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Owlet Smart Sock Baby Monitor – Review [2020]
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If you’re interested in purchasing the Owlet smart sock monitor but aren’t sure if it’s right for you and importantly, if it’s worth it, then this post is for you! I’ll go through all of the reasons I love it (and also some reasons why I don’t love it so much…), which will hopefully help you to make your decision.

If you’d like to purchase the Owlet, click this link!

Don’t feel like reading? Check out my review over on YouTube!

When I was preparing for our baby’s arrival, I spent hours upon hours researching “newborn must-haves” and reading reviews on pretty much everything, trying to figure out which products I needed and which ones I could probably live without. I had my eye on the Owlet Smart Sock but the hefty price tag of £269 made me wonder if it was really worth it, so I decided not to get it. After all, a breathing and heart rate monitor that you put on your baby every time they sleep is a bit much right… right…?

Well fast-forward to Day 4 of having our brand new baby home and she fell ill and needed to be rushed to the hospital. This sent my anxiety into overdrive and I decided that if I was ever going to have any hope of sleeping again, I needed a bit more peace of mind. So, off to Amazon Prime I went and purchased the Owlet Smart Sock.

Spoiler alert: I love this device and highly recommend it. If you know you’ll be buying it, try to get it during one of their sales which happen throughout the year!

The Owlet Smart Sock is a device that you put on your baby’s right or left foot to monitor their oxygen levels and heart rate. It comes with a base station that you plug into the wall, and which is also used to charge the Owlet sock. You can use the app to monitor your baby’s stats in real-time, and to turn the base station on or off. If the app detects a dip or a spike in your baby’s stats, then the base station will flash and play a sound letting you know something’s up. If you use the app, then you will also get an alert on your phone, and if you have an Apple Watch, then you’ll get an alert on there too! Setup was very easy and only took a few minutes.

Some people love the Owlet, and some really hate it. It works for our family and we love it, but I should point out some of the reasons people don’t like it.

Firstly, the thing can be buggy and give false alerts (I’ll explain my experience with this down below). Some people feel it might make their anxiety worse as a result of false alerts (or even the mere fact of having the device). Secondly, if you’re in any “Safe Sleep” or parenting Facebook groups then you’ll know that the Owlet is often discussed and some feel that parents might be more inclined to practice unsafe sleeping because they’re “relying” on the Owlet Smart Sock to alert them if there’s a problem.

Those things didn’t apply to me, so I felt comfortable using it.

I’ve already said I love the Owlet Smart Sock, but there are definitely some things I don’t love about it.
1. It is not uncommon to get a defective or faulty device: when we first tried to use the sock, it didn’t work. After several frustrating nights of getting no readings or yellow alerts telling us that the sock was not “placed” correctly on the baby’s foot, we gave up. When I contacted the supplier though they sent a new sensor replacement and charging cable, and the Owlet then worked perfectly. Really disappointing given the cost of the product!
2. The app is buggy and sometimes it will disconnect from the base station, and you have to hard-close out of it and re-open it.
3. I suspect the range of the base station to your phone/app is not great. My apartment isn’t huge but when I’m on our balcony, the app cannot connect to the base station so I can’t keep an eye on it.
4. There is a green pulsating light on the base station letting you know whether it’s taking readings or not. This light is so bright it’s excessive… it was lighting up the whole room in a green glow. You can dim the light by pressing on the base station and holding it for a few seconds, and once I discovered that I found the light to be much more bearable.
5. If your baby moves even the tiniest bit, then the Owlet cannot take a reading. This could potentially be a problem if you’ve got a baby that moves a lot or… if you have a Snoo bassinet.
6. The Owlet Smart Sock does not work for us if the Snoo is soothing at any level higher than “baseline” so if you plan to lock you Snoo on Level 1 for example, it’s highly likely that the Owlet Smart Sock won’t work for you.
7. You can’t adjust the ranges that trigger alerts – they are hard coded into the device. We don’t need to change the levels as they are ok for us, but I can imagine a case where a parent might want to be able to manually adjust them.
8. The UK version of the app does not have historical data!! This is a huge disappointment, and my understanding is that this is GDPR-related. The US version of the app lets your review your baby’s stats so you can wake up in the morning and see how well they slept and what their vitals were all night. This would really set the Owlet apart from other monitors if it had the same functionality as the US version. I didn’t know this didn’t work on the UK version until I received it, and was sorely disappointed when I realized that feature was missing!
The Owlet Smart Sock is clearly not perfect and has room for improvement, but… I still absolutely love it and am thankful that it exists; I honestly don’t know how I would sleep without it.

