The Maldives has always been number one on my travel list, with its beautiful, picturesque scenery filled with stunning clear waters and atoll after atoll of overwater bungalows and beachside resorts. It is the destination you most certainly put into the ‘honeymoon’ basket and leave it there. The idea of visiting one of the most romantic (and expensive) destinations alone or with friends doesn’t seem to fit the picture.

That is, until the G Adventures Maldives Dhoni cruise started popping up everywhere online with several friends booking the trip and posting photos of an incredible week aboard a traditional Dhoni boat sailing the stunning blue waters.

We arrived in Male one day prior to the cruise, allowing for a quick visit to the capital prior to leaving the next day. Male has a population of just under 150,000 over an area of 5.8 square kilometres and is a stark contrast to the resorts only 20 minutes away that tourists pay upwards of $1000 a night to visit. The local ferry from the airport to the mainland is a mere $1 USD and takes about 10 minutes. The hotels on Male are basic and, although we found a nice local restaurant for dinner, I would suggest to others, unless quite adventurous, to do any pre-or post-accommodation at one of the resorts, which are only a short speedboat ride from the airport.

The next day, we set back across by ferry to the airport to meet the group CEO for the week, Farey. The group size for this trip is between two and eight people. We lucked out with a really nice group of seven. With G Adventures being a very large company in Europe,we had a great variety of people on board: a young Danish couple, Laura and Martin; two work Colleagues from Germany, Bea and Martina; Evgenty, who had a really interesting background having grown up in Uzbekistan and was now living in London; and also Laura and I from Australia.

We left the airport and took a 15-minute drive through Hulhumale to the inlet where our boat was docked. This trip is usually run on a 50-foot Dhoni boat,which is a traditional wooden fishing boat. However,as we pulled up to the wharf and tried to guess which of the several boats we could see would be ours, we were pointed in the direction of the much larger 90 ft, three-story Sea Farer. G Adventures had recently contracted the new boat and we had been lucky enough to be the second departure on the vessel. Not to discount the traditional-style Dhoni boat we had been expecting, which is still used for most departures, but this incredible boat could sleep twenty guests and up to nine staff on board. So to have it to ourselves as a group of seven, with five staff, felt like pure luxury. In our eyes we had all scored the jackpot and had ended up on quite a luxurious yacht for a week of sailing through the most picturesque waters in the world.

While setting sail from Male on day one, we encountered a substantial rain storm, so stayed within the harbour for a few extra hours. It was here where we first experienced the incredible skills of our chef for the next week, Victor.

When prepping yourself for a week onboard a traditional boat with an adventure company the last thing that comes to mind is the thought of overeating and indulging. The week that followed included three meals a day, with up to eight selections per meal. For breakfast it was chocolate pancakes, cheese and tomato toasties, tuna sandwiches (surprisingly delicious), fresh omelettes cooked to order, toast and a variety of fresh fruit.

Lunch and dinner consisted of 2– 4 meat options with an array of fresh tuna, chicken, beef, salads, potatoes, vegetables, several varieties of rice, pasta and freshly made pasta sauce, which was a favourite for the group. Prior to coming away we had thought—great we will lose weight on this trip, swimming all day, restricted food with limited options of only fresh fish and vegetables. Boy, were we wrong! Each meal started with a conversation about the amazing spread in front of us, followed by everyone going back for seconds and thirds and concluded with the discussion how next meal we were not going to eat as much. This went on like a broken record for eighteen meals over the next seven days.

We continued to sail south into the South Male Atoll and docked by Lagoona Beach Resort for the night. The weather was overcast; it rained on and off but still the scenery was beautiful. We jumped from the back of the boat and swam to a sand bank close-by for our first experience of the bright-blue, crystal-clear Maldivian waters that we had all dreamt off.

There is a bar on board for those who like to refresh with a cold beer or glass of wine. A can of Tiger beer will set you back $5 USD and a bottle of wine, $30 USD. In comparison, the bottle of Vodka, which is also $30 USD, is quite a bargain. There is a selection of Rum, Whiskey and soft drinks on the list and unlimited bottled water throughout the week.

Although not monitored when boarding, bringing alcohol in with you is restricted and not allowed. Being a  Muslim Country, you do not have the opportunity to purchase alcohol in duty-free. Therefore, it’s best to play it safe and stick with what you can buy on board.

Although most afternoons were filled with a beer in hand, or a Vodka and OJ on the roof at sunset, it is definitely a more chilled and peaceful atmosphere than a comparable cruise through somewhere like Croatia or Turkey, which usually attracts more of a party vibe.

Our second day started with breakfast on the back deck. Then the boat spent thirty minutes circling a pod of nearly 30 dolphins frolicking nearby. It was an incredible way to wake up and start the day.

