Latest Reviews for Ari Atoll

The best place in the world

The best holiday of a lifetime we could only have dreamt of. The hotel is set out almost like a large lounge with different rooms off - these being small simple shops. The island is described as one of the liveliest in the Maldives - do not let that put you off. You could spend a whole two weeks simply relaxing, eating and drinking all at your own pace. You dont need to carry any money since you just put nay extra spends on your room number. This can be checked daily (and is updated as soon as you spend anywhere)we paided a bill at the end of the first week and the remainder the night before we left. We had a fantastic meal in the Tai restaurant for Ian's 40th birthday and they had the entire place singing Happy Birthday and gave us a bottle of wine and a cake with his name on it! We paid around �£150 for the meal but don't be shocked that had TWO bottles of decent champagne in it! The beach rooms are quite basic and don't be fooled that are in a row of about four, the neighbours door banging constantly did get on my nerves a bit.They have amazing air conditioning and a fan if you're still too hot. The temperature is great if you like the heat, even at night the temperature is around 70 degrees. There are mozzies I'm afraid but the repellant does work on them so take a good one. We went to see the Dolphins on the sunrise cruise and this is a must to see an early monrning sunrise - fantastic! It gets light around 4am, sun up about 6am and dark by 6.45pm, but you can actually sun bathe by 7am! We hired bikes and to be honest they are ace, they are old but it's so much fun coming home after a few jars in the dark on you bike! Also, a good way to cool off when you sat in the heat for a while. Make sure you use the lock though because some of the staff do move them and keep your key on you because this is the proof that you had it to begin with. They have a big screen in a corner within the main bar area and they do show any football matches of any consequence, there is a difference in time of around 4 hrs so beware that a midweek match here will be a kick off time there of 11.45pm. The bar doesn't close until the last person has left! The broucher does say one bottled water per day - they do leave 2 bottles that are 1.5 ltrs each and we did not struggle for water at all. Our waiter in the main bar was Boolaag who couldn't do enough for us it's almost as if it's their culutre and they never seem to expect a tip at all I want to go back NOW!

Some stuff which we think you might wnat to know having just returned from this resort:

Flights: Went with Monarch which overall wasn't too bad but, beware them changing the flight times and routes as they do this with little notice and leave you without any way of compensation and try to book the extra leg room seats (£60 each). The full upgrade overall isn't worth the money. (*don't worry if you don't do it in advance as they were selling these seats at LGW when we checked in!)Keep an eye on the weight limits also, they were charging for even 1 kg over the limit as we left.

Accomodation: Definitely wait till you get to the resort as they sell upgrades to Water Villas for $130 per night at reception. It's first come first served but with the dollar rate as it is and the cost comparison to doing it in advance through TC its really good value.

The Water Villas are great but the other accomodation, although nice inside, isn't great in terms of location, beaches, etc. We walked around a lot and most of them suffer from either only a small area of beach or none at all in front of them.

Beaches: Really disappointing. There is only one large beach in front of the main complex and the other ones were littered with rubbish which the locals seemed to ignore. The house reef is a long way from the shore on this island so to see the best marine life you had to book a trip.

Food: Overall very good as we ate in the restaurant for the WV's and found something to eat every night. It's apparently a bit of scrum in the other restaurants and the service can be slow but if you upgrade -no problem.

Board: We went AI but as usual this was heavily restricted to certain times/places on the island. As ever AI doesn't really mean AI. Well worth a meal at the local Thai restaurant as this was good value and great food but is of course, extra. (we paid $70 for two people)

Mini Bar: Don't touch!!! and check what they put in at the start of each week. The local trick is to bill you for things you haven't had and if you don't know what was there before you end up paying. Most people found a surprise on their final bill and the staff aren't helpful in resolving this. (*you can monitor your bill on the TV system daily which I strongly suggest you do).

Service: Overall reasonably good and we didn't find them to be "tip happy" but it certainly helps if you give them a $1 bill every time you order a round. I would say that they are sort of attentive to the guests but you do get the impression that the dollar is the most important thing rather than living their service values.

