Ellaidhoo, Maldives

We booked our holiday last summer with the Travel Collection, part of Kuoni. When I read the reviews on this site, I wondered if we had made a bad mistake, this was our fourth visit to the Maldives. As the Travel Collection have never let us down in the past, I was hopeful we would not be disappointed on this occasion. We were not. True, the island has been very much geared towards the Italians but since the resort has been taken over by the John Keells group, this is changing. Indeed, they are closing the resort in April for about six months for a thorough refurbishment. This will include the removal of some of the concrete barriers that encircle the island. We understand their aim is to boost the British presence and that of other nationalities at the resort. While we were there, there were only about half a dozen other Brits. But don't worry, more of the staff, a mixture of Sri Lankans and Maldivians speak more English than Italian.

My wife and I do not dive but are keen snorkellers. Speaking to those who did dive, it is very, very good. The snorkelling is good too, with plenty of fish and coral to see. When the sea is rough, which unseasonably it was for some of the days we were there, it can be a bit difficult to get through the barriers to the reef. Also watch out for the Titan Trigger Fish who can have a lot of attitude!

As mentioned before, they readily upgraded our accommodation when we asked. Obviously this depends on availability but it is worth asking. We would say to anyone about to visit the island, don't be put off by the bad reviews. Although we would not rate it as the prettiest island in the Maldives, we had a very good two weeks. It will be interesting to see it after the refurbishment.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mats Sweden in the previous review. We spent the 2nd week of Jan 06 at Ellaidhoo and experienced quite a few problems with our accommodation and diving. We received very little help from staff at the resort, and had to initiate any conversations with them to get our problems cleared up. The staff / management seemed pretty disorganised, and nobody really seemed to care when things went wrong. There were a lot of unhappy people at the resort while we were there. It is apparently not possible to book a specific type of room as they all supposedly cost the same. This is fine if you get a room overlooking the beach, but the rooms in the 2nd line looked terrible!

We were really disappointed by the beach. It certainly wasn't a typical Maldivian island where powder white sand disappears into the sea. The sea wall that has been built around the island is really ugly and totally spoils the fantasy of being on a deserted island. There also isn't much beach around the island.

The food was pretty good but, again, fairly unimaginative and pasta with every single meal was a bit much.

The dive sites we went to were absolutely amazing! However, most of them were quite far from the island so this isn't really a valid reason to base yourself at Ellaidhoo. Another resort nearby (Halaweli) looked really good when we flew over. By the way - wherever you book, it's well worth doing the seaplane transfer for incredible views!

This was our second visit to the Maldives and we had really looking forward to Ellaidhoo. We had booked a individual superior bungalow so we were really disappointed and irritated when we got a room in the second line of romms on the island. There were a couple of rooms in each block and not individual as we booked. The standard of the room was also bad. Very dark and ugly furnished. The bathroom wasn't very fresh either. This was absolutely NOT a four star room that we had booked. Also the smell in the room was very bad and I started to suffer from mould allergy. When we complained at the reception we got no understanding at all. We talked to five different persons and they all said they couldn't help us. They told us that all rooms nowadays have the same standard and that there were no individual bungalows free. They were all very unhelpful and unfriendly. Finaly, after a long argument that really made the start of our journey to the Maldives very bad, we vere offered a individual bungalow next to the sea but not until the day after. And what a different it was. This bungalow was really nice ! Very nice furnitured, a large and beautiful outdoor bathroom with a little garden and a bathtub. Everything was very nice and clean comparing to our first room (the first room should have been categorised 2 star).

The island of Ellaidhoo is not what to be expect from the photos from a typical Maldivian island. It is not a very beautiful island. There is only one beach on the corner of the island and that beach is rather small so it gets a bit crowded. Around the entire island there are walls out in the water to protect the island from waves. Understandeble but not very pretty. Next to our bungalow we had a little "beach" with a wall at the edge of the sea and a little stair leading down to the water. This was not a problem for us, frankly it was quite nice as we could lay in the sun almost in pirvate surrounded by palm trees.

If you wanted nice beaches you could go to the really beautiful sister island of Ellaidhoo called Maaga. It took 10 minutes by Dhoni boat and costed 6 dollars to go to. There where no walls and very calm. Didn't feel crowded either.

