Diva Maldives
, South Ari Atoll
Diva Maldives reviews
- Board Basis:All Inclusive
- Tour Operator:hayes and jarvis
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If you want total relaxation or a fun filled holiday of water sports, snorkelling or scuba diving this is the island to visit. Flying with Emirates via Dubai is a must, compared to other airlines. It breaks up the 10-11 hour flight of a direct flight and the seating, entertainment and food is above other airlines.
The hospitality is out of this world and they can't do enough for you. The great thing about most of the Maldivian islands is that they are cash free. At White Sands you pay a deposit at check in and sign for everything you have during your stay. On the last night of your stay you pay the remaining balance. The All Inclusive list is very good; all house spirits and draught beer as well as the 'Cocktail of the day' which is a nice treat.
Accommodation is excellent at all levels. Your room will be cleaned twice a day by the same room boy and fresh bath and beach towels will be provided each day. Your bed sheets will be fresh each day with an array of patterns folded into the sheets. Daily, you will receive a newsletter with items about the island (excursions, weather in The Maldives and UK, 'Cocktail of the Day' and World News).
The whole island is sand, which believe me is fab. If you are in the accommodation on the island your main restaurant is at one end of the island. A bit of a walk but shaded by the 'Giraffe' trees (you will understand if you visit!) and allows your food to go down. This floor of this restaurant is also covered in sand - fab, no shoes required! The main restaurant for the water villas looks over the lagoon and these guests can eat in either restaurants. Island guests receive a discount to eat at this restaurant.
There is a third restaurant (Sunset Restaurant) that all guests have to pay and there are event nights on this side of the island which are payable. The food in all restaurants is fab. Buffet style but quality food in abundance (believe me, I’m a fussy eater and I couldn't get enough). There is always at least one freshly cooked station (barbeque, pasta, stir fry, Omelette for breakfast. There are two bars which are very different.
The bar looking over the lagoon is chilled, dimly lit, has board games and a book shelf for swapping as well as loungers close to the water. The bar on the island is where the entertainment takes place (a different theme each night: Dive Night is worth a watch even if you are not interested in diving). It also has a pool table, table football, internet access and a Pizza Oven (payable).
The island was very quiet in August, no fighting for the loungers! A barman would bring out chilled towels during the day to help you cool down. The beach area near reception has a beach bar for refreshments and the water sports centre if you feel energetic. Even though August is classed as rainy season we had very little - it was a scorcher nearly every day.
Even though there is no house reef on the edge of the lagoon boat trips go twice a day to a local reef. Snorkelling is definitely worth a try if you do not fancy/can't afford scuba diving. Night snorkelling (payable) is a must if you like the day snorkelling.
Every night there is fish feeding which attracts the sting rays. Definitely worth a look! Making the effort to get up early to see the sunrise is also a must and staying in the bar to watch the sunset goes without saying.
A fantastic relaxing holiday that I didn't want to leave after 10 days. I can't holiday anywhere else and ended up at Olhuveli Beach and Spa Resort in August 2006 - no comparison, White Sands every time.
- Board Basis:All Inclusive
- Tour Operator:Lastminute
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This really was the holiday of a lifetime.
Lastminute made several mess ups on our booking but the resort staff and those at the transfer company couldn’t do enough to help. The resort is wonderful, gorgeous beaches and fantastic snorkeling in the lagoon! I want to go back!
The food was good and accommodation wonderful. We started n an Island bungalow which had a great walk in shower and was great for the "standard" everything you needed. Later in the week we treated ourselves to a Water Bungalow which was fantastic and worth the upgrade if you can afford it.
I cant wait to go back one day!
- Board Basis:Full Board
- Tour Operator:Lastminute
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We would recommend White Sands Resort and had a very enjoyable fortnight there. The rooms are comfy and spotlessly clean, and no matter which rooms you stay in you will be on the beach - the narrow island means an ocean view front & back. Being relatively non boozers we found half board a cheaper option than all inclusive though even water is at least three US dollars. A 'cashless' island means we signed for all trips, drinks & mini bar each day and then paid the bill at the end of the holiday.