Now onto the good stuff!
1. We have not experienced any false alerts thankfully and I am confident that the readings the Owlet Smart Sock is taking are accurate. It is NOT considered a medical device, but it has given me the same readings as medical-grade devices, so I feel reassured with the readings it gives.
2. The sock is very easy to put on – even on a wriggling baby – and stays on all night. Sometimes our Little kicks it off if she’s in a sleep-fighting mood, but you can just put a regular sock over it to prevent that. I’ve managed to put the sock on while nursing, with my non-dominant hand, and in the dark…! I was worried that it would be a hassle to put the sock on every time we put our baby down to sleep, but it takes around 5 seconds and I don’t even think twice about it now.
3. Monitoring works even if you don’t have the app open. For me, this point was crucial!! I have another breathing and roll-over monitor which I never really trusted to alert me if needed, because it didn’t have an independent base station – it was just bluetooth.
4. There is very little lag with the readings on the app. As soon as the baby moves, this is immediately picked up on the app. This is particularly useful as it tells me when baby is waking up. I can also use the readings to know when she is in a deep sleep or not (for our little girl, a heart rate below 125 usually means she’s sound asleep).
You might be noticing that my list of things that are not-so-great is literally twice as long as the things I love about it, and wondering why I’m still recommending this product.

The answer is simple: it works, and the pros far outweigh the cons. Could it be better? Absolutely. Does it do what it’s supposed to do (when the sensor isn’t defective…)? Absolutely.

If you’re anything like me and love a good baby gadget, or if you just want to have a little extra peace of mind, then I highly recommend checking out the Owlet Smart Sock.
August 2, 2020
My top Netflix UK binge worthy TV show recommendations | 2020
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Do you spend hours looking for something to watch before giving up and going to sleep? Then don’t worry, I got you covered! I’ve scoured Netflix UK for the best binge worthy TV shows available.

Don’t feel like reading? Check out my review video over on YouTube!

If you’re like most folks at the moment, you’re staying home as much as possible (or you should be at least, if you can). While you could use this time to make banana bread, or to work on your sourdough starter, sometimes you might want to just relax in front of the TV to distract yourself from the madness currently going on in the world. So if you’re looking for a few suggestions of truly binge worth shows to watch on Netflix UK at the moment, then you’ve come to the right place.

With a new baby wearing us out during the day, I would be lying if I said we didn’t have dinner (on the couch), with a Netflix show playing, too many nights during the week.

It can be a daunting task to find the *perfect* show to watch and if you’re anything like me, you can easily spend an hour or two looking for something to watch before giving up and not watching anything at all! So I thought I’d go through some of my favorite shows that are currently available on Netflix UK.

The list includes a diverse selection of shows so there should be something for everyone! Have a look and let me know what you think – have you seen these shows, and if so, did you love them as much as I did? Comment down below ❤️
June 21, 2020
Healthy chicken fajita bowls
Click here to skip my blah blah blah and go straight to the recipe video (I won’t be offended, I promise).

I have been wanting to get into recipe video production for a while, and now that I have a new DSLR camera (with auto-focus!), there’s no longer any excuses not to do it. Like most folks, I’ve been watching the likes of Tasty go absolutely viral and for good reason – I love watching the short videos that give me daily inspiration when I’m trying to decide “What’s for dinner?”. In my video, that question is answered with a resounding chicken fajita bowls!! Scroll down below to check out my first crack at a recipe video 🙂

Being a visual learner, I definitely prefer following a recipe with a video tutorial, so in the spirit of bringing my readers more top quality content (ie, selfishly, the type of content that I enjoy), I’ve decided to give it a go on little old seefoodplay.com!

The idea of filming a recipe from start to finish was surprisingly intimidating, so I wanted to go for a recipe that would look good on camera (lots of color!), that I make often so comfortable with the recipe, and that I actually wanted to share with readers. Now, the thing that I am absolutely most comfortable with is pasta (all pasta, any kind of pasta – I can make it perfectly al dente practically in my sleep). But in the interest of trying to branch out, I decided to go for another one of my favorites: a chicken & veggie ‘fajita’ bowl. I’m a huge fan of meal prepping, especially the lunches that I take to work, and this recipe is perfect for just that.

In the spirit of the ubiquitous Tasty recipe video, my take on this was to keep it simple and healthy, packed full of fresh ingredients, and easy to make ahead… all in about a minute-long video. I hope you enjoy the video and recipe – it’s filling, super easy, and a great idea to add to your meal prep catalog!

