Vilamendhoo Island Resort & Spa
South Ari Atoll, MaldivesJust a 25 minute sea plane flight from Male, Vilamendhoo attracts a huge number of repeat guests of both divers and snorkellers who come back year after year to the resort.
One of Vilamendhoo’s many pluses is that the island is roughly split in half where the Jacuzzi Beach Villas meet the Beach Villas. The Beach Villas at the top half of the island are for everyone whereas the Jacuzzi Beach Villas and Jacuzzi Water Villas in the bottom half are for adults only. So if you are looking for a family break or a couples break, each with their own facilities, then Vilamendhoo is an excellent choice.
The resort is incredibly well-managed and maintains an environmental programme that contributes to the islands natural appearance. The eco-conscious island produces its own electricity and drinking water as well as aiming to continuously protect and preserve the marine ecology by reducing plastic consumption and educating both guests and staff to our fragile environment.
Vilamendhoo is also home to the Manta Trust Marine Biology Centre, where the team share their passion and knowledge of mantas and the marine environment. Guests can join workshops and trips run by the resident Marine Biologist and learn more about the conservation of mantas and their habitat in the Maldives.
The Duniye Spa is one of the finest in the Maldives and has a number of treatments and therapies to put your mind and body at ease. Situated over the water the setting is incredibly relaxing and you can even watch the baby sharks and rays swim below you in the lagoon as you are being pampered.
Chris spent his honeymoon here and had an amazing time, so please ask him about the resort!
To find out more about this area, visit our Maldives page.
Getting to the Maldives is pretty straightforward with many quality carriers stopping once en-route to Male. The most popular airlines tend to be Emirates, Qatar and Etihad who each have a short transit and arrive into your destination at a sensible hour. There are direct flights with British Airways from November to March from Gatwick, but only 3 days per week. The flight time is around 11 hours to Male from London.
Upon arrival in Male we arrange for you to be met by our ground representatives and shown to your seaplane transfer. The journey time is approx 25 minutes. We also liaise with the resort to arrange your seaplane transfer back to Male to tie in with your international flights or onward connection.
Guide price: 7nts from £1800pp*
Includes: Return economy class flights on Sri Lankan Airlines from London Heathrow to Male, meet and greet, sea plane transfers and 7nts half board accommodation in a twin/double Beach Villa.
*Price shown is for guide purposes only and is based on low season travel and for double/twin share accommodation. Any length of stay is possible, please contact us for a confirmed cost based on your preferred duration and time of travel.
Extend your stay
A perfect way to experience the best of the Maldives would be to combine your island stay with a liveaboard or another resort. As all our holidays are completely tailor-made this allows us to put together the perfect itinerary for you to suit your exact requirements.
Quick Guide: Vilamendhoo
- Location: South Ari Atoll
- Transfer: 25 minutes by sea plane
- Size: Large (900m x 300m)
- No. of rooms: 184 (13 Garden Rooms, 111 Beach Villas, 30 Jacuzzi Beach Villas and 30 Jacuzzi Water Villas)
- House reef: Yes
- Meal plan: Full board and All inclusive
There are 184 villas on Vilamendhoo divided over four different room types; 13 Garden Rooms, 111 Beach Villas, 30 Jacuzzi Beach Villas and 30 Jacuzzi Water Villas. The modern rooms all have air-conditioning, sitting area, mini-bar, tea/coffee making facilities, flat-screen TV, bluetooth speaker, partially open air bathroom and a private porch area with sun loungers.
The comfortable and simple Garden Rooms are located towards the centre of the resort and enjoy views of the islands lush vegetation.
The Beach Villas are located on the beach front and have views over the beautiful lagoon. The villas are either detached or semi-detached, which are perfect for families.
The slightly larger Jacuzzi Beach Villas are located on the beach front and have a walled outdoor area with jacuzzi for two, wooden sun deck with sun loungers, parasol, tropical plants and a magnificent view over the lagoon.
The tasteful Jacuzzi Water Villas are built on stilts over the lagoon. These villas have all the facilities of the previous room types but with some added extra luxuries. There is a walled outdoor area with jacuzzi for two, wooden sun deck with sun loungers, parasol, tropical plants, beautiful lagoon views and direct access to the ocean.
There are two large open-air sister restaurants offering buffet style meals. The Funama restaurant is for guests of the Garden Rooms and Beach Villas, and the guests of the Jacuzzi Beach Villas and Jacuzzi Water Villas dine at the Ahima restaurant. Both offer an excellent variety with main dishes that change daily. There is also the choice of two a la carte restaurants; the Asian Wok, which is located over the water and specialises in Asian cuisine and teppanyaki, and Hot Rocks which is an adult only restaurant and specialises in seafood, steak and chicken, which is cooked at your table on hot rocks.
There are numerous bars to chose from, the lively Bonthi Bar which is located on the beach next to the Funama Restaurant and has coverage of all major sporting events and live music, the Boashi Bar at the east end of the island next to the swimming pool, the adults only Sunset Bar located next to the Ahima Restaurant and the over the water Asian Wok Bar.
In addition to diving or snorkelling on the islands beautiful house reef, the resort offers many other activities. There are numerous watersports available including surfing, sailing, jet-skis, paddle boarding and more. There are also 2 swimming pools, a putting green, volleyball, tennis and badminton courts, an air-conditioned fitness centre, various guided excursions, games room, internet cafe and the Duniye Spa; an over-the-water tropical Asian spa offering a huge selection of natural and holistic therapies.
The diving is run by the professional and friendly Euro Divers who have had a base at Vilamendhoo for many years. The dive centre is located on a private jetty, a few metres from the house reef. The house reef goes around the island and is known to be one of the largest accessible house reefs in the Maldives. There are 10 entry points and the depth varies from 28 to 35 meters approximately. The reef has shallow caves and overhangs and due to its location and the currents attracts wide variety of marine life such as various types of rays, whitetip reef sharks and napoleon wrasse. Advanced divers can dive independently and take advantage of the tank delivery service, where the dive centre transports your tank to your selected reef entry point before and after the dive.
There are more than 40 different dive sites accessible from Vilamendhoo at a distance of 5 minutes to 1 hour by boat. The dive centre operates between 3 to 4 boats twice daily to a variety of sites, including the famous Kuda-Rha-Thila, Broken Rock and Shark Point. Mantas and whalesharks can be spotted year round, however, the best chance to see them is during the northeast monsoon from December to May.
Go back to our Maldives page
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Great Escapes Diving Holidays Ltd
Combs Tannery
Tannery Road
Combs
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 2EN
United Kingdom
Office hours: Mondays to Fridays, 9am - 5pm
Tel: 01449 535010
Email: info@greatescapesdiving.com
All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLcertificate
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