We used the Seaplane to transfer from Male and that is a fab experience (we found the resort could arrange it for half the cost of our tour operator, so worth enquiring).
September is towards the end of their Monsoon season and we had around 2 days of rain but mostly gorgeous sunshine. The white sand is truly white and looks like salt, it is so pure. The spa resort is a bit pricey but fabulous and tranquil and we tried three or four treatments -absolute bliss.
Food is plentiful, tasty and freshly cooked. Breakfast has many options as does Dinner. All staff are courteous and very helpful. Water sports are a must and snorkeling shows a different fish species each day! The rays come along the shoreline & are fascinating. We even had a visit from a baby reef shark, around two feet long each evening.
Entertainment is a little limited but friendly and everything finishes by 11.30pm. Possibly two weeks is a tad too long on a quiet island & would recommend a multi-trip with Sri Lanka or Dubai. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and would never regret going but doubt we would return because the Maldives is the type of place that once you seen it there's not more to discover.
- Board Basis:Half Board
- Tour Operator:Airline Network
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We have just spent a wonderful two weeks all inclusive in a water bungalow and cannot recommend the accommodation enough. The facilities, furnishings, views and service are superb. It is worth noting however that the accommodation and facilities available to all inclusive guests staying in the island/beach rooms are not of such a high standard.
The variety and quality of food was brilliant, a different theme every night, the staff are friendly, polite and cannot do enough for you. The resort is spotless and whilst maintenance is ongoing it is unobtrusive and often interesting to watch. Several roofs were rethatched whilst we were there.
Relaxation is very much the order of the day here. Which isn't difficult with cocktails available to compliment the views. Paradise!
We did however have a couple of issues which stopped us rating white sands a perfect 10.
First: the lagoon when we were there was barely 2 foot deep, not condusive to snorkelling in, (rocks sat out of the water), at high tide 3-4 feet, the currents were quite strong and you spent your time swimming constantly just to stay in one place. This was a big let down for us because the snorkelling was our primary reason for visiting.
The house reef snorkelling is ok if you are a strong swimmer and don't mind looking into the abyss. The water here is very deep, the currents strong, (often a hard swim back to the boat) and the drop offs of coral walls are awesome!! Personally I hated it.
My husband did some diving and came back with some amazing pictures, the visibility is very poor though and often 3-6 feet fish would be on top of you before you saw them. Not for the faint hearted. The coral is badly damaged from the natural disasters that have occurred in the last 8 years, so colours are very sparse and mainly only visible to divers up close. The dive centre is excellent and caters for all levels of divers. But if you like your water more on par with the red sea, like us- be prepared for disappointment.
Second- a minor niggle but an annoyance just the same- beware of island hopping boat trips. The dhoni boats are fantastic, shabby the guide is superb, but- the visits are about shopping, not sight seeing, despite how they are advertised. We had to ask to be taken to see the sights we had booked up for, the second island is just another resort and is pointless, and this time could have been spent seeing the sights on the main island where the locals live. Lots of trips on offer, but all basically the same.
Finally- the sea plane transfer.
This is a great way to travel, but unfortunately it is never on time! Not so much of a problem on arrival at Male, but our first choice flight was (thankfully) delayed waiting for us to arrive. The sea plane left white sands at 10.30am, it is a 45 minute transfer and our flight was due to leave at 11.00am!!! A very stressful ending to an otherwise relaxing holiday.
In conclusion if you are happy to watch the fish from the jetty or the deck of your water bungalow, this is the place for you. we saw sting rays, manta rays, eagle rays, lion fish, red snappers, black and white tipped reef sharks and loads more(including a turtle on a snorkelling trip- hire the speed boat and go to the coral garden)all in the lagoon, especially at night when the lights of the jetty are on. A fantastic sight but I would have preferred to see them whilst snorkelling.
The weather was glorious, the sands soft and cool and the water was great for cooling off in.
My one piece of advice would be to definitely book a water bungalow and go all inclusive. Enjoy.
Ps; only pack one pair of flip flops- it really is no news, no shoes!!