Maldives is the perfect example that paradise does exist! After years of dreaming of visiting this magical place on earth, we finally made it to Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, our first Maldive Island, an exclusive property from Kiwi Collection.

We arrived fairly late in the evening at the resort due to the delay of our flights from Dubai to Male, but we received the warmest welcome from the hotel staff, especially our concierge, Svitlana. She put us as ease, brought us some refreshing mocktails, helped us to check in as soon and smooth as possible, and then brought us to our over-the-water bungalow. When we opened the door to our bungalow, we could not believe our eyes. The place is huge!!! A sumptuous king-size bed sits in front of giant floor-to-ceiling windows and patio door. Two cosy single beds were set up in the living space for the kids. Connected to bedroom is a big bathroom with his and her sinks and two built-in wardrobes that have enough space for four people. And then, there is also a massive spa bathtub, shower area with rain shower head, a spa & fitness room (yes, an extra room!), a direct access to the ocean, and the best of all, an outdoor jacuzzi. We were just speechless! Forgetting about unpacking, we changed as quickly as we could and jumped straight into the ocean (oh, yes, we had our swimsuits in our hand luggages). The water was warm and calm and felt wonderful. We couldn’t wish a better way to start our vacation.

The next morning, we all woke up early thanks to the jet lag. When we looked out from our bungalow, our jaws just dropped as we saw the amazing sight in front of us. Surrounded us was the most turquoise water we have ever seen and the sky was lit with light blue, pink and orange colors with the sun rising behind us. We decided to order room service for our breakfast, since we want to enjoy our view for as long as we could. As we sat on the patio, sipping coconut water and freshly squeezed orange juices, we watched fish and rays swam by under our villa.

After the breakfast, we ventured out to explore the resort. The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has actually two islands with bungalows and beach villas, pools, restaurants and spa. There are buggies and boats that shuttle the guests back and forth with minimum waiting time. The main island (where we stayed) is more family friendly and offers more dining options and activities. Long white and soft sandy beaches run around both islands. While our feet enjoyed walking in them, we spotted many sting rays, baby sharks and fish through the crystal clear water. They are all very friendly and harmless.

Over the next few days, we enjoyed a lot of incredible treats that a resort has to offer. Let me break them down for you.

1. Food: Altogether there’re ten restaurants and bars in the resort. Ten!!! They are all delicious and special in their own ways. Atoll Market is where we had most of our breakfast and dinners. The buffet there is one of the the best we have ever experienced in terms of selection, taste and service. They have Continental, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, pancake/waffle, pastries, fruit, smoothie, cold cuts/cheese, egg stations. Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, being the first undersea restaurant in the world, is just so incredible not just from the food point of view, but also the ambience. To watch colorful tropical fish and sharks swim by and over you while you eat is just a whole new level of dining experience. The kids were really excited about this one. Then there is Vilu restaurant on the second island of the resort. If you are into seafood, especially Maldivian lobsters, this is the place to be. The Chef’s Salad is a must-try dish as the server would bring out a cart with more than a dozen of ingredients for you to see and pick and customize the salad right in front of your eyes. Also worth mentioning that Vilu Restaurant is set right by the beach. Watching sunset and having dinner on the candle-lit table by the beach, I seriously can’t think of a more romantic way to dine. Last, but not the least, Mandhoo, Chinese restaurant, also provided one of the best food we ever had on the island. Maybe also because we made it partially ourselves. Thanks to the interactive Noodle and Dim Sum cooking lesson offered by the chef, we, the whole family, joined making our lunch from scratch. The chef explained and demonstrated clearly what we need to do and guided us through out the process. The kids and us had so much fun and really appreciate this hand-on experience. With provided recipes, we can’t wait to try them out ourselves when we get home. There are actually many more dining experiences offered by the resort than what we have tried, especially for Honeymooners or couples, such as Wine and Cheese at the Wine Cellar, Romantic Dinner on the Beach, Maldivian Nights and Koko Grill.

2. Activities: There are so many water-related and non-water activities you can do on the resort. We saw many people using the Gym, doing Yoga, and playing tennis. On the beach, there are a plethora of options for guests to try: catamaran sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, wake-boarding, knee boarding, kayaking and the exciting Jet Pack. The most exciting one for us, was PADI scuba diving with the Ocean Maldives (diving center on the island). The diving manager Andy and instructor Marina were just wonderful and showed us the most exciting and safe diving sites around the resort. During our three dives, we swam with Manta rays (three giants one that swam right above our heads), sea turtles and many many many fish. It is the first time we dove as a family, and honestly, one of our highlights of the trip.

3. Spa: I mean, you can not stay at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island without trying their spa services. There are two spa centers in the resort, one on the main island, which has the most beautiful treatment rooms we have ever seen and the other on the second island, Over the Water Spa, which has glass bottom treatment. I promise you that both delivers one of a kind spa experiences that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. My husband and I both had a 90 mins treatments, which we quickly found ourselves in a deep sleep hoping they would never end. Mod was the therapist I had and she has really good techniques. Highly recommend you to try.

4. Excursions: there are many excursions you can do, but our favorite would have to be the sunset dolphin champagn cruise. We set off 30 minutes before sunset and cruise around the coast. We saw a large school of dolphins playing around our boat, jumping, spinning and swimming in front of our boats, followed by a beautiful sunset on the horizon.

Like a blink of an eye, our six-night stay came to an end. We were super said to say good-bye to this marvelous resort. We felt completely relaxed, and also energized after our stay. It might seem to be a lot of things we have experienced during our stay, but actually there was so much time in between for us to relax. Before we boarded our sea plane back to Male, we looked around the resort for the last time and said to ourselves, yes, we will definitely be back here again!

*We were guests of Conrad Maldives Rangali Island and Kiwi Collection.