Festive Getaways to the Mesmerizing Maldives!

Maldives – MENA Herald: It’s festive season and the beaches of the Maldives are all ready to welcome you and your family for an unforgettable holiday experience. Tranquil white sandy beaches paired with crystal clear waters form a perfect retreat for a relaxed getaway during the holidays. With a plethora of festive delights, the Maldives offer a serene home away from home.
HIDEAWAY BEACH RESORT MALDIVES LAUNCHES FESTIVE PROGRAMME
For those seeking a tropical island getaway for the holiday season, Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa, Maldives has launched a new festive selection of activities which promises to delight and surprise guests over the Christmas and New Year break. Whether travelling with family or planning a romantic getaway for two, the resort has designed the programme to offer guests a celebration to remember, be it a traditional drumming show, a star-gazing cruise or a private dinner on a deserted island; ensuring their festive stay is peppered with personal touches and heartfelt service.
Christmas Eve Gala Dinner
Start the festivities with a sparkling Christmas Eve gala dinner at the stunning Matheefaru restaurant under a sea of stars. Guests can enjoy a lavish evening of fine grape and a festive menu, followed by a traditional Bodu Beru drumming show performed by the resort’s in-house band.
Set dinner menu prices are included in the room rate. There is a supplement of $80 per person for the Christmas day gala dinner.
Daily culinary delights will feature throughout the season, these include: a grape master class, a lobster  and bubbles barbecue and a private deserted island dinner, which combines an evening cruise with a romantic candlelit dinner for two.
 New Year at The Blue Heron Beach Club
The resort’s newly opened beach club will welcome in 2016 with a special-guest DJ flown in from France, a poolside party, tasting dinner menu and fireworks show at midnight.  Guests are invited to kick off their shoes and dance the night away on the sand (or take a dip in the pool!).
Supplement of $130 per person for New Year’s Eve Gala dinner.
Brew and Renew
New to the Spa at Hideaway this winter, is a craft hops treatment: a rejuvenating massage using a hops-infused scrub followed by a warm hops massage, ending with a glass of the chilled brew to support the internal healing of the skin. Other delicious treatments include a ginger and home-grown papaya body scrub which removes dry skin with a sweet-smelling combination of ginger and antioxidant-rich to exfoliate and rejuvenate skin.Prices for treatments start from $99 for a 50-minute massage.
Santa’s Little Helpers
A jam-packed festive schedule promises a wealth of lively activities to entertain younger guests and their parents. Little explorers will have the chance to become pint-sized pirates and embark on a treasure hunt aboard a traditional Maldivian Dhoni. On Christmas day, children will relish the excitement of Santa’s arrival as he and his elves deliver toys and treats to the resort.  Activities continue throughout the festive period with a full line-up featuring magic shows, animal yoga, family hand-line fishing and snorkelling lessons.
Anantara offer guests a diving holiday with a difference in the Maldives with a Five-Day Marine Expedition
Anantara Dhigu and Anantara Veli Resorts in South Male Atoll, Maldives, are excited to announce they will be hosting a team of marine biologists from The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) 26 October to 1 November 2015. Led by Chief Scientist Dr Andrew Bruckner, the team of four researchers will be conducting a Starfish Control and Removal program, known as SCAR. The program consists of three main components, the removal of coral reef predator Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS), quantitative reef surveys, and data analysis.
In a rare opportunity to join a professional marine research team, guests with Advanced PADI qualification and excellent buoyancy control are invited to assist with COTS removal while staying at Anantara Dhigu and Veli resorts. Offering a chance for a diving holiday with a difference, guest divers will gain an understanding of some of the different species on the reef, the relationships between corals, fish and other organisms, how these maintain healthy reef systems and what happens when something goes out of balance.
Removal of COTS directly saves and protects the reefs and with each dive, guests can learn about one of the very few predators of coral, and one of the most interesting reef inhabitants. Through engagement with the researchers, divers will witness firsthand one of the most severe threats affecting our reefs today, including their biology and life history, what they do to the reef, what normally controls them, why outbreaks occur, and how to actively safeguard their impact.
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) is a non-profit, private operating foundation established to help preserve, protect and restore the world’s oceans and marine resources through research, education and outreach.  The foundation conducts applied coral reef research, working to provide science-based solutions to ocean conservation and management through on-the-ground programs involving ecological restoration, education and training, outreach, and development of sustainable approaches to manage coral reef resources. For more information, please visit their website at www.lof.org<http://www.lof.org>.
Kids are Kings and Stay, Play and Eat for Free at The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi, Maldives
The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi Maldives invites guests to enjoy an exclusive family offer in which children can Stay, Play and Eat for free at the newly rebranded and refurbished resort immersing the whole family in a true Maldivian experience.
The new family offer now allows children and parents to luxuriate in the exquisite family friendly resort. Deluxe Beach Villa or the Sunrise Deluxe Beach Villa guests are extended a free stay for two children (12 or younger). For families staying in a Beach Pool Villa, up to three children can enjoy a complimentary stay.
Children can also enjoy the complimentary buffet or kids menu at Iru Restaurant or receive a 75% off discount from the a la carte menus. Perfect for entertaining the children, Koamas Kids Club features its own pool, indoor and outdoor play areas. A special kids programme on 5th and 6th November 2015 with a host of family activities now welcomes little ones to play for  free. The fun includes a crafting programme and relay competition with parents, island  adventures and water activities all adding to a celebratory atmosphere during this year of family  for guests to enjoy.
Guests can extend their luxury stay without the added cost. The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi is offering a ‘Kids Are King: 2 for 1 transfer’ package for children under 12, valid until 26th December 2015 which can be combined with the family package allowing guests to create even more memories to last a lifetime.
Dedicated to enriching the lives of Maldivians, the resort’s ‘Exploration and Discovery’ activities take advantage of the surrounding natural beauty and rich culture, ensuring guests come away feeling like they have had a true Maldivian experience: from kids’ club cooking classes focused on regional dishes and visits to the local habited islands, to a plethora of sustainable water-based activities.