Reception & Ammenties: Quite a lot to do at this resort compared to other places in the Maldives as it's bigger. You can hire bikes to get around but in truth you don't need them. The staff are mostly helpful but not when it comes to money. Definitely feed the stingrays at 9.00pm each night(they feed the sharks to at 10.00pm by the Thai restaurant) and you will find some stuff around for kids etc. which was useful but just beware the final bills and check everything carefully. We didn't meet anyone who hadn't had a problem.

Overall: This was our 2nd trip to the Maldives - my advice would be go somewhere else as their are better islands up north. This lot are a bit too interested in the $$$'s

We arrived here on the 7th January after a week spent on the Atoll Explorer. We were greeted with the usual coconut drink (YUK) and were quickly taken to our bungalow. Had Deluxe Bungalow but think you would be just as well of in superior. Only a bit larger with closed bathroom and a hairdryer (Take your own. Island kept clean and tidy as was your accomodation. Food plentiful and varied every day and hot! Salad bar, grills. curries, fish, veggie stuff in fact everything you would possibly want. I am a very fussy eater and had no problem eating 3 meals a day. No stomach probs everything clean and the chefs spotless. Couple of bars and that's it for entertainment. Weather was a bit hit and miss but still very very hot and the rain was a bit of respite after the very hot sun - still went home with a very nice tan!! Sea Plane a great experience. Would I go back - probably but so many other islands to choose from why bother. Go and enjoy !!

pure paradise The resort is excellent we can't really write how it was as you need to go too appreciate it. Staff were extremely friendly, especially Hussain the pool boy and Naseem the bar tender. Saving up too go ASAP!!!!

Having just returned from Thudufushi for the first time we are already in the process of planning for next year! There are so many plus points to this resort so I'll go through them very quickly:

1. My only word of warning has nothing to do with the resort but the Monarch Flight! Try to avoid if possible as it was the only blot of the holiday. I've flown scheduled with Monarch before with no problems, however when they operate charter flights the professionalism of the cabin crew seems to be non existent. Combine this with an 11 hour flight and sub standard in-flight entertainment altogether really isn't good enough. (We will be flying scheduled next year!)

2. The Air Taxi from Male to Thudufushi was very quick and a great way to see the islands from above.

3. The rooms were just right for the resort and the open air bathroom was excellent!

4. Although the resort was mostly Italian orientated there was never any compromise in the service received by the staff or Animation Team.

5. The island itself was just like paradise. It took no longer than 10 minutes to walk around the beach, but with only 48 bungalows it is never going to be too busy.

All in all Thudufushi does not disappoint!

We have been back from Sun Island for two weeks and we really miss it.

We went in June/July 2007.

What can I say this was the most beautiful place we have ever been, we imagined it before we left home but it was a million times nicer than we imagined. Firstly I would like to thank all the people who put their reviews on about Sun Island as we were a bit dubious about it all at first never having done this sort of holiday before, so by the time we got there we felt like we knew everything about it.

As with many other people we flew with Monarch (through no choice of our own), we paid the extra for the extra leg room which was very good but both of us are not twiggy and we were squashed into to tiny seats, not very comfartable fora ten and a half hour journey, they were the same as when we flew with them to Rhodes. Still everything else was ok once we finally took off (one and a half hours delay but you dont mind as this part of modern day holidays). The staff were helpful, meals fine and the films were ok and passed the time. Must admit it didn't seem too long, must be coz we knew it would be worth it when we got there.

Because we were delayed we had to wait an extra hour for our Sea Plane, which we could have done without. But it was worth it what a view you get of the atolls, I would recomend any one to go by the Sea Plane just for the views alone. We were left on a wooden pontoon for 15 minutes as our boat wasn't there to greet us. A bit dawnting but we all laughed about it.

When you get close to Sun Island what can you say Wow wow wow. The walk along the jetty seemed to take forever probably because we were exhausted. We were greeted with a cold drink of coconut milk (yeuch).
Once your were checked in you and your luggage were taken to your room. We were in room 505 a beach bungalow which at first we thought was so far away from everything but once we saw the beach outside our room on Sunset beach, that didn't matter. The room was really nice, air conditioned all the time even though we had been told it was worked with your key but we weren't complaining.

We hired bikes for the two weeks which I have to admit was great fun so they aren't the best in the world but they did their jobs, and we made ourselves use them for Breakfast and lunch and then we walked to dinner every night, we did more evercise than we do at home, and had a few good laughs while we did it, shame they didn't have lights but hey ho.

