Vilamendhoo South Ari Atoll

Its now February and this is the first chance i've had to write the review - I've been meaning but i honestly couldn't think of a word to sum up my holiday!!

I went with my friend - Mike and my 7 year old Charlotte and all I can say is that I haven't nor will I ever get over what a wonderful place this is and the people - oh my god I actually miss them!!

We arrived on 27 December after a stressful Christmas - arrived at the airport to find friendly reps there to commence your holiday with a smile!!

Arrived at the seaplane airport and i just couldn't believe how blue the sea was - but just 25 minutes away lay paradise!!

We arrived and the boat came to take us the island - there we were greeted by a lovely man with fresh face towels and a lovely drink of fresh orange juice - then within minutes we were introduce to our Room Boy - his name was Alididi - he proved to be the nicest man you could ever wish to meet.

We went to our room and our luggage followed and there we found a lovely room - dark but spacious and the cleanest room i've ever seen in my life!!

During our stay the whole of the staff could not do enough for you - i felt like we were famous or something.

We arrived for dinner to find out waiter - Najeeb - every morning without having to ask, a tall glass of apple juice was waiting on our table ready for my little girl (she only like apple juice)and the service was second to none!

New year was amazin and I will never be able to forget this holiday EVER!!

I wanna go back now!!!!! (Im saving up)The fish - oh my god the fish were amazin (take a camera and ya have to go snorkling!!)

I will be going again even if just to see the people we met - Thank you Vilamendhoo!!!!!

Deniece

We have just returned from our second visit to the Maldives, and the first to Vilamendhoo. We had a wonderful two weeks on this friendly, quiet and relaxed island, which is unspoilt and is truly a beautiful place. The entire staff are very friendly and keen to please, and nothing is too much trouble. Nimbe, is one of the customer relations staff, always available to rectify any problems and is an excellent ambassador for the island. All the staff speak English, however there were guests from Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Hungary during our stay, who all co-existed effortlessly.

We stayed in a deluxe room, which was comfortable, reminiscent of faded colonial gentility, but perfectly adequate with aircon, hairdryer, large internal bathroom with bath and shower, a sitting area and minibar. The outside tiled verandahs are very popular to sit out as the evening sun fades, and guests read or play cards or board games,. Very civilised and totally stress free. That is one thing that Vilamendhoo does brilliantly, washes away the stresses and strains of the hubbub of British working life, and takes you back to a time when your next thought is only, whether to pop out for another snorkel to cool down from the searing sun, or to pop to the sunset bar for a snifter. Life was hard!

The house reef was beyond words. A few paces from your door you were in a tropical aquarium teeming with fish of every size and hue, which amazed and impressed us in equal measure every day. Simply marvellous.

The island was 98% full whilst we were there, but you would never know it. There are sunbeds with sunbed mattresses allocated to every room, so you dont have to participate in the Mediteranean sport of getting up at 4 in the morning to stake you claim in the beachtowel handicap!

All in all, a wonderfully relaxing time which we hope to repeat in the future. We flew with Emirates, which was an absolute delight. On our first visit, we had appalling service and experienced the rigours of an eleven hour flight with Monarch. We threw in an overnight stop (24 hrs) in Dubai, which was an experience to savour the magnificent building work that is going into making Dubai the Orlando of the Middle East. It will be a fantastic place in a few years time, but at the moment is the largest building site in the world.

What would we do differently? Perhaps have a two or three night stay in Dubai, and take less clothes.

Would we return to Vilamendhoo? Yes, in a heartbeat..

Feel free to contact us for more details if you want to know more via the forum.

Myself and my wife visited Vilamendhoo between 12th-19th Dec 2005. Booked with Thomas Cook, we flew in to Male with Britannia airways (a little cramped, but ok). It was raining at Male when we arrived which dampened our spirits slightly and we had 2-3 rainy days out of 7. The sunny days were very hot, however and it is all to easy to get burnt so we would advise putting on plenty of sunblock (especially when snorkelling).

