I have been lucky enough to visit several Maldives islands for my holidays and my favorite so far is Bandos. I went there in 2004 and went again this year. I enjoyed it so much I’m hoping I can afford to go again in the spring. This brief overview will hopefully provide some insight for anyone considering visiting the Maldives but is unsure of which island to choose.
Bandos was totally refurbished during 2005 when it was closed for the whole season pretty much and reopened as a new and, in my opinion, beautiful resort. The island resort of Bandos is relatively close to Male, and coupled with natural beauty, great activities and facilities, it is also very family orientated.
There are two main restaurants on the island – the Cayenne Grill and the lighthouse – and I found the food and service to be good in both of them. The Cayenne serves a range of seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes which you can mix and match to your own tastes.
The natural beauty of the island is coupled with great food and service here. The lighthouse restaurant is a focal point of the island, with its striking white peaked spire, making it the only building on the resort that doesn’t have a thatched roof. The lighthouse takes pride of place in most of the marketing pictures for this resort and is split between two levels, with a lounge bar on the top level and offering panoramic views, and the lower-level haute cuisine restaurant serving a mixed menu of Asian and Mediterranean dishes.
Your first impression of the resort I’m sure will be a good one and this is raised further when you arrive at your accommodation for the first time. There are 3 room categories here: 30 water villas, 20 Baros villas, 24 Deluxe villas, and a single pool villa. The attention to simple detail and quality of the workmanship cannot be overstated, and walking into these rooms for the first time may give you the idea that you have walked into a magazine article for a chic boutique hotel. There are designer fittings, concealed plasma Tv, quality coffee maker, and more importantly for me, a well-stocked wine cooler.
Each room in the resort is never a stones throw from the beach or lagoon and all have a large verandah complete with comfortable daybed. If you consider that their is a very good 24 hour room service you wont be surprised to hear that I didn’t need to stray far short of taking the odd dip to cool down or go snorkeling.
With a fine and easily accessible reef encircling most of the island the snorkeling is really good here on Bandos (yes I am actually writing this while on the island)!. The PADI dive school is very friendly and offers open water courses and beginners can try an introductory dive in the lagoon. There are more than 30 dive sites you can visit from Baros and with several trips per day even the most avid divers have plenty to go at. There is a Marine Biologist on hand to provide talks and accompany the snorkeling and diving trips sometimes to chat about the local marine life for those who want to know more.
It is difficult to beat Bandos island resort for a Maldives holiday that will not break the bank, go on, find out more.
Shelley is a travel writer and writes about tropical destinations such as the Bandos Maldives resort and other articles about The Maldives.
Related Websites - Denver Ski Resorts Are you looking for a top notch ski resort in the Denver area? Keep reading for information on some of the best skiing that the Denver area has to offer. If you are looking for one of the closest area ski resorts to the city of Denver, then one of......
- Visit Cancun, Mexico: The UN-Official Guide Ave. Tulum is the main north-south artery (connecting downtown to the airport some 30 km (19 mi) to south). Tulum is bisected by Ave. Cobá. East of Ave. Tulum, Cobá becomes Ave. Kukulcan which serves as the primary road that runs through the long 7-shaped hotel zone. Ave. Tulum......
- Crown Macau Opens 60 Hotel Rooms Melco PBL, confirms that Crown Macau opened approximately 60 hotel rooms to the public last weekend. The hotel is on track to meet its target of having a full complement of 216 rooms, which includes all villas and suites, operational by the end of July 2007. Crown Macau management has......
- Lake Nacimiento Resort, Bradley, CA Lake Nacimiento Resort is located near Bradley, CA on Lake Nacimiento Phone: 805-238-3256 Marine Standby Channel: At this time the marina is only reachable by phone. Average Water Depth: The lake levels vary due to seasons and weather changes. Please call ahead to check specific depths. Is there a pumpout......
- Exotic Destination Weddings So you have determined that you desire an exotic destination wedding, preferably a beach wedding, but above all you prefer to go someplace exotic where the ocean breezes cool the warm afternoon and stir the palms. You have got it totally depicted in your mind you just do not......
Tags: Accommodation, diving, Holidays, Hotel, Hotels, indian ocean, maldives, maldives holidays, marine biology, padi, spa, Travel, tropical
