that would blow the 4 seasons in bora bora away. I'm talking 6BR homes. Private islands. Over water bungalows with water slides. Resorts with their own private seaplane for transfer.

Downside to American traveler scheduling is Maldives monsoon season is basically our summer.

Just need to do some research on when you'd think you'd like to go and start looking at prices.

Did a week and a half in the Maldives a year ago. The snorkeling is absolutely amazing! The best thing I did when building out the trip was staying a full day in Singapore both ways to break up the beating of a flight.

https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/travel/fiji-airways-nonstop-dfw-airport/

New option for the metroplex folks