We threw the anchors down close to Kudhiboli Island and snorkelled the Vaavu Atoll through Turtle Reef, where we swam alongside three Hawkes bill turtles and an array of Anemone fish (‘Nemo’as we liked to call them, thanks to Disney Pixar).

As we had hit rain on and off for the first 24 hours, this evening was our first chance to lay on the top deck and stargaze at the sky. It is quite funny being with a group of people from an array of countries that are used to different stars being above them in the night sky. We learnt what ‘the shopping cart’ was to the Danish and showed them the Southern Cross, which from the Maldives sits on a very odd angle close down to where the sky meets the sea.

Falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the side of the boat and to the dimly lit night sky on the top deck was a very comforting feeling.

Waking up with the sunrise creating a picturesque sky of blues, pinks and purples, saw the start of our third day on the boat.

We continued to travel south into the Felidhe Atoll (Vaavu Atoll) and anchored just off Anbaraa Island, an inhabited island that attracts tourists from local resorts and guesthouses. We snorkelled along the shoulder of the reef and swam up to the island’s edge through a gap in the reef. The feeling of having your feet back on the ground and amongst sand was quite nice after 48 hours at sea.

From here, we anchored nearby for the evening along another inhabited island, Bodumohoraa. With the afternoon free, we did as we pleased: we snorkelled, explored the island and enjoyed the sunshine from the boat. While out snorkelling, we were joined by two large porcupine sting rays darting along the bottom of the ocean. I spent the afternoon bobbing amongst the waves on what felt like my own private Island while everyone else was back on the boat.

With talk of a surprise with dinner and secrecy amongst the crew for the past few hours going back and forth between the island we were loaded onto the dinghy at 7.30pm and were dropped off on the island.

The crew had spent the last couple of hours digging out a table and bench seats in the sand and had set up an incredible dinner by the water.

After dinner, and a good hour of kicking at the water’s edge watching the plankton glow as we splashed the waves, we headed back for another relaxing evening and early night.

Day four saw another strenuous day of eating, snorkelling, reading, tanning, eating, snorkelling and repeat.

The first snorkel for the day was close by Rakeedhoo, where you could see spotted eagle ray and small Triggerfish, which nipped angrily at the fins of the group.

We sailed North to a reef off the local island of Felidhoo, where we snorkelled along the reef to a shipwreck of a local supply boat that had sunk three years earlier. It was moved to its current location twelve months ago to create a snorkelling site.

Once back on deck, we sailed closer to the mainland, a local island with a population of just over 500 people. We took the dinghy to shore and walked around the island while Farey, our CEO, walked us through the town and showed us the way of life on the island, where we joined the locals and sat by the edge of town, along the harbour inlet, in their ‘lazy chairs’ and watched the sun set.

I sat with local girl, who in my very basic attempt at Maldivian language and her broken English, I managed to figure out was 6 years old and her name was Nadha.

Only a ten minute boat trip to a nearby reef, Hulhidhoo, started the sixth day of snorkelling, amongst a one metre swell and hundreds of schooling bannerfish. Close by, we watched boats of tourists from local resorts visit Friday Sand Bank and make the most of the sun between the rain storms amongst pods of dolphins. We made our way North to the local island of Fulidhoo, which has a population just shy of 400 locals.

After wandering the streets in the rain and visiting the six local tourist shops, I watched a local man and his children fish from the wharf. With thousands of tiny Archer fish clustering by the shores, bait was easy to source.

Back on the deck of the boat, we were presented with another meal of salads, tuna, chicken, rice and pasta dishes with the most stunning sunset of the trip, before heading back to the local island by dinghy to watch an evening show the men of the Island had put on for us.

As we slowly sailed back to the starting point of our trip, we moored alongside Dhiggiri resort, where we snorkelled beside two-metre nurse sharks, giant trevally and snapper fish.

Docking for the final time alongside a sand bar, with the hustling Male city in the background, the conversation continued how soon we all planned to try and get back to the Maldives. I went away with dream plans in my mind to return for my thirtieth and then each year after that for my relaxing beach holiday.

You walk away from a sailing trip of the Maldives with an incredible sense of feeling refreshed and renewed. There is nothing more relaxing than spending a week on a boat, with no mobile reception, in the middle of the Indian Ocean and surrounded by some of the most magical marine life you could ever witness. I would do this trip again in a heartbeat.

G Adventures offer several departures per month on their Maldives sailing trips and have since announced other options, including an island hoping experience and another similar to the itinerary we completed.

It is a fantastic way to affordably explore the Maldives and easy to tie in with a beach break at the end to really enjoy the relaxation the Maldives has to offer.