How to choose a Maldives resort without regretting it

Every Maldives resort photographs the same way: a curve of overwater villas, a lagoon in three shades of blue, a hammock in the shallows. The photographs are honest. They are also useless for choosing between them, because the things that decide whether you love the trip do not show up in an aerial shot.

Start with the transfer

Malé airport is on its own island. From there you go by speedboat, seaplane or domestic flight, and the choice is made for you by where the resort is. Speedboat resorts are within about an hour and you can be in your villa ninety minutes after landing. Seaplanes are beautiful and stop flying at dusk, so a late arrival means a night in an airport hotel. Domestic flights run later but add a boat leg at the other end.

None of these is wrong. A three night trip wants a speedboat. A ten night trip can absorb a seaplane. Just know before you book.

Ask about the house reef

Some islands sit on the edge of a reef that drops away metres from the beach. Others sit in the middle of a wide, shallow lagoon with the reef a boat ride away. The first is better for snorkelling, the second is better for small children and for people who want calm water. Resorts describe both as "pristine". We describe them as what they are.

Size changes everything

A forty villa island and a two hundred villa island are different holidays. Small islands are quiet, walkable in ten minutes and sometimes a little claustrophobic by night six. Big islands have six restaurants, a kids' club that runs all day and a bicycle to get to dinner. Couples usually want the first and families usually want the second, but not always, and this is worth an honest conversation.

The season question

November to April is dry and expensive. May to October is wetter, cheaper and, in the northern and western atolls, the season when manta rays gather in the channels. We have sent divers in July who came back with the best trip of their lives and sunbathers in July who came back damp. Tell us which one you are.