Latest Reviews for Lhaviyani Atoll

we have just returned from Kuredu Island.
we were celebrating my 50th birthday and wanted a holiday to remember.We got that and much more.The island realy is Paradise.
We stayed in the Sangu water villas which were beatiful looking over the lagoon with their own private sun deck.They were spotless clean as was all the island. We could not find fault with any of the staff as they were all so friendly and helpful-nothing was too much trouble.
We cannot wait to go back.

We have just returned from a week on Kuredu which can only be described as Paradise.

From the moment we landed at the jetty (by seaplane)until we left, we felt we were in heaven. Nothing was too much trouble. The staff were so helpful and friendly. We stayed in a water villa, a must if you go, you would regret it if not as they were idylic. The meals were very varied and plentiful, in fact we rarely had all 3 meals, either breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner as we could not manage all 3. A word of warning, the sun is so strong, but with the breeze a bit deceiving. I got sun stroke on the second day and stayed in bed for 36 hours feeling really ill. They do warn you to take care, so hats are a must and lots of suncream. We went on the sunset cruise and saw dolphins and flying fish. We went out twice on a Kayak and saw the turtles both times. On the second day we returned to our room to find a bottle of pink champagne and a fruit platter with a card (we were there for our silver wedding anniversary). We did not have any trouble with mosquitos or sand flies. We can`t wait to return and we will take our sons` with us next time as they would love the sports on offer. There is a lot to do if you want to do it, but no pressure. We spent the week relaxing. The only negative thing is 1 week is not long enough.

I have just arrived back from Kuredu Island in the Maldives.

We arrived on my 40th Birthday. On arrival you are asked if you are celebrating anything so I told them it was my Birthday. After our eveing meal on the first night, I was presented with a Birthday cake. The island is 3/4 star. I chose this because I wanted to meet people on my wavelength and not people who though they were something. It was ideal and we met some lovely people. The island is well kept. I stayed in a beach villa which was lovely with an outdoor bathroom. The water villas are exactly the same but on stilts and cost a lot more. I would stick with the beach villas as you walk straight out onto the beach and you have sun loungers outside. I went all inclusive and the food was buffet style with lost of variety. You have the same table and waiter for the duration of you holiday. Beware - if you don't ask for a table for 2 on your first night, you will be seated for the duration of your holiday on a table for 4 with two other people. Enteratinment is limited but I don't expect to be entertained if I have travelled to an island for peace and quiet.

I would go back again and would recommend it to people who do not want to mix with 5 star people but want to meet lovely down to earth people and drink and be jolly in paradise.

This is the most wonderfull place in the world. It was our second visit to the island and we were not disapointed. We stayed in a water villa which took our breath away - it really was worth the extra money. The food was superb and the restaurant staff were second to none. We found the cleaniness of the island 100% and saw no litter like other peoples experiances. We would go back there time and time again.
The water villas have by no means ruined the views of the beach villas. I would say that if you wanted the sun all day in the WV's then you need to ask for Eagleray 1-5, otherwise you will lose the sun early afternoon which is a shame.
The fish, turtles and sharks are amazing to watch whilst eating your meals in the restaurant. This really is paradise on earth.

Nothing compares to Maldives!!

Been two years running to Kuredu, loved both times. Went to Caribbean recently and longed to be back in Maldives.

Where do i start....
The sea really is as warm as people say, bath water in the lagoon.

The sand is as white and as soft as you can get on the front of the island. Beware, you have to wear sunglasses nearly all the time because its so bright.

The Food - well put it this way i put on a stone the first year we went. My boyfriend put on two stone (think the ever flowing beer contributed a lot to this). The second year we were a bit more careful, I only put on 10 pounds in two weeks!!!

The Bar - The Bar men are fantastic, friendly and entertaining. My boyfriend loved the pool bar especially, his glass of beer magically refilled its self all on its own!!

Trips - We went on the Britt sailing excursion, this is well worth going on, saw so many dolphins and a baby one so close to the boat. Swam with manta rays moored up next to a remote island and had a fantastic Maldivian lunch. Full day out and well worth £50.
Night fishing is fun too, but the only thing is its 3 gours on a dhoni with no loo... make sure you go before hand.You use hand lines and nearly every one catches a snapper or two. A Few times we went people had sharks snagging their lines, in which the boat crew took over and had to cut the lines.

Spa - Couple treatment is nice and relaxing and you get free bottle of chilled bubbly afterwards.

Its like entering a community in Kuredu, every one is friendly and you'll have great times. And you'll definatley want to return to Maldives.