If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to let me know either in the comments below or by tagging a photo of your version on Instagram under #sfprecipes.
Easy chicken fajita bowls
2-3 sliced bell peppers (I used green, red and yellow)

1 small onion (sliced)

4 cups cooked rice

Spice mix: 1 tbsp each of garlic powder (salt, smoked paprika, oregano,)

1 can of black beans

avocado slices

sour crème/crème fraiche

chives or spring onions for garnish
Brown the chicken in a bit of olive oil, but be careful not to overcook

Remove chicken, cut into slices, set aside

Combine the spice mix and veggies

Sauté all the veggies until they’re cooked through but still crisp

Add the chicken back into the pan to soak up the flavors and to warm up

Prepare the bowls: add rice, peppers, chicken, black beans, and avocado

Garnish with fresh lime juice, sour cream, and cilantro or spring onions
August 14, 2018
23 Easy & Healthy Breakfast Recipes

23 Easy & Healthy Breakfast recipes, including drinks & smoothies, savory egg-based meals, and finishing with a list of sweet (but still healthy!) dishes to round out the list.

I’m a firm believer that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but when I’m rushing to get to work, I don’t usually have heaps of time to mess around in the kitchen whipping up a healthy and hearty breakfast. My go-to in the morning is almost always something I can throw in my bag and eat once I get to work, or something that I’ve prepped in advance that I can heat up and eat while I’m getting ready. Yes, I’m a fan of multi-tasking, especially in the morning…!

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a big fan of a Full English on the weekend, but that’s when I have time to take it easy and make breakfast more of a chill and relaxing experience, than a necessary step to fuel me for my busy day. Since I moved to London, one of my absolute favorite things is that you can get a savory breakfast pretty much anywhere. During my ten years in Paris, a good savory breakfast was probably one of the things I missed the most. I know, I know – I realize that probably sounds blasphemous, given that Paris is home to some of (if not the?) best pastries in the world. But croissants and pains au chocolat have never been my thing. Before the mob starts gathering their pitchforks, there are lots and lots of other French delicacies that I adore – just not the sweet and bready varieties. Now that I’m in London, I can pop into an EAT or Birley’s to grab a quick breakfast, but that gets old fast, and it certainly isn’t ideal for my budget!

One of my resolutions for 2018 is to eat less prepared food, and focus on homemade and healthy breakfasts and lunches, and I’m always on the lookout for recipe inspiration. So I’ve pulled together a list of 23 easy & healthy breakfast recipes that I’ll be adding into my morning meal rotation. Whether you’re looking to eat healthier during the week, save money on breakfast, or just looking to spice up your morning breakfast recipe catalog, the recipes below should provide some inspiration. I hope you’ll enjoy this Recipe Roundup, and please do check out the blogs linked from each photo in the galleries below for the full recipes!

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If you’re like me and you prefer savory to sweet breakfast recipes, then I suggest taking a look at these ideas! They’re not over-the-top sugary, and pack lots of vitamins and protein and other good stuff, and are a great way to change it up without overloading on sugar.

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I hope you’ll enjoy these recipes as much as I do! A big thank you to all of the bloggers who allowed me to include their recipes in this list – definitely check them out for these recipes, and more!

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April 8, 2018
Jamie Oliver’s Big British Meatballs

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I’ve been a fan of Jamie Oliver for about as long as I can remember, both for his cooking style and his ethos on food in general. He’s a strong advocate of healthy eating, especially for kids, and always comes up with easy recipes using seasonal ingredients to create well-balanced meals. He’s got tons of cookbooks (15+) and his shows are almost always on TV, so there’s definitely a huge selection to choose from if you want to be inspired by one of his creations. This take on Jamie Oliver’s Big British Meatballs is the ultimate comfort food, easy enough for a weeknight meal, but hearty and perfect for a weekend dinner.

His recipes range from 30-minute meals (full meal ideas, not just single recipes) to more elaborate comfort food-style recipes. They are always easy to follow, don’t use hard-to-find ingredients, and focus on creating a balanced dish that anyone can make. This is exactly my kind of cooking! So, I thought I would try out some of his recipes and make at least one each month and blog about it here.

There really are so many to choose from, but when looking for this month’s recipe, his Big British Meatballs were impossible to resist. It’s to-the-bone cold in London at the moment, and I’m craving all things soup, casseroles, and hearty. This recipe is definitely hearty! It’s from his ‘Comfort Food‘ book, and is the book I’ve used the least so far because the recipes are more elaborate and time-consuming. But I had some time on my hands, and most of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try. You. Guys. Am I glad that I did…! I’m not a huge meat eater, but this was so tender, so full of rich but not overpowering flavor, and despite quite a few ingredients/steps, relatively easy to pull together. This would make for a great make-ahead meal, or a Sunday dinner.

