St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort: Part 3

I'm sharing the final recap of our trip to the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort here. If you missed the first two posts, check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Wednesday - Day 6

Waking up for our last full day in paradise was a little bittersweet. On one hand it seemed like the days had flown by. But despite that, each day had been full and included the perfect balance of relaxation and adventure. Day 6 followed a similar pattern. We were thrilled to still have some exciting adventures on the agenda and grateful for the incredible vacation we were having in this epic oasis.

The morning started out a lot like all of the others: espresso, obligatory morning snapshot on the way to the gym, Alexia Clark workout, epic breakfast buffet. That morning I had another salad to start (shocker) followed by sashimi and a poached egg and beet dish from the menu. Rather than show those pics, I'm including some photos of the breakfast buffet to give an idea of how expansive it was - the pictures really don't do it justice.

After breakfast, we were excited for the private wakeboarding lessons we had scheduled. Now that we live on a lake, wakeboarding is something I've wanted to try. The warm clear water in the Maldives seemed like the perfect environment to learn continuously wipe out. Sadly, we soon found out that wakeboarding had been cancelled for the day due to rough water.

While we were a little disappointed, we decided to relax in our overwater villa before our next adventure (hard to complain). We turned on the wireless outdoor speaker we had packed and listened to music while playing by our plunge pool.

Around the same time each day we had a fantastic view of a sea plane taking off. It wasn't disruptive or loud, and Matt is a little bit obsessed with planes so the novelty didn't wear off for him.

Eventually it was time for us to head over to our adventure for the day: parasailing! I had parasailed once before, but it was Matt's first time. Matt has been sky diving and bungee jumping despite being afraid of heights, so I knew he would love the breathtaking views and more relaxing nature of parasailing.

As we headed out on the boat, we enjoyed chatting with the father and son who had joined us. They had also used points to book their trip to which the son commented, "I guess we're all in the same boat". A moment later we all realized that was one of the greatest puns, because how often are you literally all sitting in a boat together?! Puns make me happy. I get that this may not be as magical to you, but let me have my moment.

It wasn't long before Matt and I were harnessed in, up in the air, and gazing at the jaw dropping views of the St. Regis resort. If you visit the Maldives, I HIGHLY recommend parasailing. The views we had during this were some of the most breathtaking of our trip and different from the vantage point from the sea plane.

We made it back from parasailing with just enough time to make it to the final fitness class I had signed up to try: jump fitness! I didn't know anything about the class other than it involved a trampoline, but really what more was there to know. I was sold.

We started the class learning some quick trampoline safety basics (lol) and a few moves that we would be using, and then the jumping fun started! Energizing music played as we followed a series of choreographed jumps that the instructor demonstrated at the front of the room. I dare someone to not have fun during this class The class flew by, especially because it was only 30 minutes. I left feeling like I probably need a trampoline at home so that I can just jump around to music when I need a pick-me-up. Baby goats know how to live.

We knew that we wanted to enjoy one last evening at Whale Bar to enjoy drinks and music as the sun set. Matt was determined to get one of the coveted seats at the very edge of the dock that provides an unobstructed view. While I showered after my jumping escapade, Matt headed over to Whale Bar to get a seat.

I joined Matt shortly after and discovered that he had been successful in claiming our desired seat. I asked the waiter if they could make an herbal unsweetened mocktail that night, and they created a grapefruit drink that was perfectly refreshing. So refreshing that I apparently slurped it down before snapping a photo.

Matt enjoyed a glass of bourbon, neat as we soaked up the view. The music that evening was the same saxophonist that we had loved the night before. She DJ'ed popular songs while playing the lead portion on her saxophone. The combination of the acoustic sultry sound of the alto accompanying the current music was unique and fun and provided the perfect ambiance to the evening. Matt and I marveled at what an interesting (and highly sought after) gig that must be playing at different resorts in the Maldives.

Eventually, it was time for our dinner reservation at Orientale. We decided to give it another try - especially because Matt had enjoyed his dishes the first night. The amuse bouche of the day was an adorable vegetable samoa.

To start, we ordered the bean curd rolls filled with vegetables and tofu and served with a spicy soy sauce. I didn't realize bean curd rolls are like egg rolls, so Matt enjoyed the fried dish more. This time I ordered the yakitori chicken screwers that included a miso ginger soup and green mango and cashew salad. I also ordered stir-fried vegetables with the sauce on the side. To be honest, if (or hopefully when) we return to the St. Regis I'll probably vote to dine at the other restaurants at the resort. While all of the other meals were perfectly executed and fresh I left these dinners feeling like I had eaten chinese take-out but for about five times the price.