The seaplane transfer was fun although the departure area is undergoing some improvements so was a little untidy but this should be better in 2006. If there are no clouds the views from the seaplane give a taste of what to expect from the Maldives.

We had booked a 'standard' room in the centre of the island - we would recommend that you avoid these as they are very standard. We upgraded for the rest of the stay to a 'superior' room next to the sea which was vastly better. The outside bathroom is a nice touch but still very private.

Vilamendhoo is only about 900m x 200m wide and has lush vegetation all over. Although most rooms were full it was still very quiet and there was always some free beach. Sand is white and clean with a beautifully clear turquoise sea. The food is buffet-style, excellent quality and very healthy. The waiters are very attentive. We spent most evenings at the sunset bar which serves good cocktails.

Facilities are good and we both did the 'resort' dive - this is for non-divers and down to only 12m. The dive instructor was very reassuring and the fish are fantastic. We managed to see octopus and a sea turtle as well as large parrot fish. The tennis court is also good fun but avoid the early evening outside as they spray anti-mosquito stuff around the island (we did get bitten many times).

We would recommend the night fishing - they will cook what you catch, but don't bother with the trip to Dhangethe/ Lily Beach as both are disappointing.

We stayed All-Inclusive - a definite advantage especially as beer/ spirits etc are included.

Overall an excellent island with friendly staff. A great place to relax and to do as much or as little as you wish.

Upon first sight, the island looks ... well rather natural, unspoilt. That is what makes this place so attractive after a while. The rooms are completely OK, although you do want a "superior" room around the exterior of the island rather than a standard room in the middle.

Bars - 2, one near reception and the restaurant, one at Sunset bar

Restaurants - 1 + 1 at sunset - food is excellent.

Shops - everything that you have forgotten or need more of is vailable at the gift shop.

Diving - EXCELLENT dive centre, kit for hire, 6 dhoni's on the go all the time for diving / snorkelling / hotel trips.

Food - EXCELLENT selection, very good, no complaints at all.

Weather - well, we went on 6/11/05 had a good first week and a not - so good second week, but then we were told that the rains did not normally go on so long. Quite windy but when it rains and it is still 28 degrees... you don't mind so much :-)

errr, bad points...... erm. Nope. Mozzies are present, so take repellant and use it. Wear reef shoes in the sea (stonefish, sharp coral can be nasty) and apart from that, relax...

In my opinion the nicest place I have ever been to on holiday.

Completely un - stuffy. Very relaxed (shorts are OK everywhere) - only house rule concerning dress is no swimming gear at meal times and a t shirt must be worn in the restaurant. If you want to walk around in swim gear for the rest of the time, you can.

Great place, will be going back for sure.

I stayed on Vilamendhoo for a quick 4-day stopover on my round-the-world tour and I have the warmest memories of this friendly little island. The service was excellent, the room (deluxe) was kept spotless and always decorated with beautiful fresh flowers by the room-boy and the food was very tasty. The best thing about this island is its serenity and silence - if you are after nightlife or parties, this won't be for you. But if you want to get away from mobile phones, televisions and crowds, you will find that Vilamendhoo is just the right therapy for you. The Male airport is a little disorganised and especially the wait at the fuel smelling, noisy seaplane terminal can get a bit frustrating, but once you land at the Vilamendhoo jetty it'll all have been worth it. Choose the all-inclusive option, seaplane transfer and bring a great book or two, and lots of sunscreen! PS. If you are woman travelling on your own, don't forget to put on a wedding ring - that way you will be safe from any harassment.

