Maldives - Last but certainly not least

I have worked for the same company going on ten years in September, seven of those in the US. I have traveled a bit for work in the US and use my corporate Amex which accrues points. I'm not always a good points spender but this was well worth 2/3 of my points :).  

I did a four day cruise in the Maldives with the Four Seasons last August and it was a complete splurge on myself. This time around, I was trying to get home from Turkey, thought I could stop in Singapore on the way back and what is between Singapore and Turkey? The Maldives. Well, sort of. :) Plus, my friend Stephanie (living in Singapore) hadn't been before and wanted to go. My miles covered my flights and hotel. Add in Stephanie's super status at the hotel and we got champagne, free breakfast and free happy hour each day. Don't worry, we still managed to spend a lot but it was soooo nice :). 

Our villa had an outdoor shower and giant tub/jacuzzi that looked like its own gazebo. The room was glassed in but with a remote for blinds. You could see from the shower through the room out to our patio. The patio had its own set of lounge chairs and them a small s-curve path to our private beach area with two more chairs and an umbrella. So crazy. We started our first afternoon there, swimming in the water. Then headed to happy hour. We did some snorkeling around the island reef as well as a day trip. We did the paddle boat between the two islands and swam in the pool in the ocean. Good fun!

Here are some pics:

The main island that is uber Muslim conservative. Not much to see/do here. 

The Conrad islands

Super cute idea of a coconut on a stick to wash your feet of sand. They had these all over but mainly at entrances. 

Shower and tub

Patio and beach

Room with outdoor bathroom across the way. 

Free breakfast (we snuck food out to hold us through lunch and until dinner because meals were so expensive)

Fish at the house reef

Swimming in the pool that's in the ocean. Awesome. 

Stephanie's having fun in her tube also!

My fat butt almost bit it here. 

Paddle boat fun

Snorkel excursion!!

Good to go

We saw lots of turtles but this may be my best shot. 

Swimming with the turtles.

Finding Nemo (that's our guide)

A friendly shark ;)

Big trigger fish

...and that's all folks!