Ari Atoll Tours and Activities

Be aware, Bad Points - despite the Expedia listing that facilities included the use of water sports activities such as kayaks etc are part of the all inclusive package this turned out to be untrue with a kayak being charged at $50 an hour. The return airport transfer was dangerous as the hotel sent us out in a sub standard boat into a storm which resulted in us returning to the resort after 55 minutes at sea, after taking on too much water. Passengers were sick and crying, fearing for their lives. The management team were very poor at communicating on our return and in their words sent us out “on a bigger boat and a captain that knew what he was doing”. After finally arriving at Male Airport we were soaking wet and so was all our luggage and stinking of diesel from the first boats engines. Annoyingly the customer service team appear to be from the same group as they have failed to respond to our concerns about guest safety. We stayed in an Ocean view superior room but the bathroom was dated compared to other rooms we saw. Good points - service staff are great, special mentions to Shifaau, Raishan, Shareef, Azmoon, Iqbal and Akrum in the restaurants. They looked after us throughout our stay. The Spa and the lady’s there were lovely. Snorkelling on your doorstep is some of the best we had experienced.

My personal resort host Niyaaf greeted me immediately upon my arrival after traveling for almost 36h to get to my resort from Canada. Despite traveling alone I felt safe and welcome the whole time. The resort staff give a loving family vibe. Everything from the delicious food to the breathtaking house reef was amazing. Very flavorful food, good presentation, excellent service. The excursions were awesome! I got to snorkel with a whale shark and many Manta rays. We saw Dolphins on that excursion and even more on the Dolphin sunset cruise. The Water sports team was fun and knowledgeable about the reefs we went on the snorkel safari to. The dive team were an amazing group, they even let me try scuba diving for free for the first time in my life. If i had more time and didn't go snorkeling so much this trip I would have tried to get my scuba diving certification. Hopefully I can come back to get it here one day! I can't say enough about how wonderful my stay was here. To me, Sun Siyam Vilu Reef was little taste of heaven on earth! Thank you so much to all of the staff. I will come back again!