We have recently returned from our honeymoon at Kuredu and it really was pure paradise,There is not one bad thing that I would say about our whole stay.

We flew with Emirates from Birmingham who proved to be an excellent airline offering first class service...we arrived at Kuredu by seaplane and would highly reccommend this transfer instead of a speedboat as the boat takes nearly 5 hours,Although I am scared of flying myself,the seaplane is an amazing experience and we enjoyed every minute of it.The islands below look absolutly amazing

We stayed in a beach villa,these were cleaned twice a day and were immaculate,our room boy was very sweet and showered us with fruit,wine,beer,t shirts etc and couldnt do enough for us....If you plan to stay at Kuredu then I would reccommend you stay in either a Beach Villa or Sangu water villa and not a Beach bungalow...as you can see from the previous reports everyone who stayed in the Beach bungalows have given bad reviews and below average.We went ....Beach Villas and water villas have recently been refurbished and are very spacious....

With us having all inclusive in a beach villa we ate in Koamas restaurant that offered plenty of choice (buffet style) and variation...show cooking also takes place in this restaurant...no complaints at all for food,water is supplied continuously,drinks are re filled...waiter service is outstanding and very efficient.

For our last 2 nights we were upgraded to a sangu water villa,the water villas are decorated etc the same as the beach villas but are obviosuly just on stilts over the sea,with steps down into the sea,personally i preferred the beach villa,as i am a beach lover,but i was a really nice gesture as others would have paid for this upgrade and it was a nice experience as our last 2 nights differed to the others spent in the Maldives,no insects bugged us at all....the only thing that did irritate us was sand flies,as we decided to sit on the sand and clearly must have sat on a sand fly nest....I would reccommend that you lay on the sunbeds provided and not on the sand

Our honeymoon was a complete sucess and we will be returning as soon as we possibly can!!!!!!!!!!!

HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED ***************

We've just returned from Komandoo and will NEVER be visiting again.

We complained on our first day (within an hour of arriving) the villa was nice enough and we decided to go for a walk along the beach. We were shocked at the amount of rubbish littering the shore as we stepped outside our door (nappies/diapers, sanitary towels, assorted wrappers and even a flip-flop), We phoned Guest Relations and asked to change rooms to the other side of the island (this island really is 2 different halves, one paradise, the other a dump). They advised us that they would check and get back to us. Several phone calls (by us) later and still no respnse, we walked around to reception to see them in person and asked to speak to the manager who shrugged his shoulders and was no help whatsoever.

We were told that the island was 100% capacity but there were several empty villas which were apparently being held empty for nearly a week for ";repeaters";!!! (sound business sense!!) The staff were given extra beach cleaning duties and patrols came around cleaning but the beach was littered again 10 minutes after their patrol. The excuse was there had been a storm and lots of rubbish was being washed up (from where?) Obviously the appearance of the rubbish is not their fault but maybe someone should address where the problem is originating from seeing as this is an on-going issue. We've paid a lot of money to go there and we are paying just as much as people on the ";clean, nice"; side of the island where they put the ";repeaters";. The newcomers it seems have to put up with the rubbish, not exactly the way to foster repeat business you would think.

It's not just that side which has rubbish, in fact the whole island has rubbish caught up in the breakwaters, in the coral, even floating around the restaurant. 44 gallon oil drums were hung from the end of the jetty in the sea to ";clean them out";, the result is an oil slick that was all over the fish and heading for shore, We were so shocked, the staff comment was ";why is everyone always bothered about keeping the Maldives clean";!

A week and a half later, we were moved to our second villa where some of the lights didn't work, the sink plug was broken and the safe didn't work! It was a struggle to get more than two drinks with your dinner on All Inclusive. Our waiter told us if we gave him a big tip he would give us good service! I thought a tip was a reward for good service not a bribe! The staff are not typical of the Maldives, it was a big surprise and disappointment as we have visited other islands in the Maldives and received much better service, We now advise people not to go to this island and for repeaters to Komandoo, I would say visit other islands as we have done and you will understand why many people are complaining. Very poor standards and not very good service at all. Negative comments seem to ";disappear"; from the guestbook on their website, not giving a true indication of people's opinions. Our decision to go to Komandoo was based partly on comments in their guestbook and I wonder how many other people's decisions are affected by this. It makes me wonder how long this practise of deleting negative comments has been going on.

