There’s something intriguing about beach holidays, maybe it’s the gentle waves washing up the shores; creating a gentle lullaby or perhaps it’s the unpolluted night sky full of stars. Anyhow, when one speaks of beach retreats, Maldives comes into mind. A luxury way of living beach life like none others. Despite the extravagant accommodation pricing, my luxurious beach life was absolutely rejuvenating. There are plenty of beautiful water resorts in Maldives, I was hosted at one of it - Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa Maldives. It only takes a 4 hours direct flight from Singapore to Male airport, and a short speed boat journey of approximately 25 minutes to reach this piece of paradise!

It’s a pity my Deluxe Water Villa did not come with a bathtub, but the bathroom was spacious and clean. In fact, the entire room was capacious and it came with a private sundeck that leads to the sea! Come to think of it, why would I want a bathtub when I am sure I will be submerging in the sea all day long (I really did ha-ha!). Everything about this place is crazily stunning and of course; Instagram worthy.

At Centara Grand Maldives, they called it an all-inclusive holiday because literally everything is inclusive. For once, you will never have to question what to eat anymore as all guests’ daily meals are inclusive. Their main dining restaurant offers a wide variety of food (buffet style) from appetizers all the way to desserts and their menu/cuisine changes every day. Guest get to dine there for all 3 meals of the day.

For 2 days, we switch from the main dining restaurant to try out their Italian (Azzuri Mare) and Thai (Suan Bua) restaurants. Between these restaurants, the Thai food variety wasn’t that appealing and tasted ordinary. I would recommend trying Azzuri Mare instead. I can’t remember the exact dish name but the taste of the above 2 dishes was unforgettable.

Every room will be equipped with snorkeling/life jackets. Snorkeling fins are to be collected from the sea activities booth where the staff will conduct a minor snorkeling test to ensure that the user can float and use the gears accurately. At the same area, guest can book for diving trips and other sea activities at an additional charge. We got ourselves the submarine tour which was really an eye-opener. No, it wasn’t a massive submarine but a rather adorable one.The mini submarine can host a maximum of only 8 people leaving only little space to fidget. Thankfully, the air ventilation was smooth and once the tour started, all unpleasantness was forgotten. We were exposed to so many special/rare marine species, everything else didn’t matter anymore. Everything is the deep blue sea is nothing short of amazing and beautiful. We really should do our part to preserve the marine life.

Apart from all the sea activities, they have a public swimming pool, gym and game room. The game room is not huge but you can find a foosball table, Xbox and PlayStation there. Everything inside the room is free to play. After checking out of our rooms, everyone sought shelter from the sun in the game room while waiting for our boat to ferry us to the airport. There was about 10 to 12 of us inside the room playing Switch 1-2 game from the Nintendo Switch M brought along; one of my favourite moments of the trip. This trip was short-lived but fulfilling. I get to take time off from work to celebrate a lovely wedding, and spend time with my love one. It was worth turning 50 shades tanner ha-ha!