Golden Ticket Travel

African Village Hotel

Explore the surroundings

Destination introduction

Holidays in the Maldives conjure up images of white sands, swaying palm trees and crystal blue waters, creating that quintessential picture-perfect holiday bliss. Kuoni’s hand-picked island resorts offer everything from all inclusive Maldives holidays, to rustic island retreats and the world’s finest luxury accommodation. Savour gourmet dining, sensuous spas, spectacular diving and the most enchanting ocean sunsets.

• Admire sea views with a stay in a water villa, elevated over turquoise waters.
• Whilst most of our resorts have fabulous spas, look out for our ‘SPA’ labelled resorts for the finest in pampering indulgences.
• Discover a vibrant underwater world with a professional, supervised scuba-diving expedition. Browse some of our comprehensive dive packages.
• For the ultimate experience join the Atoll Explorer for a Maldives cruise around this beautiful country’s most magical atolls.
• All Inclusive Maldives holidays - For the complete hassle-free holiday look out for our specially negotiated All Inclusive deals.
• All Maldives holidays travelling on scheduled flights include access to the VIP lounge in Malé International Airport on your departure.

Diving

These idyllic coral islands rank amongst the best dive destinations in the world. In conjunction with Euro-Divers, we can offer quality diving packages in the Maldives which can be pre-booked in the UK.

The rare beauty of the magnificent underwater world has made these islands one of the most enchanting diving destinations in the world. When conditions are good the underwater visibility is at the highest level – sometimes exceeding 50 metres – and the warm water temperatures year round make diving in the Maldives a pleasure.

The North Malé Atoll is home to the Lion’s Head and Wattaru Kandu dive sites both of which are frequented by reef sharks. Wattaru Kandu is also home to stingrays and
garden eels whilst Lankanfinokhu, or Manta Point as it’s locally known, is a great place to see manta rays being cleaned by local colonies of cleaner fish.

Hukrueli in the South Malé Atoll is another place to see rays and cleaner fish and Maaya Thila, a protected marine area in this atoll is home to white-tip sharks, turtles, zebra morays and the elusive guitar shark.

Hanifaru lagoon in the Baa Atoll is one of the best places to see whale sharks and manta rays. June to September is the best time to see them as this is during the monsoon season and equinox when the lagoon is filled with plankton.

Important Notes: A medical certificate of physical fitness may be required and qualified divers must bring proof of diving certification and logbook. Please ensure that you purchase adequate insurance.

If you are travelling with any other form of insurance, we strongly recommend that you check the terms of your policy and if necessary take out extra cover. Dive prices shown do not include boat trips to and from dive sites. Boat trips approx. $10 per dive are payable locally. If you intend to learn to dive whilst you are in the Maldives, you must book a holiday of at least eight days duration (five days for the Scuba Diver courses). Open Water and Scuba Diver courses include the necessary equipment as required. Cost for logbook, certificate, course book and other course materials are not included. Costs per person approximately: US$140 (Certification alone: $85).

* Extra equipment required including mask, fins, snorkel, regulator with octopus and pressure gauge, BCD with inflater, 10 litre tank, weightbelt, weights and dive computer (compulsory for every diver) can be obtained locally at an extra charge. Full terms and conditions available on request.

Shopping

In Malé you’ll see plenty of street merchants selling beautiful Maldivian postage stamps. Those ragged dentures suspended outside gift shops are sharks’ jaws. Attractive T-shirts are stencilled before your eyes, generally with brilliantly coloured tropical fish.

The islanders are expert in carving coconut wood and use it to decorate their houses. Mat-weaving, basket-making and coir rope-making are other long-standing crafts. Mats are woven from haa grass. There is some highly developed lacquerwork and you may see examples of handloom weaving or jewellery handcrafted in gold and mother of pearl.

Gambia

Weather and climate

Best time to visit

The Gambia enjoys virtually uninterrupted sunshine and high daytime temperatures with almost no rainfall from November to June. From July to October the humidity level is high as the tropical sun will be punctuated by short but spectacular rain storms.

Explore the surroundings

Destination introduction

The Gambia has a lot to offer away from your hotel or the beach, there are great restaurants and increasingly more nightlife to experience -from late night bars to throbbing nightclubs. The Gambia is probably not renowned for the diversity of its shopping outlets but there are enough local crafts on offer to ensure you take some memorable souvenirs home with you.

Shopping

Bargaining is the name of the game - for everything from fruit, to shoes to souvenirs!

You can expect to reduce the price by anything from 25% to 50%. Of particularly good value are elaborate wood carvings, items handcrafted out of straw, leather and cloth, African music cassettes, silver jewellery (buy with caution), sand paintings and batik pictures. The Gambian tailors have a great reputation for making almost anything to order at a very reasonable price.

Activities

The majority of holidaymakers prefer to spend their days relaxing in the sun, however there are a wide variety of activities ranging from fishing to hiring a bicycle.

Many of the hotels offer sports such as tennis, volleyball, table tennis as well as more leisurely activities such as croquet, pétanque or giant chess!

Health

Malaria risk is present in all areas of The Gambia throughout the year. Check with your doctor or nurse about suitable anti-malarial tablets and bite avoidance precautions.