Listen, I love a good excuse to travel. But even more so when I know a baby is coming in May and our lives are going to change forever. I’m blaming my sister for putting the idea of Bridger and I going to the Maldives in my head early on in my pregnancy (she’s been twice), so it was something I was considering, but didn’t seem super realistic at the time.

Fast forward to January, we had to decide if we were going to travel somewhere close, like our favorite place, Cabo, or further, on the other side of the world (lol), to the Maldives. If it was going to be far, I wanted the trip to happen sometime during my second trimester as that’s the safest and most recommended timeframe to travel while you’re pregnant.

I researched tons and tons of hotels– the Maldives make up about 187 inhabited islands and the country is located south of India in the Indian Ocean. Most of the hotels/islands require you to take a seaplane once you arrive in Malé, the capital, and honestly, after two long plane rides already to get there, I was looking for hotels that were closer and only required a speedboat instead.

We ended up choosing Gili Lankanfushi because 1) my sister has stayed there twice and she had rave reviews and 2) it’s one of the closest islands to the airport in Malé, which is a win, especially being pregnant and traveling that far already. The service was over the top from the point I reached out to inquire about the trip via email (helped make our decision) until we left on the plane home.

FLIGHTS

SEATTLE –> DUBAI: 14-hour flight via Emirates
Layover: 8 hours
DUBAI –> MALÉ: 4-hour flight via Emirates
MALÉ –> Gili Lankanfushi: 15-minute speedboat ride via the hotel

Returning to Seattle

Gili Lankanfushi –> MALÉ: 15-minute speedboat ride via the hotel
MALÉ –> DUBAI: 4-hour flight via Emirates
3 nights in Dubai (to help break up the flights/travel day)
DUBAI –> SEATTLE: 14.5-hour flight via Emirates

GILI LANKANFUSHI

I will be dreaming of this island forever, it was heaven on EARTH. I would, hands down, recommend this hotel for anyone traveling to the Maldives. The service, the details, the food, the rooms, literally everything was such a great experience and I still can’t get over the trip Bridge and I had together.

VILLA TOUR

Watch my IG Reel above to see the full tour of our villa – we stayed two nights in a Villa Suite with a pool in Jetty 2, and two nights in a Villa Suite without a pool in Jetty 2. The villas felt huge; big open living space in the middle, bedroom with AC on one end of the villa, separate bathroom and closet area on the other end, shower outside, an upstairs, a lower private swimming area near the shower. It was so dreamy. We took advantage of villa pool one of the days while we had it, but mostly went to the beach by the public pool and restaurant on the island.

They also have Crusoe Residences (see the map here), not connected to a jetty, which we got to see on our last day since check out was earlier and our flight wasn’t until the evening. They were nice enough to transfer all our bags to that residence until we needed to leave. In terms of transportation to and from the island from the residence, you can call ahead and they’ll come get you in a pontoon boat right away or you can have your own personal motorized boat. Personally, I loved having the jetty connected to our room with bikes at our door (especially while pregnant), so we could leave whenever we wanted.

You’ll find all kinds of hotels in the Maldives, but I will say, I did really love the open, beachy wood feel of Gili. It made it so much more homey and comfortable. And not to mention, their saying on the island — or as soon as they pick you up on the boat — is , “No shoes, no news.” It’s very lax, you don’t wear heels/shoes at all during your stay, you ride bikes everywhere on the island, you can choose to dress up or not, whereas some of the other islands/hotels have a more ritzy feel. Even the employees at Gili who have worked at multiple hotels in the Maldives have said they much preferred Gili Lankanfushi, which says a lot.

Every guest gets their own, ‘Mr. Friday,’ who takes care of them throughout the entire stay, from booking any reservation, driving you around in a golf cart, greeting you everyday at breakfast, setting up any excursions, having snorkeling equipment brought to your room, grabbing you ointment for your burnt hands and then nasal spray from the doctor on the island when you get second-degree citrus burns and a cold… lol. I mean, they really do everything. You even get your own Mr. Friday from Gili back at the airport to take you all the way through security.

*If you can, request Makif! He was the best.

HIGHLIGHTS

Of course, the entire trip was a highlight, and that’s even with my burnt hands, Bridger’s lobster feet, and my cold (assuming it was just the long travel day, inconsistent sleep on the way there, and a slightly suppressed immune system while preggo). But, I’ll name some of our favorites below.

Beach cinema – they have certain public cinema nights, but we paid extra for a private viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean after dinner one night.

Citrus Cold Flu Fighter – okay, so I’m sure I was the only one on the island ordering these at the time because I was feeling under the weather, but it was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. I was ordering like 2-3 with each meal because it was so comforting and soothing. I recreated it HERE as soon as I got home.

Private dinner on the beach – Whether you go with your significant other, your mom, sis, your family, etc. I would definitely recommend dinner on the beach. It was so dreamy having our own private BBQ and the food was incredible. They set up lanterns and a cute cocktail lounge area before our dinner to celebrate our babymoon with coconuts and chairs.

30-minute photo session – every guest/couple gets their own 30-minute photoshoot with the photographer on the island. You can choose to purchase the photos afterward if you like, which we did, just so we could have some more photos of us together. But pro tip, also bring your tripod on the trip so you can get some couple shots together too (what I used to take our cocktail beach photos above^^).

Afternoon sorbet by the pool / beach – so, not to play favorites, but Gili has some of the best sorbet I’ve ever tried. I’m a sucker for the coconut + passionfruit combo.

Tennis lessons – Gili has a professional tennis player on the island and you can pay for hour-long lessons. Bridge and I both loved it. He did two mornings in a row and I did one.

Spa – We loved our couples massages one of the afternoons at their spa.

SHOP WHAT I BROUGHT

BABYMOON RECAP

This trip was exactly what I was looking for in a babymoon. It was relaxing, we were on a beach, the service was five stars, food was phenomenal. I loved every minute and would definitely recommend it. Let me know if you have any questions about our trip below 🙂 Dying to go back one day!!!! xx Rachael