I mentioned in an earlier post that we were coming up to our 35th wedding anniversary and I was wondering where my delightful husband would arrange for us to celebrate this occasion. He definitely exceeded my expectations after choosing the Maldives as our destination. It’s been one of those dream destinations that you never expect to make it to, but I can cross that off the bucket list now. And I’d love to go back again someday.

The main issue is the distance and time – from our home it was 11 hours flying (plus layover in Auckland) to Singapore, then overnight break before another 4.5 hours flight to Male.

Landing at Male, we were met by the resorts representatives and ushered across the road to a waiting jet boat transfer.  Baros was the destination, only a 25 minute transfer across flat seas, sighting a number of other resorts and beaches on our way.

Baros is a jewel in the Indian Ocean, a tiny but beautifully formed and planned island resort where you feel relaxed and are treated extremely well by staff, beaches are delightful,  and the underwater life is abundant. Unlike our previous (30th) anniversary experience in the beautiful St Regis Bora Bora, this time we could access the most amazing snorkeling directly from our room. The lagoon and house reef here at Baros had the best diversity and sheer numbers of fish life we have experienced, exceeding any snorkeling we’ve done in the Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, Rarotonga and Samoa.

My wonderful husband had opted for the second tier of rooms – the Baros Villa, as it had an extended deck area and slightly larger layout. We didn’t need a pool, and have already done the over water villas in Bora Bora, so this was ideal. Our room was an excellent location – only around 35 steps off the deck to the water. We enjoyed the views out to the lagoon and beyond to Male. Although the individual Villas seem to be close to each other, we felt completely private as the screening and vegetation give good separation.  We loved the layout of the villa, the spacious bathroom with thoughtful night-light, outdoor and indoor showers, well stocked wine fridge and mini bar at what we considered quite reasonable prices (we were previously stung in Bora Bora with very high prices).

On our anniversary day, we were surprised by a lovely breakfast set up on our deck. My husband had arranged it with the villa host – so to open the curtains that morning and see the wonderful set up was a great treat. And, that evening I was totally spoiled and blown away with a private sandbank dinner. This was a most excellent way to create a great memory. A short jet boat ride away, then a transfer to a smaller boat to access the sandbank – with sunset viewing seating area, and then the dinner table. Our own chef and waiter to provide the amazing pre-dinner canapes, champagne and take photos for us, then an excellent 3 course dinner with lobster main! This was such a special treat – and we definitely got an amazing sunset after the rain of the day before. The sun set on one side, and an almost full moon hanging in the sky on the other.

We took the snorkelling safari trip – on a rainy day – but that was really good as there was so much underwater life to see. The sea was not rough and the boat was nearby if anyone wanted to stop sooner. In fact all the snorkelling we did in the island was amazing! The abundance of fish and the variety was so much more than anywhere we have been previously – we always thought Fiji had the best, but this was so much better! Being able to walk into the lagoon from your villa, and swim outside the breakwater to see the house reef so close was what we had hoped for. It was easy swimming and I felt safe at all times. We saw an abundance of black tip sharks both inside and outside the breakwater, and got to see one of the turtles quite close up.

Baros exceeded our expectations in so many ways – and sometimes its just the little things that mean a lot. Like a couple of the staff walking around the island delivering cold towels and fresh fruit sticks in the late morning to those sitting on their beach loungers, the cold towels and water bottle delivered to you when you sat near the swimming pool, the cold towels before and sometimes after every meal. The location, the sea, the sand, the staff, the food and drinks, everything was excellent. I’d go back in a heartbeat, if it wasn’t so far away!