My wife and I first went to Vilamendhoo for my 50th Birthday as a 'once in a lifetime' trip. We go back this Xmas for our 4th visit to this Island! I cannot afford it, specially this year, but that never stops us! We love the place - maybe not one of the most 'exclusive' Islands but certainly very competitively priced and it suits us totally. Absolute chill-out and although at first my wife thought I would be bored, I have never known two weeks go so fast. I snorkel - haven't got into the diving as it would keep me out the bar too long - and my wife reads a book. Granted it is one of the 'larger' Islands with over 100 rooms, but it never seems crowded, in fact quite the opposite. The bar in the evening is always fairly busy and you soon make no end of new friends, so the social life we find excellent also. The staff deserve all the praise you can give them and will do anything to oblige. Beautiful unspoilt Island - I understand on some of the Islands they have cut down the vegetation and laid concrete paths etc. None of that here. There is no swimming pool on Vilamendhoo but that has never bothered us - the Indian Ocean is warmer than any pool I've ever been in. Cannot recommend this Island highly enough - the house reef is one of the best in the Maldives I understand and I can believe it.

My daughter and I have just got back from 5 days on Vilamendhoo. We went to chill out before she does her A2 Exams, and chill we did! It is a beautiful island - lushly vegetated and full of wildlife - we saw nesting herons, several types of Lizard, fruitbats, some rather interesting insects and crabs galore. However this was all eclipsed by the underwater life on the edge of the reef, just fantastic - each snorkel brought more wonders - huge fish patrolling offshore, tuna, jacks and trevally, schools of multicoloured parrot fish munching their way across the coral, moray eels, small whitetip reef sharks, octopus and turtles, - just fantastic. The rooms are large and airy with an outside bathroom - nothing too fancy - but absolutely fine. The food in the restaurant was very good - lots of variety- and the staff there really attentive. The same can be said of everyone we met, our houseboy Arif, the reception and bar staff all looked after us really well. The Wernerlau Dive School is exceptional - patient and informative instructors enabled me to have a try at diving and supported my daughter on 3 dives. (Unfortunately there was not enough time to do more but we are planning to return next year) All in all a beautiful island with a superb house reef, good accommodation, great food and superb staff! We can't wait to go back!

We stayed one week on this lovely island and had excellent weather. The food is very good (buffet style) with the same waiter who decorates the table on your last night! the island is very clean as are the rooms. The island basic and the builings look aged but very clean and has agood dive school. The best thing about Vilamendhoo is the house reef which is at some points 5m from the shore, there are exits over the corel on to the reef and the fish are in abundance including turtles rays octopus squid morreys and lion fish, we saw a turtle 4 days in a row! The only down side to vilamendhoo is the beach, which is only outside maybe 25% of the rooms at the west end, the island is very thick in vegitation so the rest of the rooms are set in the palms shading any beach which most dispears at high tide, but i would still recomend this island to anybody who loves snorkling or diving!

We visited Vilamendhoo last Feb and it was superb. If you can find something to complain about then you probably went looking for it !!!

The whole island is immaculate and the staff couldnt be more attentive ( not oppressive ).

Take up the all inclusive option.

Make sure you pack your snorkel cos the sealife is breath taking. The dive school is first class.

Cant wait to go back

This Island truly is paradise. The resort itself may come across as basic at face value compared to other resorts, but it is far from it!

When we arrived at Male airport we were driven to the seaplane port. We waited for no longer than 30 minutes and then had a further 30 minutes journey on the seaplane to our island. The ride was bumpy but the views were breathtaking!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a member of staff who gave us a refreshing fruit cocktail and then we were shown our rooms. The rooms were basic but very clean and we were given a thorough tour.

There are 3 bars on the island, one called the Sunset bar where you can sit outside and sip your cocktails while watching the sun go down. The restaurant was clean and the service was excellent! You have the same waiter for your entire stay and they are very hospitable and friendly. The food is delicious and in abundance! There is a wide variety of food each morning, lunch and dinner and I nothing to complain about. The cocktails were also delicious. We even had the same table for our entire stay and the last night we were there, it was decorated for us with pink flowers! They also decorated our bed with pink flowers and arranged the sheeting in patterns!

There were activities to do from table tennis to kayaking to diving. The beach was clean and just amazing! The water was crystal clear and everyday we saw fish from baby sharks to eels swimming around. We were even lucky to see some dolphins on our second night there!

The resort itself is quiet and relaxing and not the sort of holiday for people who are looking for nightlife. I would highly recommend it as it is the best holiday I have been on!