• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Photography – Bobby Bense

Model/Styling/Editing – Helen Janneson Bense

Location – Ayada Maldives

Outfit Details

Dresses – Brooklyn Grange | Pitusa Multi Flared | Arnhem Poeme Mini

Swimwear – Koleha Pistachio Botanic One piece | Camilla one piece (similar)

Jade wears – Arnhem Belle Littles Top

Jewelry – Ananda Soul Divine Guidance Mala | Wanderlust + Co Zodiac Necklace | Ananda Soul Om Namah Shivah Ring | Heather Gardner Crystal Earrings

Ayada truly is the epitome of pure luxury, and it was the perfect place for us to enjoy at the end of our wonderful Maldives family holiday. Off the beaten path, nestled in it’s own remote paradise, we experienced the ultimate in service and luxury. Everything was handled with such care and attention to detail, from the moment we met our representative at the airport, to our departure. It took a plane and boat ride to get there, and it was worth every minute of the trek.

Upon our arrival we were greeted with a wonderful festival atmosphere. It was good vibes, lots of laughs and games for all ages. Bobby and I played giant connect 4 while the kids jumped on the trampoline and attempted to do the limbo. The kids quickly found their favourite spot on the island at Ayclub playing endless games of foosball, pool and table tennis. It was a short bike ride from our incredible Sunset Ocean family suite which made it loads of fun, and super safe for them to explore on their own. Our overwater villa was breathtaking. We watched reef sharks (which are super safe to swim with) and eagle rays swimming by from our pool during the day and magical sunset skies at night.

We spent our days snorkelling the house reef and we took a dream snorkelling and dolphin sighting trip that will forever be etched in my memory. I’ve never seen so many dolphins at once. They playfully swam around us with their beautiful, joyful energy. This tour was the biggest highlight of our entire Maldives trip. And to top this off we had the most intimate encounter with a turtle right after this. As we swam alongside this majestic being it turned around multiple times and simply stared at us for what felt like an eternity. This experience was beyond what I could ever have imagined.

The food, the chefs, the restaurants, all went above and beyond to create the most exquisite plant based foods for our family. Every meal was a dream and culinary delight for our senses. We had a special dinner at Kai restaurant and this was an absolute stand out. I remember saying it was the best meal of my life! And it really was. I’ll be dreaming about that dinner for a long time.

Our last day was spent enjoying the most decadent plant based floating breakfast in the Royal Ocean Suite. The villa itself was so beautifully designed with all those Turkish inspired colours and details. We enjoyed all of our favourite foods and a slow, relaxing day of pure luxury that we’ll never forget.

If you guys are planning a trip and need any tips please feel free to message me. If you’re island hopping like us, then you need to plan it out and that will vary for each person’s preferences on where you want to stay. I do find that each resort we stay at are so helpful in organising most of the details for you. It makes traveling a breeze. And the plane views are always just stunning so it feels more like a tour.

I use this resource here to check the distances between each island and Male (island where most international flights land) and it helps me to work out if I can reach an island by speedboat or seaplane. It’s always best to organise a stay overnight in Male if you’re arriving late at night and plan to take a seaplane to your first spot. Or organise to first stay somewhere within speedboat distance as some will run late at night.

I feel so grateful for this family trip to the Maldives. It definitely takes a lot of work and time to organise all the logistical details when traveling to the islands, and it can get quite costly, but it always is my absolute favourite place to relax and explore with my family. We always leave inspired, knowing anything is possible.

Happy travels and so much love,

Helen xx

All text and images copyright © Helen Janneson Bense 2020