Despite not being enthralled with my dinner, the company and surrounding landscape more than made up for it. We had a relaxing evening back in our villa trying to ignore the fact that we'd be leaving the next day.

Thursday - Our final day

On our final morning in the Maldives, I woke up at 5 am to get the most out of the day. I figured I would be traveling for the next day and a half and could sleep on the plane, but these were my last precious hours in this beautiful place.

I headed straight for the gym while the moon was still out. Once there, I had an awesome Alexia Clark full body workout. It was just what I needed before having my exercise severely limited for the next 30+ hours. I biked back sweaty and content as the sun was rising.

The fitness room has a bowl of fruit, so I grabbed an apple and orange in case I needed an emergency snack on our trip home. Spoiler alert: we were very well fed the entire trip back so now I have very special and well-traveled Maldivian fruit souvenirs in my purse. Actually, the apple in the pecan pie nut butter photos is THE apple from the Maldives!

We went to breakfast early because we had rescheduled wakeboarding later that morning. We hoped to squeeze in one more fun activity to distract us before we had to leave. Unfortunately, it ended up getting canceled once again due to rough waters. That's an activity we'll just have to do next time!

Our last breakfast at Alba was excellent. I loaded up my plate with tons of veggies from the buffet. I was going to write that I like to get a ton of veggies in before traveling, but really I like to every morning.

That day they had delicious roasted vegetables and a flavorful shrimp salad to add, so I was in heaven. I also decided to order one last lobster and Alaskan crab omelette with caviar, because I figured this would be my last bit of caviar for a very long time. I had green juice on the side, and they also brought us each a carrot juice to try.

On the way back to our villa, I took more photos in case the other 1,000 photos I had taken didn't depict the aqua water and white sand well enough.

We spent some time packing before heading to the Water Center where we learned we weren't going to be wakeboarding. On the bright side, that meant that we had a few more hours to enjoy our villa! Matt did a lot of snorkeling off of our dock. I swam around in the water a little, and then spent the rest of the time laying out in the sun soaking up the warmth one last time.

We decided to have lunch delivered out on our patio villa before embarking on our marathon of traveling back home. I had a prawn salad with mango that hit the spot. Matt had one last arugula and prosciutto pizza. The man loves his prosciutto pizza.

We were actually surprised to see that they served any pork products at the resort. The Maldives is an Islamic country, so pork and alcohol are banned. We knew that within the resorts alcohol is readily available, but we weren't expecting pork to be offered, as well.

On a similar note for anyone traveling to the Maldives: if you plan to enjoy alcoholic beverages definitely budget for that (unless you're not traveling to the Maldives using points and budgets don't matter). Alcohol, like the food, is pricey. Cocktails are about $25 and the small bottles of liquor available in the rooms are about 4 to 5 times the amount you would pay in the United States (or airports). It may be tempting to bring your own bottles of liquor in a suitcase, but I think it's important to respect the customs of the country you're visiting. It's also illegal. Details...

We were fortunate to get a late check out, so at exactly 3 pm Kumi arrived at our door. She brought us to the building where we would wait until the sea plane arrived. We left all of our luggage in the room. They magically take care of getting everything on and off the sea plane, which was a nice luxury.

I can't remember the name of the building where we waited, but it was very comfortable. Espresso, tea, and water are available. The bathrooms even have showers if you have to check out of your villa early. It also has the most high-tech toilets I've ever seen in my life. So many buttons.

Eventually, it was time to board our sea plane. Right before, we took one last photo in front of the beautiful blue backdrop.

We know that we are SO fortunate to have spent seven nights in the Maldives. When Matt was planning the trip, some people thought seven nights would be too long and that we would get bored. That definitely wasn't the case. The St. Regis has so many options for activities that we would have been perfectly content for a couple more nights. While we weren't quite ready to go, we did feel that our vacation had exceeded our expectations and had been an absolute dream. We felt lucky that we were able to enjoy as much time as we did in this stunning place.

The magnificent views from the sea plane captured my attention during the 45 minute flight to the airport. This flight was the first of four that we would take back home over a 30 hour period. Traveling to the Maldives and back was an adventure in itself, and I'll be sharing those recaps soon.

What is the most beautiful place you've visited?

What has been your favorite vacation?

Are the Maldives or an overwater villa on your travel bucket list?