MALDIVES RESORT ISLANDS...YES, this is almost Heaven!
There are 89 island resorts in Maldives. The prices range from US$100 a night to US$1500 a night and to even a couple of thousands . As a resident of Maldives, I enjoyed the local and yes VERY affordable rates on the 6 island resorts I visited. Here is my review of each.
Paradise Island Resort: It belongs to to the Villa group along with Sun Island, Royal Island and another resort I visited, Holiday Island. Paradise is close to Male'. About 15-20 minutes by speedboat. The beach is flooded with corals and hermit crabs and the waters are full of baby sharks. The hotel staff promised me that Maldivian sharks are vegetarian!!!!Well, if you say so Mr. World-Record-for-Diving Breaker, who am I to contest. From desert dunes to diving with sharks, cool right!!So after a long week of hard grueling work and dolphin watching, Paradise is a welcome oasis.
Holiday Island is a distance from Male', about an hour by speedboat. There is a stop in Sun Island, for about 10 minutes then a short dhoni ride, another ten minutes, before reaching Holiday. The stop over at Sun Island is nice. Sun Island is huge from what I saw, it´s actually two islands that make up the resort, just like the Hilton. Holiday is very similar to Paradise, very nice, but a little far.
Bandos is another island resort close to Male. Also a 15-20 minute boat ride from Male. The pool is amazing!
Lohifushi: Ok, Lohi and I didn't hit it off because it took us an hour and a half to get there. We took a dhoni, the traditional boat and I got seasick. Objectively, it would seem cool to sway to the movements of the Big Blue but the whole sea rocking didn't sit well with stomach. From then on, it was hard to enjoy the cool things the resort had to offer like the great bungalows!
Kurumba, which I later found out is fresh coconut with the top taken off so you can drink the delicious juice, is THE closest resort to Male according to people in Male'. The speedboat was VERY nice. The resort itself is really really gorgeous. If you like fresh cut flowers, freshly mowed lawns and want someone to take care of your little ones, Kurumba is the place to go. However, it is pricier than the aforementioned resorts.
Last but not least is Meerufenfushi, commonly called just Meeru. Meeru is my absolute favorite resort. I thought the sea couldn't be more beautiful than on the other islands. Upon beholding Meeru, I stood corrected. Meeru's waters are- well-you just need to go and see it. In this case indeed, ONLY seeing is believing. Meeru is a a 45 minute speed boat ride from the airport. It's further than the other islands I visited (except Holiday) but I guarantee, it is worth it. Getting into the Meeru pier is where it all begins. Just shades upon shades upon shades of nature's big blue marvel. The water bungalows are in a class by themselves. It is kind of nice to be in the middle of the Indian Ocean surrounded by crystal blue waters and having to take a boat to go to lunch, don't you think? Speaking of lunch and even breakfast and dinner. I enjoy good cuisine and trust me, Meeru's chefs are VERY talented... Then comes the swimming with fish endeavor... As I was swimming, and thanking God for the privilege of being able to enjoy His wondrous creation, a huge manta ray sped right beside me. It was huge and quite impressive. Swimming with vegetarian baby sharks and now mingling with mantas... Indeed, this IS the life! Meeru is definitely where it's at: sea-wise, beach-wise, price-wise and food-wise.
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