{Baros - Our Honeymoon Paradise Island}

I did a lot of research and discovered that Turquoise Holidays seemed like the honeymoon experts and covered a wide range of destinations. I liked the fact that we could go and have an appointment with them too, so many travel companies are all online or over the phone now. We booked an appointment in Turquoise's lovely Beaconsfield offices last August to discuss different options for destinations, specific resorts and budgets. We saw Michelle, who couldn't have been more helpful and had visited lots of the resorts we were looking at in person so had personal experience to discuss. Our wedding was in July and knowing that we wanted a week on a tropical beach, the Seychelles was recommended for weather at that time of year. We talked through and narrowed down some options and were given a Honeymoon Island book and brochure to take away, the book is so lovely it's a coffee table type and I love looking through it. I've dealt with a lot of travel agents in the past and none have ever given us that kind of service. It was a good start! We went away to look at the Seychelles options but Ben and I were really keen to go to The Maldives, a few people that we know had been and said it was unlike anywhere else on earth. It seemed like a really special place that was definitely honeymoon worthy with over-water villas you can't get in many places around the world. I spoke to Michelle at Turquoise about The Maldives and she wasn't too keen on recommending it to us as it's meant to be their worst time weather wise and she would have hated for us to be disappointed. This was a risk and I was a bit scared but did lots of reading and the general consenus was you'd be very very unlucky to get a whole week of rain, if you're going to get any it will be for just an hour or at night. Because it's low season, the prices were a fraction of the price of high season and it was working out cheaper than the Seychelles for a lot higher quality resorts and beaches. I'm not sure if we got lucky with the weather or if the rainy season is just short but we had amazing sunshine and blue sky every day apart from one! And only saw rain once one night {which was like a monsoon for a few hours!}.


We decided to go for The Maldives and I did lots of reading on different islands and resorts, there are hundreds to choose from! Michelle suggested Baros and that was one of the ones I had short listed, it seemed to tick all the boxes for us. It had one of the best house reef's in The Maldives for snorkelling, beautiful clean sandy beaches, not too far from the mainland for a quick transfer, honeymoon offers, 3 different restaurants, over-water villas, no children allowed and amazing reviews.


We set our hearts on a week at Baros, so now needed our heads to get the best possible deal. Turquoise had been really helpful so I was keen to book with them but if the price had been a lot more than other agents we would have had to book elsewhere, weddings are expensive! I called a couple of other travel agents that I've used in the past, ITC, Destinology and Dial a Flight who have all been really good on previous trips so got their quotes for the same package. In the end Destinology were very slightly cheaper and offered a sunset cruise on top. I went back to Michelle at Turquoise and amazingly they matched the Destinology offer so we went ahead and booked with Turquoise. I'm so glad we did go with them, they have great relationships with resorts and airlines, their packaging for all our travel documents was gorgeous and we got sent a very nice travel wallet and luggage tags a week before. Throughout our booking they couldn't have been more helpful and to top it off, when we got home they sent us a Bombus keepsake map heart with the island we stayed on {in the photo above}. It's incredible that a travel company can be so competitive whilst still going the extra mile for service and sending out little extras and gifts. If you're looking to book your honeymoon, or any holiday for that matter, I wouldn't hesitate to give Michelle at Turquoise a call, email or visit. As a bonus for booking, Turquoise will offer you a free gift at time of booking - you can choose from a range including designer swimwear, New Zealand wines or complimentary airport lounges if you quote my name on your enquiry {Rebecca Kedgley or Roses and Rolltops}. Michelle's direct phone number is 01494 687981 or email michelle.odendaal@turquoiseholidays.co.uk . You can also find Turquoise's website here.

So, enough of our planning, I'd love to show you some photos from our Honeymoon.

We got married on a Thursday and flew from Heathrow to Male, via Doha with Qatar Airways on the Saturday lunchtime. It was nice to have a day with family on the Friday and then go away the day after. I made sure I packed before the wedding so I wasn't stressing at the last minute! Flying over the Maldives was an amazing experience, the country is made up of 26 atolls comprising of 1,190 coral islands. We landed on Sunday morning in paradise, the Maldives airport couldn't be any more different to Heathrow, instead of a taxi rank you have boats and sea-planes lined up in turquoise waters. Our luggage got loaded on to a speed boat and we were greeted by our host with cold towels and drinks for the 20 minute journey to Baros island.

Stepping off the boat and on to the jetty we fell instantly in love with the paradise island made up of crystal clear sea, white sand beaches and palm trees.

We were shown around the island, which you can walk around in just 7 minutes! And taken to our room, an over-water villa the other side of the island.

Our villa had everything we could have wanted, a luxurious large private room with a pop up tv in front of the bed, large dressing room area, nespresso machine, beach bag and flipflops, yoga mats, an ipod docking station, daily fruit and cakes, honeymoon treats of prosecco and chocolates and a private deck above the sea with steps down in to the sparkly water.

Having a water villa was amazing for it's privacy and being above the water but we got shown around the beach villas which were equally gorgeous and have access straight out on to the beach. I think if we went back we would just go for a cheaper beach villa, having stayed in a water villa now. There are pros and con's to both, some people do a few nights in each which is a good idea.


The colours of the sky and sea were incredible, and evening turn down was appreciated every evening with petis four and small gifts left in our room.

I think all my research paid off, we couldn't have had a better honeymoon thanks to Baros.

Next week, in part two I'll share some more photos and how we spent our days on Baros island.

R <3 xx