What Food/Drink/Snacks to "Smuggle" in to Remote Maldives Resort?

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  cynicor on 24/03/2018 - 23:50

  +2

  Been to CMR twice for a total of 12 nights. Wouldn't bother bringing anything. Breakfast goes until late so have a lateish breakfast, eat at the free afternoon tea and have your cocktails will tide you over til dinner. Rangali bar and room service are the cheapest priced, I've never needed to buy lunch there.
  Spend the day at the beach snorkelling and you won't notice being hungry.

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    neon crossing on 25/03/2018 - 01:36

    Cheers for the advice!
    Any other tips in general?

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      cynicor on 25/03/2018 - 13:27

      +2

      To be honest? My number 1 tip is ignore the $ cost, just do what you would want to do and have fun, then pay the bill at the end.

      Everything is expensive and it's not actually just mark up. There are so many staff, especially the ones you never see, constantly maintaining gardens, shipping in things, preparing food, cleaning. Every bit of power and water has to be generated from imports- diesel for generators to run the whole place and then to desal the water. Everything you eat except for some fish and coconuts is imported.

      The tap water is drinkable, it's desal. The glass bottles are purified with an extra step and you can ask for more at any time if you aren't keep on tap (I was fine). Don't order water at any restaurant unless you can get desal, the Voss bottle was 20USD last time I was there. You may be able to byo water from the villa into some restuarants, maybe ask on booking. (It's not just the cost but I hate the waste of importing the water bottles, and yes I realise the irony in staying somewhere like this and all the miles it generates :P)

      Do the whale shark snorkelling if thats your thing. It's great. If you can swim well, the whole house reef is an amazing exploration. It's a fail if you haven't seen plenty of sharks and a couple of turtles EVERY time you go out! There are mantas, eagles rays, octopi, moray eels, lion fish and all sorts. Spend lots of time snorkelling and for the love of god please don't rest or step on any coral. If you aren't a great swimmer, get a life vest but it's not the same. Get out over the dropoff for the best stuff, and turtles spend a lot of time towards the bridge in the reefs there.

      The underwater restaurant is $$$. I have been lucky enough to go to a number of nice restaurants which cost as much and the quality of the meal isn't at 2 star level, to me, but again you are paying for the view/construction/staffing etc. Lunch is hot as hell, go for dinner and pay the extra if you were going to go at all. I enjoyed it, and went the second time as well (and both these trips were alone so I wasn't trying to impress anyone etc), but preferred dinner. Better meal, less sweating, nicer views.

      Check out both breakfast venues ASAP, you 2 will probably prefer Vilu.

      Contact the resort for upgrade pricing if considering an OWB or something different. I actually prefer the Beach Villas but as a couple you might like the OWB. Partly for me, being by the house reef was nicer than being a long walk away from the gym, reef, restaurants etc.

      The reef on the OWB side isn't amazing but you can still find some small fish.

      Walk the island bridge in the evening a lot to find the mantas. Sit and watch and they should/may turn up. And also- walk everywhere. Requesting buggies for everything will just get you frustrated if they are delayed etc. Much better to be chilled and just walk as much as possible. I swum the lagoon crossing a few times too, just keep away from the Dhoni.

      Ask away if you have any specific questions, hope I have helped!

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  boostpak on 04/07/2018 - 13:36

  why bother going if you're going to be in the Maldives in the hot weather sitting in your room eating megoreng on your honeymoon. Sad cases or what

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  myusername on 04/07/2018 - 13:48

  maybe take some form of intelligence there.

  if you did some research you will find you can buy alcohol there

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  boostpak on 08/08/2018 - 09:38

  maybe you can take a net in your suitcase and try and catch some fresh fish. Then use a stone and some sticks to create a fire. Cook the fish there each day and have a top honeymoon.

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  dearears on 14/08/2018 - 10:27

  If you are using a sea plane to get to your destination, chances are you will pay for excess baggage. They wright hand bags and purses too.

  The best deal is to go on an all inclusive package.

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  rompastompa on 14/08/2018 - 10:49

  Hotel Room Service Hack: Often, room service will still do breakfast menus for lunch/evening when requested.

  Look for a 'value item' in the menu, such as a ham and cheese toastie for $7, rather than a lunch meal for $20+.

  Obviously not necessarily ham due to Sharia Law, but find another tasty/cheaper item.

  Edit: Doh, someone resurrected an old thread. OP, how did your honeymoon go? What did you smuggle in?

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    boostpak on 16/08/2018 - 10:31

    you're going to the maldives for a holiday honeymoon, are you really seriously going to be worrying about a few bucks on breakfast meals smh

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      robbo135 on 21/08/2018 - 21:16

      -1

      Thats the ozbargain way

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        boostpak on 14/09/2018 - 11:45

        no it's not, it's just plain stupid

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  bazza1980 on 18/08/2018 - 19:54

  +1

  You can give the missus a "protein shake" twice a day and you can eat your instant noodles ;)

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