I have photos and videos of the rubbish if anyone is interested. I shared these with Guest Relations who just shrugged their shoulders and blamed it on the neighbouring island. The one redeeming feature of Komandoo is the staff in the Dive Centre, they are fantastic and seemed to be the only ones interested in keeping the Maldives clean, even collecting rubbish on dives.

The food was good and some of the staff were friendly but unfortunately badly let down by the rest.

We leave Komandoo with the feeling that they just don't care. This was our big holiday and feel very disappointed, nothing can change that (not that they even tried to!).

This is a truely wonderful island in the Maldives. The lagoon and beaches are stunning and very well kept. The staff are always smiling and helpful. As it is one of the bigger islands in the Maldives there is quite a bit to do so you can never get bored (although I can't imagine being bored in the Maldives anyway!). There's some free activities such as table tennis and darts, and of course snorkelling, but I suggest buying your snorkel and mask at home as the prices are fairly inflated on the island (something to do with lack of comeptition!). Then there's activities which you pay for: diving, banana boats, catamaran, some kind of ring thing that's pulled behind a speed boat whilst you lay flat on your stomach trying to hold on for dear life, various day trips (see later) and badminton courts.

The food is great in the buffet but it seems to follow the same pattern every week so it's nice to enjoy the other restaurants too. We ate at both of the beachside ones. There's a oriental style one and another which serves beautiful fresh seafood. The food at these is absolitely wonderful, with a selection of fresh fishinc giant prawns. If you are an all-inclusive guest you get a 25% reduction on your bill at these 2 restaurants (buffet is included) and your drinks are still free if within your all-inclusive package. I highly recommend trying these restaurants out. Even more fab is that you can have a table right on the beach and look at the stars, which are very bright as there's very little light pollution.

We went on 3 trips. 1 to a deserted island where we had a bbq, 1 to a local island where we saw the school etc, and 1 to snorkelling points off the island. A sunset cruise was included in the package as well, but I wouldn't have paid for this especially as the sunset is just as lovely on the beach. It's well worth going on some trips, especially to a local island to see how people live in the Maldives.

The sealife is superb in the Maldives and is by far my favourite place to both dive and snorkel. We saw a manta ray, sting rays, giant turtles which swin around the lagoon and graze on the seagrass right below you, lion fish, baby reef sharks, tuna, parrot fish, and 100s of others. The diving is fantastic but pricey and I have to say I saw as much snorkelling as I did diving, but it's definitely worth some trips. You can hire an underwater digital camera for 1/2 or a whole day and they give you your photos on a CD at the end.

We stayed in the beach bungalows which are the cheapest accomodation option. They are fairly basic but we spent so little time in our rooms that this wasn't important! The bathrooms are the traditional outdoor ones but there's no problem with privacy. The showers were sometimes cold as the hot water is heated by solar panels so sometimes there wasn't enough power. However, it's so hot there all year round that having a cold shower is actually refreshing.

The only complaint I could make about the whole holiday was that our air conditioning in the room was totally ineffective, but other than that the holiday was absolutely wonderful. I'd definitely go back there if there weren't so many other islands in the Maldives to visit in the future!!

We recently visited the above resort with high expectations the blurb in the brochure promised us ";pure white beaches and aquamarine lagoons surround this luxurious island escape, where elegant wooded cabins overlook the beach";, and who could blame us, but in reality this was far from the truth.

The island was for us very ";top show";, the front of the island was Ok, and nearer to the brochure recommendation, as for the other side words fail me. The island could have been two, and quite frankly I have seen better beaches in the Uk, outside our beach bungalow the beach was eroded away by the sea, there was rubbish such as empty pop bottles, cans and a wash basin. This was now how we pictured the resort to be. We have been to the Maldives twice before so who could blame us for being upset and disappointed.

If we wanted to sit on a nice beach we would have to walk through the resort to the ";nice side";, but we were faced with the problem of sun loungers, each property has two loungers, so we would in theory be using someone elses loungers. Obviously this was not the thing to do, because we didn't want to get comfy and then have to move because the occupents of a Beach Villa wanted to sit on the beach, fortunately we found a Beach Villa that was being refurbished so we used these on two occasions, not exactly ideal, this was our secret and we didn't tell any of the occupents residing in the Beach Bungalows because we at least had a seat.

We spent most of the holiday sat around the pool which was pleasant enough but not being pool people this was not ideal, one of the reasons we go to the Maldives is because of the beaches (peace and quiet) and shallow lagoons and hopefully nearby reef.