If you are looking for a cozy and hearty winter dish, then look no further and give this a try!

The recipe can be found here and also copied below. I used lamb instead of pork, and halved the recipe – it came out perfectly, and made about 4 servings. This came out very savory (don’t worry about it being too sweet with the jelly, or too bitter with the pale ale!), and I served it on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes and garnished with savoy cabbage.

This is one of the recipes that Jamie Oliver made on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and you can watch the video here.

Big British Meatballs

Serves 8

2 hours
363 calories

Meatballs
2 large onions
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground chuck steak
1 handful of bread crumbs
3 oz good-quality sharp Cheddar cheese

Gravy
7 oz finely ground chuck steak
1 large onion
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 beef bouillon cube
¾ cup pale ale
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon blackcurrant jam
2 teaspoons English mustard
2 tablespoons malt vinegar

For the meatballs, peel the onions, pick the rosemary leaves, then finely chop them together (or blitz in a food processor) and put into a large frying pan on medium heat with a lug of oil, the Worcestershire sauce, and a good splash or two of water. Cook for around 20 minutes, or until the liquid has disappeared and the onions are sweet and lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, leave aside to cool, then put into a bowl with the ground meat and bread crumbs. Using clean hands, mix it all together beautifully, scrunching for a minute to create a delicious texture. Divide into 16 equal sized balls, then wash your hands and cut the cheese into 16 cubes. Poke and push a piece of cheese into the center of each ball, then gently roll into perfect balls. Take pride in your balls, repeat, until they’re all done, and place in the fridge.

For the gravy, put the ground meat into a large saucepan with a little oil and cook until golden, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, peel the onion and finely chop with rosemary leaves, then add the ground meat and cook for another 5 minutes, or until lightly golden. Crumble the bouillon cube, then pour in the ale. Cook away until nice and dark, then stir in the flour, jam, mustard, vinegar, and 3 cups of water. Simmer for around 30 minutes, or until rich and thick, then season to perfection. Preheat the oven to full whack (475 degrees Fahrenheit) and preheat a high-sided roasting pan.

When you’re ready to go, drizzle the preheated pan with oil and add the balls, leaving nice gaps between them. Blast at the top of the oven for around 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove the pan, pour the gravy over the balls, and pop them back into the oven for about 5 more minutes, to get everything cooked into each other – sometimes I even baste the balls with a little gravy to give them a lovely shine. Serve on mashed potatoes or smashed root veggie, with some lovely seasonal greens on the side.

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January 7, 2018
Blueberry & Cashew Greek yogurt bowl
With the weather a bit dark and gloomy, and cold and rainy if you have London-like January weather, it’s very tempting to reach for a heavy and hearty breakfast. I’ve definitely been chowing down on full English breakfasts over the past few months (maybe a few too many…), but after all of the Christmas parties and holiday eating, I’m finding myself longing more and more for simple, fresh and light breakfast options: like fruit and yogurt!

I’ve always preferred savory over sweet food in the morning (and in general tbh), so those smoothie bowls and fruit muffins just don’t do it for me. Poached eggs and avocado toast are my typical go-to for a weekday brekkie, but sometimes that gets old and sometimes it’s hard to get avocados with any flavor (first world problems…).

When I got back to London after Christmas, I a) couldn’t fathom the idea of another full English breakfast and b) didn’t have any food in my fridge anyway, even if did want one. I am cursed blessed with a pretty big Asda grocery store right downstairs my apartment, so I grabbed my reusable Monoprix shopping bag (because who uses plastic bags anymore?) and headed downstairs to stock up my fridge. Instead of heading straight for the turkey bacon (okay, I did buy some, but for a different recipe) I grabbed some Greek yogurt pots and blueberries.

In about five minutes, I whipped up this light, fresh and healthy breakfast snack, that didn’t send my taste buds into a sugary sweet tailspin. If you’re like me, looking for a quick and easy breakfast without all the sugar, then give this a try – hopefully you’ll like it as much as I did! Greek yogurt is a great option because it is higher in protein than regular yogurt, and has less lactose. It’s also thicker and creamier, which I definitely prefer.

Anyone else see a bird’s face on my spoon in this shot…?

Ingredients:
1. Small pot of Greek yogurt (my store sells 200g pots)
2. 5-6 blueberries
3. 10 cashews, roughly chopped
4. Honey to drizzle on top
Add your blueberries and cashews to the yogurt, and drizzle a bit of honey on top. I had a small piece of cheddar on the side, and this made for a very filling and slightly sweet breakfast that kept me going until lunch.

