Kandolhu Maldives

The island is recommended to anyone who is looking for peace and quiet and is also fascinated by the underwater world, as the house reef is completely intact and fantastically varied. Many different corals, you can meet nurse sharks, eagleray or white tip reef sharks or black tip reef sharks. At the moment there are three turtles living on the house reef. The island is a culinary dream with everything your heart desires. All the staff from the reception, dive center, housekeeping, restaurant service, cooks and also everyone in the background are courteous, warm and friendly and you simply felt at home. This island was our 5th time on the Maldives, each time we were on a different island, but Kandolhu cannot be compared to the other islands with the warmth of the staff and the house reef. We are already planning for next year.

The most beautiful island with the most beautiful staff. We keep returning to Kandolhu because of this. Serene is how I would describe Kandolhu. It gives such a feeling of calm & contentment. The staff are such genuinely wonderful people who clearly love their job and enjoy making sure guests have an amazing and unforgettable holiday. Simply, I would urge anyone who gets the chance to visit Kandolhu to do so, it really is the very best.

This review is very, very overdue but I spent six nights at Kandolhu in March 2024. I booked the resort looking for outstanding snorkeling, a super quiet and naturally beautiful island, and excellent food/bungalows (yep, I was looking for it all). Overall, I was thrilled with my stay and look forward to returning, although I would book a bungalow other than the beach bungalow in the future. SNORKELING Yes! This island absolutely lives up to its reputation as having one of the best house reefs in the Maldives. There are two very easy access points from the jetties, with stairs so that you can just sit and then slide into the water; the arrival jetty also had a case of towels for you to use when you got out. Honestly, even if I had gone no further ever than the arrival jetty, I would have been thrilled. There were large schools of bait fish, nurse sharks, black tip sharks, and turtles right there. In fact, the very first morning when I got in, I swam maybe fifteen feet out from the steps in and a large nurse shark headed directly under me for the shade of the arrival pier. Being a solo snorkeler who is not the most physically fit of human beings, I mostly snorkeled between the arrival and service jetties; I did do the snorkel-around-the-island that is included with the Premium AI package and we snorkeled about 80% of the island, which was fabulous (unfortunately I couldn’t quite make it around the point due to the current and my physical abilities). There are so many anemones, beautiful coral formations, and sharks. Multiple times I saw lion fish underneath the service jetty, which also has the most gorgeous coral formations right by the step into the ocean. This is definitely a place where you did not have to be an Olympic-caliber swimmer to enjoy the snorkeling. An unexpected bonus, for me, was that when it was low tide, walking around the water’s edge was like looking into an aquarium. Just be aware that there can be currents at certain times of day, particularly on the “points”—and if it gets too strong, just turn around and you will go flying back to multiple exit points. THE ISLAND Kandolhu is a super pretty island. I was able to walk around it by the beach if I timed it correctly with the tides in about 10-12 minutes at a slow pace. It’s not big, but it is beautiful. The interior is lush and jungle-like. There are loads of herons, crabs, and juvenile sharks in the shallows. They strongly encourage you to ditch your shoes on arrival, and the sand here is very conducive to that. I encountered no mosquitoes, although there was an overly friendly millipede in my outdoor shower that simply refused to believe that I did not wish to be friends, nor did I want it to crawl up my leg. BEACH VILLA I booked and received a beach villa (111). The bungalow has a truly comfortable outdoor seating area that is covered and has a partial sea view; there is really no additional seating area inside other than the bed (there is a desk chair but I’m a lounger s

Very romantic and charming island, perfect for a chilled and relaxed vacation. This was my 5th vacation on Kandolhu, and I'm still thrilled by this stunningly beautiful island, the beaches and coral reefs, the super friendly staff people, luxurious accomodation, perfect wine&dine... the perfect place for a perfect vacation!

I have waited a while to write this review, we have been to the Maldives 21 times and this was to be our last time, so we went in a strange head space, getting to the island was as efficient as always and we had a great welcoming and shown to our beach villa number 112 the villa was ideally placed it was the last of the beach villas. It had a lovely view and a nice piece of beach out the rear door. The villa was comfortable and well equipped. Food in the main restaurant The market was well presented and prepared but each day it was the same menu which we found repetitive, the staff there were quite good, Zinadh was the best waiter but most were helpful, we found it a little strange being referred to by our first names all the time by the staff, but I am sure some people wouldn’t mind it. We ate in Olive a few times and the food was excellent, we eat there on our wedding anniversary and the staff were excellent and we were very well looked after. All staff on the island try their very best and provide an excellent service, the food is very good even if as I said repetitive. Why the delay on submitting the review, well as I said it was supposed to be our last visit to the Maldives so we wanted everything to be perfect, firstly something that the island is not responsible for, it was peak season but the weather was awful 5 days of rain and strong winds, no one was snorkelling it was that rough, so the first five days were spoiled by the weather not the islands fault but still didn’t get off to a good start. We then had two days of sunshine when snorkelling was possible but the sea was still quite rough, I was a little disappointed with the reef which wasn’t in good shape, visibility wasn’t very good, but again not the islands fault but still disappointing. The remainder of our holiday it was rain and sunshine. The above wasn’t the islands fault, but these issues were. Firstly we woke up one morning to find a large cockroach and ant walking about on the sheets, I know there are cockroaches on the islands but we haven’t seen one for over 15 years, the room boy was told to spray the room every evening, he did it once we had issues with cockroaches on several days,Also in the room when we arrived was a bowl of fruit, it was fully infested with very small ants that were everywhere in the room I moved the fruit and the ants came from behind a mirror and moved onto other shelves looking for food, they were on all surfaces I sprayed a few times but the room boy wasn’t interested in my opinion. The other main issue was our flight to leave the island was early morning so the evening before the restaurant staff arranged for a box to be brought to the room with some snacks for our breakfast, when it arrived I placed it straight into the fridge, at 4am the next morning we opened the box to have our breakfast, as we opened it a huge cockroach climbed out…needless to say we didn’t have any breakfast. The management are aware of these incidents and have replied pr

Upon arrival we were greeted by the management & staff & shown straight to our room, a beautiful beach villa. Soft fluffy large bath towels, high quality linen, toiletries, beach bag & a pair of large beach towels were provided. Choice of pillows & a mattress topper were available. One complimentary bag of laundry was included for our stay which was returned to us in a wicker basket within 12 hours. The minibar & wine fridge were well stocked & refilled daily along with snacks. AC was very good as was the fan, the bathroom was a little warm though. Our room was cleaned daily to a high standard by a secret ninja who seemed to know when we left as we rarely saw him. The evening turn down service & little treats were a nice touch too. Our room view was exceptional & private as we requested. Often it felt as though we were the only guests. The beach outside the villas is suffering dramatically from erosion on this side of the island unfortunately. Our sun loungers were extremely comfy with thick padded mattresses, we had a sun umbrella, day bed, table & 2 chairs too. The foliage separating the beach villas provides shade all day, however due to beach erosion it was difficult to place a lounger in the sun. The reef is amazing, with some stunning healthy coral but also some which has suffered from bleaching. The anenome garden is thriving with lots of clown fish. The sea life is varied & plentiful with sharks, rays & turtles & we saw dolphins too. Staff are very friendly & know your name from day one, always asking how you are & having time to talk. The managers are visible & accessible, a nice touch. Food & drink are excellent, with chefs happy to amend dishes to your taste. We preferred the Sea Grill but all the restaurants are excellent. Sometimes the bar service was a little slow. Particular thanks to Estella, Maan, Zinadh & Elvira (for the kind loan of her fan to stop me melting) for their attentiveness & kindness throughout our stay.