Royal Island Resort & Spa Baa Atoll

Paradise on Earth says it all. From the moment we arrived on the airport of Male and hotel took us in an AC relaxing lounge to wait for the seaplane..the pampering experience begun. You feel exclusive from the moment you declare that you are heading to Royal Island. It is probably one of the best resorts in Maldives. Service level impecable. We arrived on the 24/10 and stayed 6 nights. Make sure you stay more than a week. We chose half board which proved more than adequate, although we spent 250dollars on wine but we enjoyed it. Try the a la cart resaurant is excellent service and food. The bungalow was on the South side, next to the diving center (certainly the best side of the island) and it was perfect!. Dark wood and marble, but elegantly blended make the bungalow probably the best in Maldives.

I did not mention the incredible spa center in the middle of the island. You think you are in paradise while being treated by experienced and polite staff. My wife tried 8 sessions in 6 days, even massage on the beach in front of our bungalow.

Our honeymoon turned out to be the best trip so far. Try it!

My wife and I went to the Royal Island resort for our honeymoon from October 24 - November 1. The suggestion to get the rooms on the side where the Dive Center was. The rooms were incredibly clean and spacious. There are bugs, but what do you expect from a tropical island? The bathrooms are huge and partly outdoors. The weather was great, sometimes a little windy, but always warm.

The food is just OK, but the service was incredible and they staff very friendly. We did not go all inclusive, because we are not big drinkers, but be aware that all drinks are very expensive. You do get 1 big bottle of water every day though in yoru room. Water is 4$ for big bottle (USD) and 6$ for a bottle or Pierre and Cokes are $4. Just so you have an idea.

Lots of fish and turtles and goood snorkeling around the reefs that surrond the island. The snorkeling excursions was very nice and only $18, but you can pretty much see the same things near the reefs for free.

I would highly recommend that you bring some surf shoes because the island has lots of coral on the beach and if yoiu stand in the water there is also a lot of loose coral. And if you want to do windsurfing then you should have some water shoes as well.

We couldn't ask for anything more! It was very relaxing.

I would only say if you are looking to do alot of exiciting and adventerous things then maybe this isn't the place for you.

Oh, make sure you take the sea plan and not the boat to the island. It's about a 30 min plane ride vs 2-3 hour boat ride, in what can be choppy waters. Also the view from the plane is fantastic.

If you end up needing to spend a few hours on Male before you fly out, Royal Island's will set up a Male tour for you for free. You only need to tip the tour guide. It's better than sitting at the airport.

Oh yeah, if it's your honeymoon let them know, cuz you'll get some nice surprises.

Hope this helps.

If you have any questions you can e-mail xtreme7@yahoo.com.

After a long flight from Gatwick, Via Manchester we arrived in Male, after collecting our luggage we were taken to a private lounge whilst waiting for our seaplane transfer to the hotel. This was a really nice touch and our first experience of the great Maldivian people and the fabulous Royal Island. Unfortunately we had rather freaky weather as it rained for 11 of our 14 day stay. Back to the hotel, great rooms, very spacious and well kept, again would recommend rooms on the south side, near the dive centre, much nicer beach. The staff could not be faulted through out, polite, well mannered and good fun. We went on all inclusive and would thoroughly recommend it. The food was also excellent, curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you wish! There was lots of variety and the fish was excellent and really fresh.

The spa on site offers a huge variety of treatments and I though was reasonably good value for money.

We will certainly go back and hopefully will see the sun this time.

Arriving at Gatwick we were informed that the flight was going to Male via Manchester. Monarch were particularlarly unhelpful and it was very much a case of we can do what we like so tough. On arrival at Male airport we were taken to our own waiting area and given a cool drink before getting on the sea plane, a very nice touch after such an extended flight.

The island was simply magnificant. The service was outstanding. The room were very spacious and cleaned to a high standard twice a day. You could not say a bad word about it.

The food really was 5* infact it was amazing. The choice was great and there was something for everybody. After two week we still could not get enough of the food and were never bored of what was on offer. For a change we ate in the a la carte restaurant which was fine, but not a patch on the buffet.

The only advice I could offer is to request to stay on the dive school side of the island. The beach was a bit bigger and much more pretty.

Fab holiday all in all. Again a really poor Monarch flight home.

This island is perfect for honeymooners. We stayed there in August 2005 for 9 nights on our honeymoon. The island is about 800m by 400m wide. It has 384 staff and accomodation for 300 guests. Whilst we were there, there were only 82 guests on the island. Mainly Brits, Italians and Russians and Japan, China. Lovely accomodation, the bungalows are beautiful. No signs of any mosquitos as the island is sprayed regularly. The odd lizard and Crab you will see and the Fruit bats which come out at dusk. The beach is very pleasant, with a lagoon and reef where you can see plenty of fish and the occasional small shark (up to 3-4 feet). The diving school is very well run and friendly. The food at the main restaurant id buffet style, and extremely good variety (not a chip or burger in sight). The Al La Carte restaurant is expensive but again, excellent food. We stayed AI, but the HB option is probably more sensible if you are not big drinkers. Drinks are expensive (about USD 8 per beer, and USD 8 for milkshake). YOu can quite easily gorge yourself at breakfast and not need lunch.

Staff are very friendly, mainly local maldivians who all have a good grasp of English. The whole experience is perfect for the getaway holiday. There is no entertainment in the evenings except for Sport TV in the bar and 3 pool tables. I wouldn't recommend this for a young family holiday, however teenagers would find the watersports and tennis, badminton, gym etc keep them active during the day.

We will definitely return to the Maldives, but as we have children will probably look for an island with more Child friendly activities.

That said, I take nothing away from this island for couples. Highly recommended.

We went there for our honeymoon in March05 and we can not fault anything. I took the advise from a review earlier and asked for a villa on the South side near the dive centre and it's definitely the best part of the Island. We went IA but found that only about 20% of other guests were also IA. If you do not plan to drink alot then I think it's better not to go IA but going IA allows you to try all the expensive drinks !!. If you are flying with Emirates, it's a good idea to register with ---- and then ring emirates and reserve all your seats in advance !!.

Paradise. Just a beautiful place, perfect beach, wonderful accommodation! Highly recommended! The worst part was the long trip but the view that greets you on your arrival makes up for it big time! Staff were very pleasant, food was very good. Seemed like lots of options to have, we went for half board, which was equally as good value for money as the people we came across who were on all inclusive. Go for longer than a week if you can!

An absolute paradise on earth. A tasteful and luxurious resort without losing the 'maldivian experience'. The beach bungalows were 1st class with high quality furnishings throughout. My only small complaint would be that they were a little close together but you do have a verandah blind for privacy.

I would strongly suggest that you specify when booking that you do not want to be situated on the northern side. It loses the sun in the late afternoon. I recommend that you stay as near to the dive centre as possible. -best part of the beach!

We went for our honeymoon as it had been a long term dream to visit the maldives.

We were not disappointed, it was truly paradise. The staff were superb, and surprisingly for 'buffet' food, the food was superb.

Would fully recommend going all inclusive as drinks are pricey.

Diving was good here too.

Only minor complaint was not being allowed to take drinks to the room, meant we had to leave the apartment rather than laze (or pay the mini-bar prices)

An absolute treat from start to finish. Wonderful surrondings, excellent accommodation with all amenities one can possibly think of.

I loved the fresh coconut brought in by our own "coconut man" every afternoon with coffee.

Can't stop thinking about it.

If you get the chance, just GO.