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January 5, 2018
Authentic (ish) spaghetti carbonara
One of the things I told myself when I started this blog was that I would not do tons and tons of pasta recipes. See, my favorite food is and always has been: pasta. I have to force myself to not eat pasta every day of the week (and twice on Sunday), and part of the reason I wanted to start cataloguing my recipes was so that I could use this as a resource for myself, when trying to answer the age old question of what’s for dinner.

I spend lots of time working, like most folks, and don’t have too much time to prepare elaborate weeknight meals (though that certainly doesn’t always stop me, even if I end up eating at 9:30pm or sometimes later…!).

A quick pasta dish is often my saving grace after a long day in the office, and spaghetti carbonara fits the bill perfectly: it’s made from mostly pantry items (or things that I always have on hand) and comes together in the time it takes to cook the pasta (yes, really).

Carbonara was totally unknown to me until I moved to France, where it is on every menu, from restaurants to home kitchens. I was never a big fan because it is usually kinda thick and creamy, and not the light sauces that I tend to go for.

Then, my spaghetti life changed: I had this dish in Italy. You guyyyyyysss. It was nothing like the clumpy mess of cream and lardons that they’re serving up elsewhere, this was a delicate balance of parmesan, eggs and black pepper. You might be thinking, what about the guanciale (pork, similar to lardons or bacon) the recipe also calls for? I stopped eating pork ages ago, so no bacon, ham or traditional carbonara for me. I’ve always been able to manage a ‘vegetarian’ version in the past, which as you can imagine has always lacked that smoky salty bacon flavor.

Then I thought, if carbonara can be this good without meat, imagine if I kicked it up a bit with some turkey bacon and made it myself? After a few attempts to get the recipe right, I was nothing short of amazed at how good this came out. Despite not having as much fat as the traditional recipe from the pork, the sauce came out perfectly balanced, savory and creamy, and the turkey bacon and parmesan added that extra flavor to complete this so-simple-its-complex recipe.

I’m definitely not one to say that recipes should be followed to the letter for them to be ‘authentic’, as experimentation and mistakes often lead to some of my favorite kitchen creations. But some things are just so good as they were meant to be, that you have to try it the ‘real way’ at least once before you start changing things up. For spaghetti carbonara, this means: no chicken, no mushrooms and certainly no cream. Give it a try, then customize as you like 🙂

For anyone looking to try a slightly slimmed down take on the classic spaghetti carbonara, or anyone like me that doesn’t eat pork, please give this recipe a try – you will not be disappointed!

And don’t give up if you don’t get it right the first time you try it. Recipes with only a few ingredients are often the most difficult to get right, because every ingredient counts. The main difficulty I encountered when making this recipe was preventing the eggs from scrambling – once you get past that hurdle, you’ll be a pro at whipping this up in 15 minutes tops.

As always, my recipes are for two people but this can easily be doubled and is lovely reheated for lunch the next day 😉

Ingredients:
1. 150 grams of spaghetti
2. About 6-8 slices of turkey bacon, chopped into rough pieces (or turkey lardons if you can find them!)
3. 1 large egg
4. 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
5. Fresh ground black pepper
6. Sea salt, for seasoning
7. 75 grams of parmesan cheese – freshly grated
I’m including lots of detailed steps for any readers that haven’t ever made this before, but it really boils down to: make the pasta, fry up the turkey bacon, mix together the egg/parmesan/black pepper, add cooked pasta and turkey bacon to egg mixture and serve. Easy peasy.

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous amount of salt (2-3 tablespoons) and cook the pasta until al dente. My trick for perfectly cooked pasta is to cook 1-2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. For spaghetti, this is usually 6-7 minutes.
2. Heat a small pan on medium heat, add the butter and turkey bacon and cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly crispy. Set aside.
3. In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg and grated parmesan, and grate in some fresh ground black pepper.
4. While the pasta is boiling, using a pot holder, carefully place the metal bowl over the pot for about 45 seconds to gently warm up the bottom of the bowl, and the egg & parmesan mixture.
5. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the pasta water.
6. Add the cooked pasta to the turkey bacon pan (without heat) and let sit for 2-3 minutes to slightly cool.
7. Add the pasta & turkey bacon to the egg mixture bowl and toss quickly with tongs to make sure the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce.
8. For a creamier sauce, add in a tablespoon at a time of the reserved pasta water, continuing to toss the pasta. I usually end up adding about 3 tablespoons.
9. Use a ladle and fork to serve if you want to get the ‘nest’ like look, and top with some grated parmesan, sea salt and black pepper.
Warming the egg mixture slightly, and letting the pasta cool a bit will help prevent the egg from scrambling. Adding the pasta water will help to cook the egg in the sauce, and will give the pasta a luxuriously creamy texture.

