The Maldives isn't just for lovebirds - I arrived heartbroken and left healed

Sitting at the edge of the pool with our legs dangling in the cool blue water, we sip on rum cocktails as the sun slips closer to the Maldivian horizon. Then, the laughter starts again ... there have been a lot of laughs on this all-girls' trip.

Just past the infinity edge of the pool, Greg the heron - with his long, slender yellow legs - has been delicately pacing the shallows looking for any fish that dare to swim too close. It is almost dinner time, after all.

This dainty water bird that frequents the shoreline at NH Collection Maldives Reethi Resort got his name from a previous Australian visitor who was determined to leave his mark on this tiny patch of paradise more than 9000 kilometres from home. Just past Greg, the sun is setting over the water in glorious hues of pink, orange and yellow, and for us six women who've been lounging by the pool, it's time for us to have dinner.

I'm fresh out of a divorce. It's so recent in fact that all of the anger, hurt and emotions are very much still bubbling just below the surface - so how did I end up in arguably the world's most romantic destination? While joining a kickboxing gym or yelling into the wide blue yonder have sounded very appealing lately, when someone suggested the Maldives I thought, "What have I got to lose?"

Reethi is located on the private island of Fonimagoodhoo within the Baa Atoll which is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. It opened in January 2026 following an extensive renovation after Minor Hotels purchased the property.

From the Maldivian capital of Malé, the resort is a 35-minute seaplane flight followed by a 10-minute speedboat trip. As we arrive at a wharf surrounded by impossibly turquoise ocean, there is a collective "ohh" and "ahh" from our group.

As I reach the powder-soft white sand, suddenly the sneakers on my feet feel far too much. I slip them off and wiggle my toes in the sand as I'm led to my villa.

My beachfront villa is spacious, with a view across the sand and the ocean. If I could package up the shower and bathroom in my room and take it home I would - it is spacious with a rain shower that beckons you to look up through the open roof to the swaying palm trees.

With the sound of gentle waves lapping just a few metres away, it would be easy to stay put in this plush villa but I'm keen to explore. I place my shoes near my front door - where they remain for my entire stay - and head off barefoot because this feels like a no-shoes kind of place.

Reethi, which means beautiful in Maldivian language, is an eco-friendly sanctuary and every element is carefully considered, from sustainable construction materials to minimising waste and a newly planted garden that supplies the kitchen. The island has a relaxed vibe with buildings nestled into the dense tropical vegetation. It's on a natural island, unlike some of the manufactured ones nearby that have sparse vegetation and don't quite feel real. This island feels pristine and unspoilt.

Tiny lizards and hermit crabs dart across sandy walking paths, birds are singing and the reef - which is about 10 metres offshore - is full of turtles, colourful fish and coral. This may well be a place David Attenborough would feel at home.

Keen to jump into that turquoise water, we book a turtle-snorkelling experience and, after a 15-minute boat ride to a nearby reef, slip into the ocean. It is hard to know which way to look - fish of all colours and sizes swim around our group and we quickly spot turtles, too, 19 of them all up.

From May to November each year, tourists flock to the Maldives for manta ray season, with Hanifaru Bay in the Baa Atoll - just 15 minutes by boat from Reethi - one of the most famous places to see the rays. Mantas are the world's largest fish and an adult can weigh up to two tonnes and have a wingspan of up to seven metres.

Maldives might be marketed as a couple's destination but don't let that fool you, it is also the perfect place for a girls' trip with lazy swims, snorkelling, spa treatments, cocktails, long lunches and dinners filling our days.

A cocktail favourite among resort guests uses dark rum produced right here - Reethi was the world's first resort to produce a certified underwater aged rum. With the help of premium brand, Planteray, glass bottles of rum are placed in metal cages and lowered 10 metres beneath the ocean's surface, not far from the resort's overwater villas where they'll stay for the next 12 months. As the rum ages, it is gently rocked back and forth by the ocean's slow currents and constant temperature. The result is smooth and complex and perfect over ice or whipped into a cocktail at the resort's rum bar, Handhuvaru.

At Caravela, the resort's exclusive fine-dining restaurant, a carefully curated culinary journey across the oceans awaits. As we eat, we're told about great explorers who, in 1487, travelled from the Mediterranean to Latin America, and that each dish during the six-course degustation menu honours one the destinations they visited. The journey begins with king crab with coconut, salmon roe, and a lime and yuzu dressing, and ends with petit fours, including caramelised torrija, coffee chocolate bonbon and a South African milk tart. My highlight was local Maldivian tuna escabeche with yellow beetroot and citrus.

On my last day as I eat breakfast of fruits, baked treats and coffee at Jumla, the resort's all-day restaurant that has live cooking stations and a globally inspired menu, I look down at my shoes sitting beside my feet in the sand. After four days of being barefoot while laughing with friends over long lunches as we clinked cocktails to wide blue vistas, the Maldives may just have been the cure to my divorce. Long live girls' trips.

The writer was a guest of NH Collection Maldives Reethi Resort