Traveling Home From Maldives

Seaplanes, Qatar, Washington D.C. We truly did it all traveling home from the Maldives. Since I broke the posts up for traveling to Maldives, I want to do one big loaded post for traveling home. Enjoy!

Checking Out

We checked out of Centara Grand Maldives on January 4, 2022 at 2:00 in the afternoon. We waiting on our Seaplane longer than we expected due to rainy weather. We took an early morning snorkel and dip in the pool before showering, grabbing lunch, and saying final goodbyes. 

Seaplane

We took a Dhoni out to board the seaplane. We did sit on the Dhoni while waiting for the seaplane to land so if you get seasick easily, be prepared. Once the seaplane landed, we boarded, our luggage boarded, and then we took off to Male on a flight thats about 30 minutes long. It is the most beautiful flight in the world, no doubt. 

Male -> Doha

A few things you dont want to forget is your COVID documents (multiple copies) and your health declaration. Forgetting these could mean overnighting in Male. The flights out of here to Doha and other places are usually leaving anywhere from 8 pm to 11 pm. One mistake we made was not eating dinner. Our seaplane got us close to 5 pm then we headed straight to the airport via shuttle. At the airport, we headed straight through going towards the gate. We did not stop to eat and we did about 30 minutes of shopping when we realized our flight was giving the final boarding call. We sprinted to the gate and honestly it was a miracle that we made it in time. 
​After going through the gate, we had to board a shuttle to take us to the plane. We were last on the plane and quickly settled before takeoff. I didn’t get any dinner but I did get 5 t-shirts. 

Shopping in the Male Airport

I would like to interrupt myself here to talk about the shopping. Shopping in the Maldives is slim when it comes to the typical tourist items- t shirts, hats, stuffed animals, etc. This one store at the airport had everything from jewelry to t shirts magnets stuffed animals you name it. It was rather crowded and since I had not bought anything the entire trip (and everyone else was probably feeling the same way) I was ready to buy. 
This store is located close to the restrooms and is inside of immigration and security. Give yourself plenty of time ot shop here if you desire! 

Food in the Male Airport

The food in this airport from what I saw was very limited. I saw a BurgerKing, Dairy Queen and pizza company place. Of all of those, I would test my luck with the pizza if you need to eat. 

The Flight

The flight from Male to Doha was very easy. We rode coach during this flight for around 5 hours and had no issues. They feed us a simple meal I think and I ate the fruit platter which I ordered ahead of time. Despite this snack, I still came off that flight absolutely starving. 

Doha Business Class Lounge

On a 3 hour layover, we headed straight to the Doha business class lounge. The first thing we did was eat. I had the salmon off the menu which was fantastic- I ate two of them I was so hungry. 
The next thing we did was take a shower. The showers we used are located in the quiet area in the back left corner or the lounge when you walk in. Like the first time, they are very nice. 

Doha-> Dulles International Airport

From Doha to Virginia (Washington D.C.) we flew business class. The plane was super luxurious and the same as the first flight. I had better service on this flight and the food was delicious. I ate the Lobster Thermador as well as the avocado toast and both were superb! Pictures below!

Before boarding the flight, we had to pass through another security at the gate. Get to your gate early for this!! During this time, I became very frustrated and even angry with what they were putting us through. We had already passed Maldives security to begin with and didn’t need to go here but they thought we did. We did not have to do this security on the way there. 
Basically, I had to show at least 8 different people my boarding pass which was really difficult. Passing it around that much while supervising the people going through all my camera gear is annoying because things could easily get lost. In addition, every single passenger had to remove all of their electronics including cameras and lenses to be wiped I guess for drugs. I have a hard shell on my Mac book computer that I have not removed for 5 years and I had to remove it. I could not get it off and upon watching me struggle for at least 10 minutes the guy says “well don’t break it” but still made me take it off. I was extremely angry at this point, having to take out all of my items like this and risk them becoming damaged. Then they still had to be screened. Then I had to repack my entire bag(s). While repacking, the people began to hurry me and started throwing my stuff at me telling me to move along and to hurry. I told them no I would not do that because lots of this stuff is fragile and they made me remove it in the first place. I honestly felt very violated and then following that they were extremely rude. 
They also made me go through all that work for my computer but did not ask to see my phone at all which I thought was strange. 

Switching Airports from Dulles to Ronald Regan 

Once in Washington D.C. we had to gather our bags, go through immigration, and head to Ronald Regan airport for our flight back to Atlanta. On the way, we stopped in the main Washington D.C. area to have a moment to look at all the attractions and memorials. This was a really fun way to mix it up on the trip and I loved this element. I will link a separate post below!

Washington D.C. Experience

Anyway, after we arrived at the airport in a blasting hurry, our flight had been canceled. They booked us on the next one out but that would mean a whole 5 hours in the airport when we could have stayed out touring around. 
We went through the security so we could hang out inside the airport. This was a fiasco. After going through the other security, I could not take another thing, but here we are. All of my things pass through just fine, but my moms underwater camera was the issue. They wanted to remove everything separately and rescan it. This has never happened before… even Atlanta security is respectful of items and will rescan the whole bag and let you watch them search it. She said no to removing everything and they did it anyway. Not only did they do it anyway, but they were extremely rude about it. When I wanted to stand and watch them handle the bag to make sure they aren’t stealing from it, they yelled at me and told me to move along. The reality is I was not in anyone’s way and it is my job to keep an eye on my moms bag while she gathers her personal items. 
They finally told her to come behind some gate to help repack her bag. The rude lady who had just yelled at everyone then yelled at my mom for standing behind the gate where the other guy had just told her to stand. That really put her over the edge. Here’s a photograph of that lady; unfortunately I could not get her name. She should not be working there anymore…

We decided to go to the American Airlines admiral lounge which I have a post on and I will link it below. The one I am linking which is the one in Atlanta is much nicer than this one. This lounge was out of a lot of food - so much that we actually left to go eat somewhere else. We ended up at a burger place that I can’t remember the name of. It was pretty good and is one of the only restaurants in the area of the airport. 

American Airlines Admiral Lounge

Ronald Regan -> Atlanta

After a very long wait and a nap in the admiral lounge, we boarded our final flight- first class on American Airlines to Atlanta Georgia. The flight itself was short and before I knew it we were back in Atlanta. we quickly picked up our bags and met our driver. It was definitely colder in Atlanta than in D.C. We arrived home at around 10 pm on January 5, 2022 after stopping at Publix. We made it!

Prefer Videos? 

No problem! check out my traveling home from Maldives video on youtube below! It is not as detailed as I would have liked, but I am still working with the backpack cam to try and capture more real footage for you guys. Enjoy!