We went all inclusive which suited us fine although I don't drink and Steve doesn't drink much, but even soft drinks were very expensive, so be prepared for a bill at the end of your holiday. Being able to check your bill at any time is very helpful. Don't touch the mini bar as it is disgustingly expensive. Even ice creams cost us ten dollars for two, but you don't mind the odd one or two. All inclusive could be a bit fairer for the drinks as cocktails are 12 dollars, and it wasn't even very nice. I'm not complaining just making people aware.

We ate in the main restaurant, and the food was amazing there was so much choice and it was always so fresh. Afeef was our waiter and he was so nice and helpful even to the extent of telling us what to use for mozzie bites (of which we had plenty) and Steve got really bad sun burn on his legs and he advised us what to use. Nothing was too much trouble and he even had our drinks ready for us when we got to the table are w predictable or what.

We didn't eat at the other restaurants as I don't really like spicey food and there was os much choice we didn't need to. We did have a pizza delivered to our room when steve had to keep out of the sun for two days.

We ended up going to the medical centre and the doctor was fantastic, gave him antibiotics and antiinflamitaries and cream and all for only 49 dollars put our doctors to shame.

We went out on the Sunset fishing, which Steve enjoyed he caught three fish and I was very seasick, but it was an experience. We also went on the Hello Neighbours trip which I really enojoed and Holiday Island was very nice but alot smaller than Sun Isalnd. We visited an island where only fifty people live which I found very interesting, one thing I did notice they have no animals strange to us. These trips are worth going on as they cost you nothing. Also gifts in the shop on Holiday Island is alot cheaper.

The gift shop on Sun Island could have been better they didn't have too much to choose from, Holiday Island has so much more.

The entertainment was really good we went to the Main Bar most nights after our evening meal, we especially enjoyed the Maldivian evening. The waiters were very friendly and your glass was hardly ever empty.

We never made it to the pool as we felt we had all we needed outside our room. The colour of the sea is amazing and I was fascinated to see the Indian Ocean in the distance but it never came near us. My daily entertainment was watching crabs on a sort of pier, there were loads of them. The sand was so soft and white, but be careful fo the coral as this can hurt your feet.

We really enjoyed the sting rays although we never fed them but enjoyed watching them all the same it was handy as they were very near our room.

I liked the way they had flower petals in plant pots everywhere they were beautiful and part of my photos of course.

We had two room boys wholooked after us they were brilliant and Mousafa decorated our bed the day before we left, which was gorgeous.

Tipping is down to the individuals, we tipped our restaurant waiter a dollar after every meal and then ten dollars at the end of the holiday and our room boys we gave twenty dollars each. We also tipped the waiters a dollar every time we went to the bar they all seemed to appreciate that.

We met a really nice couple Andy and Beacky who were on therir honeymoon, ggod luck to you both with married life hope you will be very happy.

Well I could go on all day, but don't want to bore people.

Just take our advice and go and book this wonderful holiday and enjoy every minute

We travelled in StarClass Premier seats and booked the Sea plane. Worth every penny. Fantastic service.
Amazing Island! Beaches to WaterBungalows and front of island breath taking!
We were upgraded to Water bungalow as soon as we arrived at a cost of £200.The balcony was private and huge, the linen was changed everyday, room cleaned twice a day, and the room boys are so well mannered. Thank god we did upgrade, we went searching for our orignal room to be nosey and it was awful!!! The beach outside the beach bungalows numbers 500's ask to move before you are placed in your room!!! The beach is terrible,you are greeted with solidified sand bags and deep waters full of stingrays!! A few metres up the beach on a night they are fed by the locals and of course linger!! ha ha!!

The locals/workers cant do enough for you, they are amazing people and so kind natured. The food was top class in the water bunaglows Resturant. The place was spotless even down to the toilets!
The beach bar had entertainment on nearly every night and it was great.

Make sure you take plenty of spends!!!!!!
Things you have to pay for:££££
Drinks after midnight
All water sports/ very expensive.
Snorkerling eq
Meals in Italian and thai resturant
Ice creams
Snacks and coffee not between 4-6.
Cocktails
Imported beverages
Minibar / very expensive
Room service
And many more i lost count!!
This was our first all inclusive holiday and was a real shame when we had to dip in our pockets £500 spends when we had already spent £3000 getting over there.
Everyone we spoke to said exactly the same thing.