I hope you enjoy this simple pasta dish as much as I do! If you make this recipe, I’d love to see – snap a pic and tag @seefoodplay on Instagram to share your take on this classic Italian fave.

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January 2, 2018
New year, new blog!

Reading through my last blog post, all I keep thinking is… what a difference a year makes. This time last year, I was adventuring in the Maldives on a much-needed two week vacay. Now, I’m finishing the holiday period getting ready to head back into work in cold and rainy London.

The new year period is always a time for reflection: on the past year, lessons learned, experiences had and life in general. Last year, I remember a distinct feeling of exhaustion. Just plain tired, from work, from doing too much, and from the feeling of life not going in the direction that I hoped. I was happy to leave 2016 in the dust as I transitioned to 2017, dancing it up on a party boat in the Indian Ocean. This year, though, I’m feeling a bit different. I’m less inclined to write 2017 off as having been a shit year. Yes, lots of shit things happened and it was long, tough, and filled with more unpleasantness than I would have liked. But 2017 showed me something about myself that I already knew, but I didn’t know know. I’m resilient, and can handle whatever life throws at me.

Even in the saddest moments, or the most challenging situations, we can always come out on the other side, and will almost always be stronger for it. I’m less focused now on living a perfect life and more into the idea of living my best life, whatever that happens to be. I’ve always spent a lot of time looking forward to the next big adventure, the next big life milestone, the next big achievement… in 2018, that will be different. As cliché as it sounds, my most sincere resolution is to learn to live in the moment. I wrote about enjoying the moment a few years back, and this year, I plan to do exactly that.

So, you can call it a comeback – seefoodplay is renewed and refreshed, and will hopefully be better than ever! I’ve got lots of new content planned, and will be writing about some of my new favorite recipes, lots of travel ideas and trip reports, and of course a few DIY projects here and there.

Stay tuned 🙂 xx

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January 1, 2018
Maldives on a budget: Part 6 – Rihiveli Resort

Rihiveli, Rihiveli… where to begin. I’ll begin with our arrival. I questioned for quite some time whether it’d be worth it to fork out the cash for a resort on a private island. The thing is, I’m no spend thrift… anyone that’s ever seen my shoe collection knows that I’m not afraid of spending money (not always a good thing…). I place a very strong value on the money I spend, though, and have a strong allergy to overpaying for things that simply aren’t worth it. I was determined with this trip to not go crazy with the budget (like I usually do for hols like this), but decided that I couldn’t justify a trip to the Maldives without at least a teeny splurge at the ‘best French resort in the Maldives’. A bit of history about the Rihiveli resort and why we chose this as our splurge. The original owner (who is French) saved some Maldivian soldiers in a shipwreck and as a thank you, was granted a resort license for 10 years by the Maldivian government. The concept of Rihiveli is meant to be entirely eco-friendly, and everything is designed to respect the local environment. The place is relatively small with only 48 bungalows, and definitely feels like the peaceful haven it was designed to be. Each bungalow (ours was ‘Bismass’) has its own hammock (albeit not the typical Maldivian ones!) and beach chairs, and you’re provided with gigantic lush beach towels. Our bungalow was located on the back of the island, near the restaurant and I have to say we got really lucky! It felt deserted and the other bungalows were spaced far enough out that it felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the arrival to any private island resort can cost an arm and a leg, as transfers from the airport are usually arranged directly by the resort and are either speedboats or seaplanes. Since we were traveling to other islands before our final stop in Rihiveli, logistically this proved to be quite challenging to get there without having to go all the way back to the airport and then getting a boat all the way back to Rihiveli. I’m no logistical expert but I knew that made no sense, both in terms of time and cost. When Ahmed at the (amazing) Raakani hotel in Guraidhoo agreed to help us sort a speedboat to Rihiveli for a very reasonable fare, we jumped at the chance and found ourselves…yet again on our favorite little blue dingy. It got the job done though and as we got to the jetty at Rihiveli we could tell the welcome staff could barely hold in their laughter at the sight of our tiny little barely afloat boat. But instead of paying $250 to get there, we paid $38 so I had a nice little chuckle to myself and hopped off the boat ready to see if this whole private island stuff was worth it. Hint: it was. it totally was, in every way.

The first thing you’ll notice when you get to Rihiveli is that the place is beautiful, everything about it is beautiful. The water is clean and clear and warm, the sand is somehow magically always freshly raked, and each bungalow is simple yet luxurious enough. The sunrise view from our Bungalow was one of the best we’d seen in the Maldives, and being alone first thing in the morning watching the sun come up through the clouds… I had definitely stopped thinking about anything else other than the total beauty of my surroundings by this point, and the thought of heading back home to London was the furthest thing from my mind. Vacation objective = accomplished.