The meals at Ellaidhoo was a bit boring. I know the majority of people staying at Ellaidhoo are Italians but not ALL so why have so much pasta and pizza ?? It was quite nice wiht different themes every night but I think it's a bit lack of imagination to have a Italian night and just a coupple of nights after having a pasta night. Even the so called European buff t felt Italian. How ever, the food was well cooked and tasted nice. The desserts was really good.

Breakfast was nothing special but OK. Absolutely best was the omelette cook that also took care of the desert table. He was so friendly and made the most wonderful pancakes and omelettes !!

The house reef at Ellaidhoo is quite fantastic. We have never seen such a big number of diffent fishes including sharks. One of us made some dives but to be honest, we saw more and interesting fish just by snorkeling. Also, the currrent was far too strong out at the dive site to make a dive comfortable. We snorkelled a couple of times every day and saw new fish every time. Also sharks every time.

All in all. The best with Ellaidhoo is snorkelling at the house reef. But we won't come back. The dream of a beautiful Maldivian island is not what to be expeckted if you stay at Ellaidhoo. The island also felt a bit too crowded. We much more preferred the small and wonderful island of Thulhagiri where we stayed at our last visit to the Maldives.

Having been to the Maldives 3 times before I had certain expectaions, my stay this time was over Christmas and New Year as it was a work trip by the time the company booked places the Elliadhoo was the only place remaining.

We arrived after a 27 hour trip and discovered that the resort had failed to arrange transport which ended in us staying by the airport for the first night after 2 hours of being messed around by the Sky Tours rep.

The next morning we headed over the resort, we were shown to our 'Garden Villas' they were right on the path leading to the reception which meant people were constantly walking past your window, so for privacy the curtains were closed.

The rooms were very very dark only 3 lights inside a very basic room making it very depressing. My room had a connecting door which I found out wasn't lockable when the family next door walked in on me.

The bathroom was unclean and infested with ants, no fresh toilet roll and the soap dispenser did not work.

The bed was very uncomfortable and at night the A/C made a very loud noise and the temp was hard to regulate.

There was not a beach as such and disappointingly none of the soft white sand you see in the brochures!

The food was a small buffet with inadequate selection of food and again poor lighting.

If you are looking for a place to stay on a very very tight budget this is fine, if however you want a place to relax in a bright and airy enviroment with wonderful staff, azure seas and the beautiful picture perfect sand, DO NOT choose the Elliadhoo!

We moved the very next day to the Karumba...I have only good things to say, beautiful place, fantastic staff, gorgeous spa and I was so pleased to be there work or no work!!

This was our fourth visit to the Maldives and our second to Ellaidhoo. We love the island and couldn't wait to go back post tsunami. Its a small dream of a place just 300 metres long by 280 metres wide with about 70 rooms on the seashore. Our home for 2 weeks was a comfortable air conditioned bungalow on the beach with open air bathroom complete with its own palm tree. Our holiday really began at the sea plane terminal in Male when we took off our shoes - for 2 weeks.

In temperatures of 30+ degrees day and night, my husband - a 'Jacques Cousteau' spent the mornings diving, Ellaidhoo has some of the best diving in the Indian ocean, leaving me to relax on our terrace overlooking the turquoise lagoon and the Indian Ocean beyond - the biggest infinity pool in the universe. The water is beautifully warm at 29 degrees, perfect for snorkelling or just sitting in the water watching the fish swimming around you - a tropical fish tank. We shared our beach with many small friendly hermit crabs who surprisingly prefer cheese and onion crisps to plain, as do the mynah birds who come to feed out of your hand several times a day!

The atmosphere is chilled, the food is excellent and varied and the friendly service second to none. The sunsets are spectacular after which, drink in hand, we watched the stingrays being fed in the lagoon by the bar - a beautiful, awesome sight under a clear star filled sky. Relaxed affordable perfection!

Ellaidhoo in the Maldives is for the divers at heart. Not a place to party. It has been upgraded with beautiful gardens and workout facilities for those who wish to keep fit. The management is friendly and family oriented willing to keep their good name with excellent service. The only thing I did not like were the excursions directed by the Italian tour operators which did not speak English or try to accommodate those who were not Italian. Since they are obviously taking our money for the excursions they should accomodate all.

As for the resort on a whole I give it a 9 out of 10 for the divers and all around good service and quality for the money.