Heaven on earth,simply unbeleiveable.
As soon as you arrive in male your breath is taken away at the shear bueaty of this paradise on earth. no picture can prepare you for the colour of the sea it is simply beautiful.

flew with monarch and all i can say is the flight is long 10:50mins from manchester and the flight is no frills like spending 11hrs on an easy jet flight.
the service is rediculas for a long haul flight. for some reason going out we were lucky enough to be upgraded to premium class which apparently costs around 129pound each to book,was'nt complaining as we were lucky enough to have free drinks all the way and personnal dvd players. on the way back we were back in economy and economy it was three drink services in 11 hours no more leg room than a flight to spain and it was hell.

Anyway the flight is worth it as once you arrive you are in another world.
seaplane transfer was excellent and really enjoyable flying over the atolls is breath taking.
once we arrived we were taken to our beach bungalow and straight out the back door onto the beach.
the island is bueatiful and the staff really freindly and could not do enough for you.
after two days upgraded to a water bungalow 67 dollors a night if you were in a delux bungalow and worth every penny shear luxury and well above the beach bungalow standard.
we hired bikes which were really fun and kept them all week i would recommend you hire one as it can be a long walk to the main restaurant if you were at the far end of the island.
did the shark and stinkray feeding every night unbelieveable and something you will never forget.
weather was fantastic apart from one day where it rained all day but it was still hot even in the rain.
eerything has been said on other reviews about this place it is spotlessly clean and the beach at mermaid beach at the top of the islabd is a photographers dream. at times i had to pinch myself and couldnot get over the bueaty of the place.
one downside was that once we upgraded we had to eat in a different restaurant which in my opinion was not as good as the main restaurant as i thought there was more choice and better quality.
apparently if i had kicked up a fuss i could have stayed in the main restaurant but i didn't and eat in the southern star restaurant which serves the water bungalows, don't get me wrong the food was great just not as much choice.
the sea is like getting into a warm bath and you can walk for miles and only be up to your waist in water. i am not a sea lover but i am now fantastin.
the bats are amazing also especially when they are feeding at dusk.
sunsets amazing i could go on and on.
we were AI and thought the prices were expensive and was pleased i wasn't half board as it would have been quite expensive.
anyway enough of the wingeing would i go again ? YOU GIVE ME THE CHANCE AND I WOULD GO BACK TOMORROW EVEN WITH MONARCH.
FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE WHICH I WILL NEVER FORGET.

We booked with Destinology who we would highly recommend. They were very efficient and also competitive with their prices. Many thanks to John for his patience.
We flew in with Qatar Airways which we would recommend. They offer a good value Business class upgrade which really is worthwhile.

Upon arriving at Male Airport we were shown to Mirihi Island's own private lounge which was a nice touch as you get somewhere air conditioned and comfortable to wait for the seaplane.
The seaplane was a good experience as usual and we landed just off Mirihi and took a speed boat to the Island.
We were greeted by the Island Manager Martin which was very nice and welcomed with a drink and a cold towel.
They took all our baggage which left us free to walk to our room without the hassle of dragging your rucksack.
We were also shown the restaurant and bar and given information about the Island.
We arrived at our Water villa which was beautiful. They are very nicely furnished with a gorgeous spacious bathroom and a cd player,safe and coffee machine. It also has a mini bar. (They give you a couple of bottles of water every day and also coffee.) The sundeck is also spacious and lovely. The view of the ocean is uninterupted by walls or groynes which you see on many other Islands. The Reef here is fantastic. The sundecks are very private - you cannot see the other room sun decks at all.

