Eriyadu Island Resort

We travelled as Mum and two daughters for Mum turning 70 in the Maldives. This was my 4th time to the Maldives, my mums 2nd and my sisters 1st. Arrival: After the 10 hour flight, we had a further 2 hours to wait in Male airport The transfer to the island could not have been worse! The sea was so rough and it was quite possibly the worst hour of our lives travelling to the island. Lets just say there was plenty of sick and really not a great start to the holiday. It wasn't the start we hoped for and had to go to the room rapidly in order to lay down and recover. The Island: The island itself is very tired and is in need of the refurb it is about to get, after reading the reviews I expected a lot more wildlife than what we saw (Especially having stayed on other islands and have seen much more!) The sea was quite rough throughout our 10 day stay, which is not the fault of the Islands of course, but it did make enjoying the sea challenging as the coral that was washed up was very sharp and the sea had created a ridge in the sand which made getting in and out of the sea more difficult to navigate. Which leads me on to mum almost breaking her ankle later in the holiday due to this! The room: Room 354 - Very tired and dated but one of the best spots on the island I would say. Looking at others we were ultimately happy with the location and with the most photographed palm tree outside it :-) The waves would almost wash in to our room and covered the outdoor area with sand regularly, but we didn't allow this to bother us in the end. The staff: Huge thanks to Abir our housekeeper, who kept everything as clean and sand free as he could. Special thanks to Nuzufa in the restaurant who was very attentive at meal times. The managers name which I didn't get unfortunately was incredibly helpful with everything including mums ankle and giving us bandages to strap it up to be able to travel back home. Some of the staff in the bars seemed a little unhappy sometimes and feel like they could have given a better customer experience. The food: Lovely food, great kitchen staff and plenty of it but ridiculously repetitive. We loved the food but I would definitely recommend having theme nights in the future. So Italian , British, Authentic Maldivian nights etc etc... The drinks ......... Where to start. For an All Inclusive Plus (Whatever the plus means, we still never found out) The drinks are awful alcoholic or not. Anything half decent you have to pay extra for! Its definitely a good way to cut down on your alcohol intake. We found out approx day 5 that a few snacks are out out in the blitz bar, which is the only way to get a snack in between meal times. The Gym: The island does not advertise a good gym so I am not going to say too much about this, but if you are looking to use the gym whilst away then I probably would not bother. My sister is a marathon runner and is in training for a Ultra Marathon so was wanting to keep ticking over whilst away, the treadmills are definitely not up to the work! The belts got so hot that they almost caught her on fire! We spoke to reception as one was completely out of order but not sure it was looked at. These are probably very old and tired and the gym may be in line for a good refurb too. Overall: I felt like all of us had a very relaxing time and had a chance to read, reflect, wander, snorkel and generally spend some quality Mother and daughter time together. The island met our needs on this occasion but we would not be looking to return to this island. If this is your first time going to the Maldives, you will probably fall in love, as I did with my first island but there are many other islands that will tick more boxes, I'm sure this will change after the refurb and will be an amazing island! Read less

Our first time in The Maldives. It was paradise! The waters are crystal clear and teeming with fish! You don’t have to swim far before you are in amongst a wonderful variety of sea life. It’s the best snorkelling I’ve experienced. The beaches are beautiful and fruit bars fly between the palm trees. We were a little worried about the building works but they did not impact our holiday in the slightest. The rooms are a little tired but clean and well kept. Our room was right on the beach, with fantastic ocean views, especially at sunset. All the rooms will be renovated by the end of the revamp. Our room attendant is worth a mention - Sagort (I may have misspelled that) was friendly and helpful, making our rooms up neatly every day, providing lots of bottled water and beach towels. He also left us a lovely turtle drawn in sand on our porch one evening. The food was delicious! Tasty curries, spiced rice, plenty of salads, chicken, grilled fish and lots more! Jaki, who often worked the grill and also the omelette station at breakfast was brilliant. He always greeted with you with a big smile and was very skilled at his work. We were served most mealtimes by Ali, who made us feel so special. He was always so thoughtful and offered perfect service. He really is a credit to the hotel. We went on the fishing trip, which we enjoyed and the hotel cooked our fish for us and served it to us in the restaurant the following day. Lisa and her team at the dive centre are also worth a mention. We did some dives, took out the kayaks and a glass bottomed canoe. The dive team were friendly, knowledgeable and professional. They made us feel safe and obviously care deeply for all the sea creatures who live on the reef. We had a fantastic holiday and I’d definitely recommend this resort to anyone who wants to relax in beautiful surroundings. Read less

We have just returned from a wonderful week away in Eriyadu. I was extremely nervous about our trip as I had booked it for a special 40th Birthday celebration with friends (5 couples) and after seeing some of the reviews about the building works I wondered if I'd done the right thing. However! It was fabulous. It was a first trip to the Maldives for 6 of our friends and 2nd and 3rd trip for 4 of us. I've previously been to Kuramathi which I loved and again was wondering if I'd be disappointed. But not at all. The island is a little gem. Its small but not too small, the food was amazing but the snorkelling was absolutely wonderful. The reef was easily accessible and we snorkelled the whole way round the island. The pinnacle out further beyond the dive centre was out of this world. They talk about fish soup, that is exactly what is was. Huge groups of fish that you swim between and an absolutely huge school of fusiliers went by, absolutely amazing! Around the house reef we saw turtles, sharks (black/white/nurse), octopus, giant trevally, oriental sweetlips and many more, it was just endless. The beach and sea was just as I expected them to be, white sand and blue clear sea, especially over by the turtle bar. Our waiter in the restaurant was Ijlal who looked after us superbly. We celebrated 2 birthdays whilst there and he decorated the table and brought over birthday cakes on both occasions. Thank you Ijlal, you were amazing and a credit to the the island. We really appreciated all your hard work in looking after us. The chef who cooked all the specials of the day was also great too, nothing was too much for him. Abir looked after our room for us and he was also amazing. We were in room 209 which was lovely. Basic but comfortable at the same. The new buildings look fab too. The pool area and swimming pool needs some tlc and I hope the island will be fixing this when they close in September for a month. Service was sometimes slow in the bar, particularly at the Turtle bar. But all in all, for what we paid for this trip, it was absolutely worth it and why I have given it 5 stars. Oh and I should mention the building work. Yes, there is building work on the island but did it interfere or spoil our holiday, not in the slightest. You are in the Maldives after all, and when you have the most beautiful sea and underwater world surrounding you, it didn't matter about the building work. It was all kept in the centre of the island anyway. And lastly, special mention to Lisa and her team in the dive centre (Euro Divers), they were excellent and again a credit to the Island. As you can probably tell, we absolutely loved it here and would go back again tomorrow. Thank you Eriyadu, for helping us make the most wonderful memories! Read less