Our excitement commenced the moment we spotted the seaplane adorned with a painted sea turtle, arguably the most aesthetic transport in the Maldives. Six Senses Laamu’s private seaplane glided through clear blue skies, carrying us towards paradise and offering glimpses of tiny islands and endless turquoise along the way. We arrived to impossibly blue water, beaming smiles and a villa straight out of a beach aficionado’s dream.
Our Two-Bedroom Beach Villa with Pool was everything we could have wanted for a family stay: spacious bedrooms, beautiful indoor-outdoor living, our own private pool and the ocean just steps away. There was even an upper treetop deck overlooking the island. Mornings often began by jumping straight into the water, while bicycles became our preferred mode of transport, cycling barefoot along sandy jungle paths to breakfast and around the island. Our GEM, Six Senses’ version of a private butler, was incredible throughout, somehow always appearing exactly when we needed something and making every aspect of our stay feel completely effortless.
The kids particularly loved cycling to ICE, the resort’s ice cream and chocolate studio, where unlimited scoops are complimentary for all guests throughout the day. With dozens of homemade flavours to work our way through, including plenty of unusual combinations alongside the classics, a bike ride for “just one scoop” quickly became part of our daily routine.
Food was a huge part of our stay. Breakfast overlooking the ocean became a leisurely morning ritual, complete with fresh juices, health elixirs, Maldivian dishes, charcuterie, à la carte favourites and a pancake station where the team created manta rays and turtles for the kids. We loved poolside pizzas at Sip Sip and long lunches at Chill Bar, while evenings became more elevated. Leaf, perched above the organic garden and reached via a suspended bridge, was beautifully romantic, while Teppanyaki combined sunset views, incredible steak, lobster and sake with a brilliantly entertaining chef who even brought River into the performance.
Then there was the beautiful jungle spa, where treatment nests seem to disappear amongst the tropical greenery. It offered exactly the kind of peaceful escape you want in the Maldives, and a wonderfully indulgent contrast to our otherwise very active days of cycling, swimming and exploring.
But it was what lay beneath the water that really captured us.
Laamu’s lagoon is filled with marine life, with extensive protected seagrass meadows providing an important habitat for green sea turtles. Ever and River could snorkel directly from our villa, and we saw turtles so frequently that spotting one swimming below us somehow became part of everyday island life. Another favourite ritual was lunch at the overwater Chill Bar followed by masks and fins on and straight into the house reef from the deck.
At the heart of the resort’s conservation work is SHELL, the Sea Hub of Environmental Learning in Laamu, home to interactive exhibition spaces, research facilities and the work of the Maldives Underwater Initiative. For River, our resident marine-life obsessive, this was heaven, but Ever became equally captivated.
They spent an afternoon taking part in Junior Marine Biology and it became one of the defining memories of our trip. River learned how researchers can identify individual turtles using the unique pattern of facial scutes, almost like a turtle fingerprint. It wasn’t simply something he learned and forgot either. Since then, he has been photographing the faces and shells of turtles we encounter and sending the images to the Olive Ridley Project to help with identification. Both kids returned from their afternoon bursting with things to tell us and are already determined that we need to come back so they can complete the full course next time.
That sense of discovery continues on land. At Earth Lab we learned more about sustainability and made our own body scrubs, while feeding the resort’s chickens reminded us of doing the same thing at Six Senses Samui. The fresh eggs even make their way to breakfast, another small connection between the island and what appears on your plate.
Six Senses Laamu was luxurious in all the ways you expect the Maldives to be, but what we loved most was how seamlessly that luxury existed alongside the natural beauty of the island. Nothing felt overly manicured or removed from its surroundings, yet every detail was quietly taken care of. The incredible team were a huge part of that, always ready with kind words, a smile or a helping hand, and somehow remembering the little things that made us feel completely at home. Ever and River became so comfortable that before long they were cycling around the island by themselves, navigating their way between ICE, the restaurants, SHELL and our villa, building their own relationships with the familiar faces they met along the way. For us, those moments became just as memorable as swimming alongside turtles, learning about conservation or watching another Maldivian sunset. Six Senses Laamu manages to feel both effortlessly luxurious and wonderfully natural, creating the kind of place where, very quickly, you stop feeling like guests and simply settle into island life.
Some resorts give you a beautiful holiday. Laamu gave us memories, curiosity and a reason to come back.
am a fully qualified independent travel agent specializing in Luxury Family Travel. I’m here to plan your dream family holiday, create a personal itinerary to suit your family’s needs, and give you all the first hand knowledge I have from travelling full time as a family. Contact me at christing.chang@fora.travel assist in booking your next trip.
