Ocean Mood or Jungle Mood
Picture a typical afternoon. In the Maldives, you swim off your deck, snorkel the house reef, nap in the shade and watch the sun set over a flat, glowing horizon. Nothing interrupts you. The whole place is designed for that.
In Ubud, the afternoon might follow a morning walk along the Campuhan Ridge, a visit to the Puri Lukisan Museum or a water blessing at Tirta Empul. You come back to a villa with a private pool above the river, listen to frogs and cicadas and go out later for a long dinner. There is always something happening. You choose how much of it to join.
The Maldives is better at stillness. Ubud is better at curiosity. Couples who differ on this often do well in Bali, where Ubud's culture and the coast's beaches sit a couple of hours apart.
Where You Sleep
Both have resorts that rank among the best in Asia, in very different styles.
In the Maldives, the classic is an overwater villa with a ladder into the lagoon. Soneva Fushi and Gili Lankanfushi lean barefoot, Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi and Conrad Rangali lean glamorous and Soneva Jani has water slides and retractable roofs for stargazing. Beach villas give more shade and privacy.
In Ubud, the classic is a pool villa on a jungle slope. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan greets you with a suspension bridge onto a rooftop lotus pond, with villas cascading down to the Ayung River. Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, has walled pool villas on the riverbank and its own rice field. Capella Ubud, designed by Bill Bensley, offers themed luxury tents with saltwater pools on a ridge near Keliki.
Ubud also has boutique villas in the rice fields, which gives you far more choice at lower price points.
Seasons Line Up Nicely
This is one area where the two can coexist on the same calendar.
The Maldives is most reliable from January to April, during the dry northeast monsoon, with peak prices at Christmas, New Year and Easter. From June to September the southwest monsoon brings more wind and rain, usually in short bursts, along with lower rates and manta season in Baa Atoll.
Ubud's drier months run roughly April to October, with August usually the driest. July, August and the late December holidays are busiest. May, June and September balance good weather with fewer crowds. The wet season, about November to March, brings heavy afternoon downpours, but the jungle is at its greenest and rates often drop.
April is a sweet spot for both. For a summer honeymoon, Ubud has the better weather. For January to March, the Maldives is the safer bet. Dengue occurs in Bali, so use repellent. If you're pregnant or hoping to be soon, check CDC travel health notices for Indonesia.
Getting There From the US
Both are a long way from home, with no nonstop flights from the US.
For the Maldives, most couples connect through Doha, Dubai or Istanbul into Velana International Airport (MLE). Total travel time is often 20 hours or more. Resorts near Malé are reached by speedboat. Farther atolls need a seaplane of 30 to 45 minutes, which only flies in daylight.
For Ubud, you fly into Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) in south Bali, usually connecting through Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei or Hong Kong. Total travel time also often runs past 20 hours. From the airport, Ubud is about 1 to 1.5 hours by car, longer in traffic, so a private transfer from your resort is the easy option.
West Coast couples often find the trans-Pacific routing to Bali a little easier. From the East Coast, the Gulf routing to the Maldives can be simpler. Either way, plan a slow first day.
Costs Compared
Ubud is generally the more affordable choice, though its top resorts are not cheap. All figures are approximate.
The big Ayung River resorts run from about $700 to well over $1,500 a night, higher in July and August. Boutique villas in the rice fields can cost $150 to $400. Outside the resort, costs are low: a meal at a local warung costs little, a driver for a full day is affordable and spa treatments outside luxury hotels are good value.
In the Maldives, the luxury resorts we cover often start above $1,500 a night in high season. A service charge, a tourism tax and a daily green tax can add roughly a quarter or more. Seaplane transfers are priced per person. Because you cannot walk to another restaurant, half-board or all-inclusive plans often make sense.
For the price of a week in a Maldives overwater villa, many couples can do ten days in Bali at a similar level of comfort.
What You Will Do Together
The Maldives offers sandbank dinners, sunset dhoni cruises, spa days and snorkeling or diving with turtles, reef sharks and rays. In season you can swim with mantas in Baa Atoll, while whale sharks cruise South Ari year round. Conrad's undersea restaurant Ithaa and observatory telescopes at some resorts add novelty.
Ubud's list is longer and almost all on land. Watch sunrise over the Tegallalang rice terraces before the crowds arrive. Join a water purification ritual at Tirta Empul with a guide. See a Legong or Kecak dance in a palace courtyard. Raft the Ayung River together, then book a couples massage. Take a cooking class and learn to make spice pastes and sambal from scratch. Visit the Sacred Monkey Forest, keeping food out of sight.
For temples, both of you should cover shoulders and knees and wear a sarong and sash, which many temples lend at the gate.
Getting Some of Both
If you can't decide, there are two good ways to blend these moods.
The simpler one stays in Bali. Spend three or four nights in Ubud for the culture, food and jungle, then move to Uluwatu or Seminyak on the coast for sunsets and beach time. Uluwatu's clifftop resorts sit close to the airport, so you finish without a long transfer. That gives you a full honeymoon of ten nights or more with water and land, usually for less than a week in the Maldives.
The bolder option combines the two countries. Flights between Bali and Malé usually route through a hub such as Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, so you lose part of a day. If you do it, start in Ubud while your energy is high, then end in the Maldives with five or six nights of nothing at all. Allow fourteen nights or more so the travel days don't crowd out the rest.