The house reef was too far out for me to visit being a non-swimmer, but on the previous islands visited I could at least take a peep, in fact my husband who is an excellent swimmer nearly drowned on the way back, there is a very strong current, but in fairness the holiday rep did forwarn visitors about this, but after ehcking with the diving shop he was informed that it was safe to go out. It took him and a friend 10 minutes to swim out and 1 and a half hours to swim back - so be careful.

The accommodation we stayed in where Beach Bungalows they we pretty unspectacular, they were dark, and dismal, and the photograph in the brochure looked nothing like them. The outlook from the property was awful, angry sea, leaves all over the sand, in a short sentence ";very unloved and seriously depressing"; especially when you have coughed up a couple of grand on the holiday. We moved from one beach bungalow because it was in an even worse position, a couple we met there moved three times, in fact the guy said he felt like a gypsy.

The food was nothing special, infact for the second week of the holiday I had the trots, along with a few other people I had spoken to, strangely enough as soon as I got home, the problem went! There where rat cages around the island, however we didn't see any rats, but albeit I knew they where there, why else to have treatment on the trees and cages. The staff on the whole were Ok, but some on the staff had what I would call attitude problems, our waitress was lazy and getting a coffee in the morning was more difficult than getting a refund from the Inland Revenue. I infact had words with one member of staff who nearly reduced me to tears, I complained to a Manager, who gave me a voucher for two cocktails, on the voucher was an apology and promise that he would personally repremand the member of staff responsible, this voucher I don't believe was a one off, i.e., it hadn't just been printed off for me.

There was no aquamarine lagoon to speak of on the bad side of the island, and there was no way we where going to sit on that side of the beach. Also there was very little respite from the sun on the beach or even around the pool, if you wanted a sun lounger that had some shelter you would have to be up early, or else you would be frying for the rest of the day.

People I have spoken to whilst on holiday who had never visited the Maldives before said they would not go back, we did try to alleviate their concerns and tell them that this was not typical, but somehow I feel that the damage is already done, and no amount of placating will help. In fact it has even left a very sour taste in my mouth and we are now thinking of giving the Maldives a good rest just in case this happens again.

Before I leave I must mention the vehicles on the island, these were not mentioned in the brochure and were a shock to us, yes we agree that the island is big and perhaps vans are needed to deliver suitcases to accommodation, but these were just being driven up and down the jetty for no obvious reason at all, their was also a taxi service for those staying in the Sangu Resort. The harbour was sadly strewn with sea vessells, from small to big, the smaller ones yes I don't have a problem with that but the larger ones were an eyesore, the sea planes also became a nuisance as well, as much as I like aircraft I got fed up with the noise and comings and goings of these aircrafts, somedays I felt like I was sunbathing in a small airport.

Overall we would not go back to Kuredu nor would we recommend it, and there is plenty more I could say, but really, I don't want to bore you, I just want to inform future guests of what to expect.

We went to Komandoo March 06 for our honeymoon and I can honestly say we have never been to a more perfect place.
We stayed in a water villa (completely worth the extra money to upgrade)your room was cleaned 2 times a day.

We also flew premium class on the plane (the extra service and leg room was fantastic!)which meant your bags were off the plane first ready to go on the seaplane to the island. Just be careful at the airport, we checked in with the Hayes and Jarvis rep, and another man (who looked like he was with the rep) came over to take our bags, he led us over to a seating area outside a restaurant. He was just a waiter from the bar and we felt we had to buy a drink. Though in the heat a bottle of water was quite welcome!

The island its self is relatively small takes approx 15 mins to walk right round it, but you feel like there is hardly anyone there as you have so much room per villa

We were quite worried about the food as there was no indication of what it was going to be on the website. We couldn't have been happier, all meals were buffet style with a different theme every night. Some of the best night were the Maldivian night, the french night and the BBQ. There were lots of options if you didn't like the theme, with soup and salad being served every lunch and dinner.

All the staff were incredibly friendly and really couldn't do enough for you! We tipped our room boys once a week and our waiter (you get the same one for your whole stay which makes it really personal) every 3 days or so.

The only complaint I would have was on our second week there were a number of families who arrived with children(not surprising as it was the week before easter) not that they were too bad,there just wasn't much for them to do on the island and as a honeymooners we would have liked it to be adults only. I believe from 2007 it will be!

I would definately go back to Komandoo but there are so many other places in the world we also want to see that we prob won't be back till a big wedding anniversay.

Also for the exact same holiday Kuoni were at least £600 more expensive so I would check out the prices with Hayes and Jarvis if you are thinking of visiting!