Maldives

The Maldives is not one place. It is a scatter of coral islands strung across nearly nine hundred kilometres of ocean, and the resort you pick decides the trip. Some sit forty minutes by speedboat from the airport and suit a long weekend. Others need a seaplane or a domestic flight and reward you with house reefs where manta rays turn up on schedule between May and November. We tend to steer couples toward the northern atolls for privacy and families toward the resorts with proper kids' clubs and shallow lagoons. Either way, ask us about the transfer before you fall for the photographs. It shapes the first and last day more than anything else.