Our first day there was spent exploring the island, taking the free kayak out to explore the two islands that also belong to Rihiveli. They have snorkeling trips twice a day, free water sports like kayaks, snorkeling gear, surf and paddle boards, and even catamarans…! All for free, and accessible to anyone at any time. The group activities are posted right outside the Water Sports Center, and there’s enough to keep even the most activate vacationers happy.

There are two food options on the resort, either the restaurant (which is ridiculously expensive at something like $130 for two) or the bar. We never tested the restaurant and opted for the bar food as it was delicious and much more reasonably priced. The food was very good and the drinks were cold and cheap, so no regrets there! It’s also the only place you can even have a remote chance of getting a wifi signal, and is overall a place to hang as there’s a pool table and some other games and is generally just the lounge area of the resort if you want to relax.

There was a happy hour every evening we were there on the huge beach out front, where certain cocktails were served at the open air bar pictured below, and we could sip drinks while watching the sunset.

The grounds were immaculate, and the overall vibe at Rihiveli was just… to chill.

We only stayed at the resort for three nights, but it was totally worth both the logistical headache to get there without paying a fortune, and the cost of the resort itself. Like I mentioned, we wanted that resort feeling without paying the resort money. After hours and hours of research, Rihiveli sounded like a great option. At only £178/night (plus tax, of course) we definitely got what we were looking for. And no Maldivian trip report is complete without sharing a few shots of this bird which we saw everywhere: the Grey Heron.

I haven’t found any other resort in the Maldives that can offer such a setting at such a reasonable price. If you don’t opt for the meal plan which in our opinion was not worth it, then you can have a very reasonable vacation in a truly mind blowing setting. If you’re like us and want to mix it up, then including Rihiveli as the luxury leg of your trip is a great option, and you almost certainly won’t be disappointed.

Part 1: The Basics

Part 2: Maafushi

Part 3: Gulhi

Part 4: Fulidhoo

Part 5: Guraidhoo

Part 6: Rihiveli Resort

Or view everything on one page: Maldives on a budget – full series

January 28, 2017
Maldives on a budget: Part 5 – Guraidhoo

Like I mentioned in part 4, me and Jonathan were pretty fed up with Fulidhoo; we weren’t overly impressed with the people, the Kinaan Retreat was good on paper but in reality was kind of annoying with the hideous smell in the bathroom and the noisy guests (the hotel was full during our stay) so we decided to gtfo and packed our bags with the quickness and checked out. Kinaan staff graciously did not charge us for the night we cancelled, and I called around (a lot) to track down a hotel that would a) come pick us up from Maafushi — where the ferry would drop us off — for a reasonable price b) arrange our speedboat transfer to the Rihiveli Resort, which was our next destination. I left this one up to universe, and the first hotel on Guraidhoo that answered the phone was Raakani Villas & Spa.

The owner answered straight away, and after I explained our situation, he immediately jumped into action and said he’d sort it out and to call him back in five minutes. When I did, he had already managed everything and simply needed to know what time he should have his boat in Maafushi waiting for us. Off to a great start with this hotel… that I didn’t even have a reservation in! Not only did we not have a room booked, I hadn’t even looked at the hotel’s photos, amenities, or reviews (turns out they don’t have any yet…) and just went for it. The Maldives had put us into such an easy going mood that we were pretty much up for anything. Turns out that sometimes just going with the flow, even when it’s totally unplanned, can sometimes really work out: we absolutely love this place!! The hotel we loved immediately, but the island took a while to grow on us, but I’ll get to that later.

There was a pretty heavy storm during our ferry ride over to Maafushi, and when we arrived, the jetty was empty (unlike when we arrived into Maafushi the first time and all of the guest houses were waiting for their customers), and there definitely was no speedboat like we had arranged with the Raakani owner. So, we said goodbye to Arora and Mundy (our friends that we met at the Thundi Guest House on Fulidhoo) who were also on the same ferry, and waited. And waited. And then, I started to worry. I started realizing that I spoke to some guy on the phone who said that he’ll send a speedboat to pick us up, I don’t know his name, I don’t have a reservation in his hotel, and all I have is a cell phone number.

Right when panic mode was at 100% and I was pulling out my cell to call the number, my phone rang and it was the owner of the hotel letting me know that they guys had some difficulties because of the storm (duh of course they did because they only had a tiny boat…) but they’re on their way and will be there soon. When they finally arrived 15 minutes later, I understood what he meant: this was the smallest boat I’ve ever been in and I’m still not quite sure how we made it with all of our luggage, and four people on the boat, without sinking!

