Let’s just start this post by saying I cried when I had to leave this resort…and I wasn’t the only one! Six Senses Laamu is truly one of the most incredible resorts I have ever been and probably will ever go to.
The Maldives had long been on my travel bucket list, and it had begun to rapidly ascend up that list as climate change continues to impact the country. On the short list for honeymoon locations: the Maldives, Bora Bora and Africa. It ultimately came down to “let’s go the furthest possible place with our airline miles,” and that happened to be the Maldives.
It’s an ideal honeymoon location. It’s secluded but not lonely, quiet but not boring, relaxing but yet has plenty of things to do when you want.
The setting is just perfect: a lush island resort with white sand beaches and water the richest shades of blue and turquoise you can even imagine.
I’ve also never seen more wildlife in my life. 
Arrival
You can see more about our insane travel plan on my Instagram page, but once we arrived in Malé, we were greeted by resort staff who then bought our domestic flight tickets, got our bags checked and put us on the Maldivian Airlines plane.
The 35 minute domestic flight took us to Kadhdhoo, a tiny local island. From there, the resort staff ushered us to a speedboat where cold drinks and young coconut were waiting. A 30 minute boat ride and we had arrived at Six Senses.
The hotel is all about barefoot luxury, so you put your shoes in a cloth bag when you arrive, and we seriously didn’t put on shoes for another six days.
Service
You’re assigned a GEM or guest experience maker when you check in. Ours, Arif, a native Maldivian, was a superstar and met our every need with ease. The service is ultimately what made this trip; the people are insanely nice! I still can’t even get over it. They are so kind, interesting, helpful, and we had such a blast just sitting at the bar and talking to the staff and guests from all over the world and learning their stories.
Everyone knew you by name not to mention what to like to eat and drink. Before even having to tell people I was Celiac, I had gluten free bread and muffins sitting in front of me.
Rooms
Six Senses Laamu offers several different rooms. All of them are spacious and extraordinary.
We opted for two days in a beach villa with a pool and three days in an overwater villa with a pool. 
We had never experienced staying in an overwater room, so it was a must- do for us, but we really enjoyed the spaciousness and the secludedness of the beach villa. They’re built in such a way that it feels like you’re the only souls on the island.
Our beach villa had two different outdoor showers and an outdoor bathtub.
We loved sitting up in this perch and having coffee after watching the sunrise.
Or how about watching the sunrise from your own private beach?!
The overwater villa was also very cool. You can’t beat being able to jump right into the ocean from your living space. 
Talk about breakfast views. In the overwater villas, breakfast is delivered complimentary to your room. 
Um, also there’s a pillow menu, so you can bet I tried out every one.
Transportation is also incredibly easy on the island. It’s small enough that you can walk everywhere, but they also give you a bike when you check in. How cute are these with your initials on them?!
Activities
We thought for sure five days and six nights would be plenty to spend in the Maldives…that we would for sure get bored. Man, were we wrong. I feel like we didn’t even scratch the surface of all the activities available.
We are GREAT at being beach bums; we both love to sit in the sun and read for hours on end. We also did a snorkeling trip to a reef within the Laamu Atoll, which was pretty awesome. We saw Green and Hawksbill turtles along with tons of clown fish, snapper, starfish, clams.
And as I discussed in the previous blog post, we learned a lot about the coral bleaching that’s happened there and saw the dead coral firsthand.
The highlight of this trip, however, was their Cinema Under the Stars. This was a major bucket list item for me. In fact, that was a huge reason for me wanting to go to this resort after seeing pictures of movies set up under the stars in their jungle theater.
Words will absolutely never suffice to describe how insanely awesome this was. You can choose to have a screen setup for you either on the beach or in their jungle cinema as the champagne and popcorn flow!
While there are a ton of paid excursions and activities, there’s a fair amount of free ones. Paddleboarding, kayaking and snorkeling gear are all complimentary.
Things I wished I had more time for: sunset cocktail cruise, aerial yoga overlooking the water, and more massages haha. Or you could just spend all your time here.
Food
It was really easy to eat gluten free at Six Senses Laamu. They have a garden which services all the restaurants on the island, providing ultra fresh vegetables and herbs.
I will say nothing about the food was that inventive or outstanding (we’re really spoiled living in Portland!). But it was all solid and very healthy.
We opted to do the half board, which included breakfast and dinner. That was the perfect option.
We also didn’t spend a ton of money on alcohol either. They have a great happy hour deal every day both at the pool bar and the primary bar, where it’s 2 for 1. These drinks were huge and went a long way.
Also a must…drinking in the hammocks at Chill Bar.
Spa
Thankfully, some friends bought us a couples’ massage, which was epic. Here’s more on the Six Senses legendary spa from an article a few years back in Vanity Fair.
Six Senses Laamu is truly a little slice of heaven, and I cannot wait to go back!
We looked at so many resorts on the Maldives that all looked incredible, so I included those for you to check out as well.