The Maldives Adaaran Vadoo resort - 5/16/2026
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
We woke today to bright sunshine and calm seas and the news that all excursions were a go. We had booked a day at a resort called Adaaran Vadoo on one of the tourist islands.
We met in the theater as usual to be called for our excursions. The excursions are well organized and almost always on time unless we have trouble getting cleared at a port. Today were were right on time and took a tender ashore to the port where we switched to a larger speed boat which took us to the resort island. When we arrived we were given some information about lunch, and areas of the resort that were open to us, as well as given a band for unlimited drinks while we were there. There was a large beach area open to us that was set up with little seating areas under shade or under thatched structures that could accommodate 2 or 4, and the pool area had similar small seating areas. There was a bar that was under cover and a beautiful garden and rest rooms. The layout with small separated seating areas really helped to make it feel uncrowded and that you had space to relax and unwind by yourselves.
Conrad grabbed a little set of chairs with a table that was well shaded under some trees but was right on the beach area where we were allowed to swim and snorkel. We headed over to the onsite dive shop and rented a mask for Shawn (Conrad has his own prescription mask) and some fins and snorkels and a life vest for Shawn. They gave us a run down of where to enter and where to snorkel off the beach. We grabbed our little underwater camera that we'd ordered from Amazon before we left and headed out into the reef area. There was a sandy corridor that allowed easy entry into the water and then shallow reef on both sides, as well as a drop off a little further out that was within the snorkeling area. We were pleasantly surprised at the number and variety of fish we were able to see in the reef.
We had the perfect spot on the beach, just in front of the reef, so we sat and relaxed and watched other people snorkel. We were just steps away from the bar so we ordered some mocktails, which were delicious and took some pictures around the rest of the property. We also could see the resort's over water bungalos which looked very nice. We couldn't see the entire resort property because there were guest only areas that we couldn't enter, but it was a nice relaxed vibe with lots of area to spread out and enjoy the gorgeous scenery.
We were provided a buffet lunch in a restaurant just beyond the garden. The setting was lovely, tables under cover, on the beach, looking out over the water with the over water bungalos in the distance. This was also relaxed, since the floor was the beach people, including the waiters were in barefeet. The food was just OK, but I expect that's because they had been setting up the buffet for a while, and a lot of it was cold. In any case, the environment was beautiful and the foold was plentiful so we had our lunch and then headed back to our little spot on the beach.
Conrad noticed an animal in the trees above that he originally thought was a Monkey but it turned out to be a large bat called a fruit bat. They are active during the day, eating fruit. They are also a critical pollinator for this area. He pointed the bat out to others nearby and soon lots of people were gathered looking at the bats in the trees. They didn't bother us, and were busy eating and flying around.
We had a few short squalls blow through in the afternoon where it would get windy and rain for a few minutes and then clear. Since the bar was right behind us, and was open air but had a roof overhead we just moved our things there for a coule of minutes and then returned to our chairs. We swam in the ocean, and Shawn swam in the pool which was cool and refreshing and very nice.
At 3 Pm we headed back to the dock to wait for our boat, which arrived to take us back to the tender area to return to our ship. We thoroughly enjoyed our day at the resort and woul d definitely stay there if we ever returned to the Maldives. The boat ride back was very choppy and rough becuase the squalls had churned up the water, but it was relatively short and we made it back to the ship after switching over to a tender. We had a really nice day. The Maldives was an unplaned stop that Regent added when Doha and Dubai became unavailable due to the Iran conflict and we felt that it was a really nice addition to our trip. We have another sea day tomorrow on our way to Cochi India where we will leave the ship to do a 4 day overland tour to the Taj Mahal, returning to the ship in Mumbai just in time to disembark.