But made it, we did and I was so happy to be alive after the ten minute journey that I forgot to worry about the fact that I had no idea where we were going to stay and whether the hotel would be awful.

In the end, we loved it, even though the Island of Guraidhoo itself wasn’t necessarily mega impressive. So we decided to book an extra night at Raakani to just relax and hang out. The staff were sincerely some of the nicest people I’ve come across in all of my travels, and I am totally without a doubt sure that’s why we stayed and why we enjoyed our time there so much. While there was no beach directly out front the hotel, there was definitely an incredible view, where we saw fish jumping out of the water in the hundreds and birds swooping in to grab them.

Guraidhoo is a special place for a few reasons which I’ll try to capture in this post, but honestly you have to experience it to understand. The island itself is supposed to be bigger than the other islands in terms of population but it felt tiny. I must have seen about twenty local residents, and even fewer tourists. The population is supposed to be 1800 people but honestly, we really only saw about twenty locals out and about… no exaggeration. Then again maybe they were on vacation themselves on other nicer islands…! Not ones to be defeated, we hopped on a kayak to go explore the island from the water and that’s when things got real: this place you guys… that water… can you see how blue it is!?

This is when we realized that on a 14-day trip, taking a few days off on an island that didn’t have a perfectly curated beach was no big deal. One of the things about the Maldives in general is that there’s not much to do other than swim, laze on a beach, and relax. But because we couldn’t really do that in Guraidhoo, we explored. We walked around the island. We checked out the nearby mini-island connected to Guraidhoo by foot bridge. We wandered around and tinkered about the local shops. We hung out at the Raakani. We read. We relaxed. We just enjoyed ourselves with no pressure to do anything other than just…chill. Notice a common theme here?

One of the things that I spent time researching prior to our trip was the availability and niceness of the tourist bikini beaches that each island had to offer. I was all about doing a budget trip but not at the expense of seeing gorgeous white sand beaches and getting that paradise vibe. Guraidhoo does not have one of those gorgeous bikini beaches like the other islands, but paradise it still manages to be. The view from the Raakani hotel is breathtaking as you look out onto the sea from the top floor balcony, and the sun shines gloriously into the windows of the door throughout the day.

When we went exploring on our kayak, we went all around the island, goofing around, playing in the mini-waves, and paddling around to the Holiday Inn which is very close (pretty much on Guraidhoo itself). Then in a moment of pure wonder we stumbled upon…A BEACH!! A white side, little stretch of sand, but a beach all the same! Because we arrived late in the day, when we originally explored the tide was low and the ‘beach’ area looked absolutely gross. All the water had receded, and all was left was muddy, rocky, pools of grimy looking water. So we never came back, not realizing the transformation that the area would take if we came just a little bit earlier, and went a little bit farther. I didn’t take many photos, and even this one doesn’t do it justice but you get the idea. A real, sandy white beach right on that tiny little unsuspecting island of Guraidhoo. So they officially have everything it takes to be a true ‘beach vacation’ destination.

I’m not gonna lie, Gulhi, Fulidhoo and even Maafushi all had nicer beaches than Guraidhoo. But… if you have enough time to go exploring and you happen to be within easy reach of Guraidhoo, then I recommend it. No, you probably won’t spend a 2-week holiday here, but it’s worth a pit spot for sure. If only to stay at the Raakani hotel, and enjoy their view, their ridiculously kind and generous staff, and their gorgeously designed rooms. We felt refreshed and invigorated when we hopped on our familiar tiny boat on our way to Rihiveli, and that is exactly what makes for a perfect vacation destination.

As for lodging, I can say without a doubt that Raakani has the best location on the island (though there are some nice stretches of sand on the opposite side, they aren’t maintained yet and when the water recedes it looks pretty ugly). I’m all about reserving hotels on booking.com, both for ease and assurance that I will probably not get scammed if I carefully read reviews. We booked directly with the Raakani hotel however and we got a much better rate, and I felt better giving all our cash to the hotel instead of giving a cut to booking.

This unexpected destination on our itinerary was such a lucky outcome, that we definitely did not regret. If you’re like us and want to break up the monotony of your eat-beach-sleep routine with a bit more adventure, then Guraidhoo is for you.

Part 1: The Basics

Part 2: Maafushi

Part 3: Gulhi

Part 4: Fulidhoo

Part 5: Guraidhoo

Part 6: Rihiveli Resort

Or view everything on one page: Maldives on a budget – full series

January 27, 2017