Just got back from a rearranged holiday to Reethi Faru, originally meant to be taken during Covid. WOW! Where do I start?
Arrived at Male airport after a long journey via Dubai to be surprised by a very welcome upgrade to seaplane transfer instead of domestic flight and speedboat. Having been to the Maldives before we knew how exciting the seaplane transfer was going to be but TMA have really expanded their terminal and welcome facilities. A beautiful new terminal and viewing terrace along with departure rooms and a seamless operation.
Arriving on Reethi Faru after just under an hour and one stop off en route at another island to drop people off, and the wonderful, AMAZING whirlwind of a human being that is concierge Roberta came bounding into our holiday as she couldn't have been more effusively welcoming as we set foot on they tropical paradise. Cold towels and a refreshing welcome drink instantly provided it is as always, not the sand and palm trees, it's the people you meet in the Maldives that make your holiday and WOW what a perfect way to start. Roberta was the friendliest, most enthusiastic , most thorough and attentive person I have met in all my years of travelling. Just a fantastic person and a total asset to the resort. In my book anyone who remembers your names from the get go when so many people pass through a resort is a BIG HERO.
The resort is simply beautiful and bigger than previous islands we have visited. It took about 20 minutes to walk all the way around the island, taking in the perfectly located beach bars and restaurants as you go. Dodging the baby black tip reef sharks in the shallows as you go.
Rooms were perfect. We had a beach villa with the usual outdoor shower and bathroom adding that tropical feel. Mini bar was topped up each day religiously by the ever attentive room staff.
I shan't go into detail about the reef etc, after all the Maldives is the Maldives and just breathtaking if you're into snorkelling. Suffice to say it was well managed with current markers to allow you to enter and leave the water in the safest places, a variety of wonderful fish, sharks, turtles and eagle rays all visible within 30 metres of the shore. We did do the day trip to swim with manta rays through the resort dive centre which was fantastic and reasonably priced at 55 USD each (if you do multiple different trips off resort it works out even cheaper).
The dive centre does a free try dive taster each day which my daughter and I did on the shallow part of the reef. It was absolutely amazing with really keen qualified dive staff and as a resort we met several very satisfied scuba divers too who reported back of breathtaking dive days in the deeper water.
The pool , watersports and dive centres are all beautifully maintained and staffed. There is a fee glass bottom kayak session and a free sunset cruise on offer to Premium Dine Around guests . I would very much recommend the Dine Around package as we worked out that for a family of 3 , conservatively , 3 meals a day including starters for lunch and dinner, plus conservative amounts of drinks during the day will set you back over 350-400USD at least. I recall when we booked that the difference in price was not ridiculous and would wholeheartedly recommend the premium All Inclusive package.
The best part of the holiday for us was the people. I need to go into special mention of them.
Marco - Watersports Manager - I had a slight hiccup as I had booked 2 days of off island sport fishing charters before I flew to the Maldives. Just be aware, quite understandably as a charter is a third party, the resort have had situations while people have been off island with 3rd party companies and hence out of their control where people then complain wrongly ON island. It is resort policy to prohibit 3rd party charters , which I think is totally understandable. Just something to bear in mind. However, in light of this, Marco, a true gentleman of a giant, went way beyond the call of duty to source some rods and reels so that the boxes of lures and baits I had brought from the UK could be put to use and so I wouldn't go disappointed . Just fantastic customer service at every step.
Roberta - already mentioned but as a first impression of Reethi Faru staff , she was simply the best. Everyone needs a Roberta and her smile each day in their lives.
Nazeer - The Pool Bar, Veyo Bar, is fantastic but the guy behind the bar every single day is a total legend. With a smile that reaches all the way to Colombo and back each morning , this superhero was a magician with a cocktail mixer and must have had eyes in the back of their head as glasses were never left empty and like a shape-shifter Nazeer would appear with more, sometimes you would even wake up on a sun lounger to find full glasses placed alongside . Just a master at his craft. Take time to get to know these guys, and no I'm not going on a rant but manners go a LONG way and just because holidaying in the Maldives infers an expensive luxury holiday , the staff are there to make the experience better. They are NOT your slave , deserving of zero manners or courtesy. I know all nationalities have their downsides, after all I am British, but seriously some people need to learn how to be polite. Nationalities were instructed to be censored from my original post but they rhyme with Crushions.
Manu - in the Dhiyavaru Bar, where a la carte dinner was taken over the water each night , this guy was the nicest most pleasant person you could wish to have serve your food. Low occupancy thanks to Donald J Trump knocking lumps out of the Middle East right now meant that we often would chat to the staff as they had the time, the chefs included who would come out and check you were enjoying the food. Everything was just perfect.
Food. Breakfast in the main restaurant was nice and the usual cooked, continental, fruit, eggs, pastries but to a backdrop of the Indian Ocean to die for.
The Veyo Bar at the pool does a watered down version of the Dhiyavaru restaurant menu and we ate here every lunchtime (I can MASSIVELY recommend the Reethi Club and the Korean Chicken). Food was always prompt and you never went thirsty thanks to Nazeer and his eye for an empty glass.
Dhiyavaru - On stilts out over the Indian Ocean there was nothing more relaxing than watching sharks swim beneath the platform with the ocean breeze in your face , sipping Prosecco while eating some of the finest food I have ever tasted. It is rare that you go to a restaurant and could gladly eat every single dish, but that sums up Dhiyavaru. Just delectable. I couldn't choose one dish above another . Close your eyes and just point to one.
Reethi Grill - or as we called it Man & Woman v Food. The menu is already amazing , with special grill nights, but during each meal we would be brought tasters of new menu items personally by the chef. Each of them was just mouth watering. The curries were to die for and the ambience of the tent-like booths on the sand with the waves lapping in the background was just magical. We never went hungry here.
There are other restaurants - we didn't do the buffet that the non-Dine Around package food is served at nor did we do the Vegan bar.
Drinks - there are 2/3 picturesque sunset bars dotted all around the island where you can sip wine while the skies above your head are filled with the amazing fruit bats skipping from tree to tree.
We got lucky with the weather as June is low season but we only had maybe 6 hours of rain in total and all came hime with tans although we understand the weather took a bit of a nosedive after we left on 2nd June.
The Maldives is a spoilt for choice destination. So many gorgeous islands to choose from, but we will DEFINITELY be coming back to Reethi Faru. Thank you to ALL the staff, not just the 4 SUPERHEROES that I've singled out. If you're reading this, you were all AMAZING.