The Island is beautiful,the sand is very soft and the sea is crystal clear and shallow. One end of the Island (by water villas) has a little corrosion so they have built a wall but its painted white and doesn't look out of place. You have to expect a little corrosion on every Island even the Hilton has some sandbags!!!
You can walk pretty much all the way round except one part where you can paddle through a little water.
The snorkelling on this Island is superb. The house reef is very close and is teeming with fish. (The best we have seen and we have visited five Islands)
They offer a good choice of excursions - whale shark trip, sunset cruise,snorkelling safari, etc etc.
Also you can ask them to arrange a trip for you if you have something in mind. The service here is excellent and they go out of their way to look after you.
We arranged a visit to neighbouring Island 'Hilton Rangali' while we were there and were glad to compare the two.
The Hilton was not at all what we would want from a holiday in the Maldives. It seemed purpose built and not natural like the Maldives should be.
Anyway back to Mirihi which really was perfect, the restaurant for FB/HB really was excellent. The staff really look after you and there is excellent choice of food and different themes every evening. The Tacos are yummy as are all the curries. Maldivien night is excellent - loads of lovely flavours.

If you fancy a change you can go to Muraka which is on stilts over the ocean. This is a truely excellent restaurant, great food,wine and a fantastic setting, you can see sharks and fish as you are dining. Recommended.
The bar is also very well run by Rajan -very clean and they work very hard making sure no guest is ever thirsty. Guests seem to go to bed early here (perhaps its divers or honeymooners)but the evenings are quiet here. Not that it is a problem - we enjoyed the quiet nights just chilling in the bar. They do offer cinema night on Fridays where they tie a screen to two palm trees and you watch a movie on the beach with popcorn. This is a good experience one we will probably never forget as you have to keep reminding yourself you are just by the waters edge on the beach !!
This is a very relaxed Island, the atmosphere is calm and all the staff seem to get along very well and all seem happy working there.

I would highly recommend this Island to anyone who has a taste for quality on a Robinson Crueso Island.
Having visited Meedhupparu,Sun Island,Taj Coral Reef and Laguna Beach Resort, this was our favourite because its small and friendly and perfect. Ideal for a honeymoon (as ours was)
If you are looking for perfection look no further than Mirihi you won't be disappointed.

Well it is our first day back from our fantastic holiday to sun island.I am not happy to be back.

...........Well where do I start.we left from gatwick to male airport on the 6 may 07.After a fantastic flight with first choice we arrived at male airport.We got our luggage and awaited our boat transfer.(If you havent ever been to the maldives before i recommend getting the sea plain.We went to kuredu may 06 and got it then, and it was a brilliant experience.So we wern't to bothered about getting the speed boat)


After a 3 hour boat trip we finaly arrive at sun island, the weather very hot.We got taken to our room which was by the buggy man.Got unpacked showered and made our way to the reception area where we got shown around by our rep and told what we could do whilst on holiday.We then made our way to the main resturant for our dinner.The food is buffet style, but by the end of the holiday it got a bit boring.We had the choice of eating at the italian, thai and coffee bar for a 20% discount.We did use it well.

Me and my boyfriend had started the theroy side to the open water diver qualification back in the uk and did our refferal out there which was a brilliant way to do it.We had to do 4 dives including a few skills then we could dive on the 4th.They have sting ray feeding and shark feeding on the island every evening which i defin recommend.and also hire out the bikes thats the best thing we did, we wouldnt of seen as much as we did without them.We did the all inclusive sunset fishing trip which was again absolutly fantastic.You leave about 530 go out on the boat for a 30 min boat trip, they hand you a line not even a fishing rod, and see what you catch.I caught 4 fish, then at 930 they cook it for you at the grill bar, bbq fish is the way forward i have never eaten such fresh and wonderfully tasting fish, was so meaty.Dont miss this trip and defin go back for the fish in the evening some didnt and missed out, we tucked into a nice juicy red snapper. yummmmmmmy.

The snorkling is great especialy the reef explorer we did it twice.The house reef wasnt the best as it was quite cloudy.Dont know if this is to do with the weather.

The weather was great the whole holiday it rained every night but we were in bed so it didnt bother us.I got bitten quite a few times on my leg which was quite annoying as i took sun cream with repelliant and sprayed myself in the evening.

With the sun cream its advised to take at least factor 30.We saw a couple on our first night and she had gone out like us brits do, lilly white then by the evening your as crisp like the fish on the bbq, and she had badly burnt herself, she had to go to the medical center on the island and get cream for it as after a week she was peeling and blistered.
Do not be disseaved!!!!!!!!!!

Well if your thinking of going to sun island then dont read anymore book it, you will have a fantastic time and like me already want to go back.

enjoy and be safe!!!!!!