Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu, Maldives

Another visit and still as special From the seaplane to arriving at Coco Palm whether you are a repeater or first time visitor the service you receive is always above and beyond. Arrival is always a special experience as you are greeted by staff with the biggest smile and welcome. For us we just love the rustic style of the island, the quiet, all the lovely animals, the view and especially the wonderful staff who are always there to help with anything or just chat about your holiday and how you are getting on. We were lucky to experience one of the Lagoon Villas for our last two days which was another experience on a different level. We were amazed how quiet it was out on the water and just perfect waking up to the view of the sea. We'd like to give special thanks to so many of the staff to: Raazi - you went above and beyond to make our stay just perfect - thank you. Anees & Kausar - The reason we love the beach bar - thank you (we missed you this time Abul) Shardar, Mani, Sanjit & - We love our chilled lunches in the Conch Bar. Shardar your service is the best, it’s been great to get to know you better this year and seeing your confidence rise. It was great seeing you in the beach bar to. Hajiba and Naswan - for your kindness and warm welcome every time we saw you and also not to forget Hajibo The amazing Chef Danish and his very creative team couldn’t help enough with my dietary requirements as a vegetarian I was so looked after so well with many evenings in the 2nd week bringing out wonderful food for me to try. Thank You! Our pergola dinner was just awesome the sky was bright, the wind was subtle and the food – WOW! Just the perfect romantic evening. Adeel our waiter always there to greet us Our room was looked after by Noaman, who we had lovely conversations with and he kept our room so clean and tidy. So many more to mention. A special thanks to Angelfish Travel, your knowledge and experience is so personal to each of your clients. We wouldn't recommend anyone else but you. Google them you won't be disappointed... angelfish.travel The resort really does welcome everyone, whether it's your first time or you've been many times before. There is something very special about this island and we are so happy to be part of that experience.

This was a family trip for us with our grown up children to celebrate mine and my wife’s 60th birthday. Island lived up to our expectations, a real gem and protected paradise. Loved the relaxed atmosphere on the whole island and the focus on environment and sustainability. Loved the turtle rescue centre and we were lucky enough on one night to see some hatch on the beach. Food and all the staff were absolutely amazing. Two of our family are vegetarian and the restaurant staff would prepare anything for us although with the wide choice of food it was just wonderful. In all our visits to the Maldives over 30 years this has been our favourite. Certainly planning to return.

Excellent food with Many Live Cooking stations Starters, pasta, Grill, wok, Tandoori and Desserts are fresh made on request. Wow

Had a beautiful time at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu! Staff, food and island are all amazing. Big thanks to Angelfish Travel for organising everything - would highly recommend both

We stayed at Coco Palm Dunhi Kolhu for 2 weeks during the second half of Feb 26 and in short, we had a wonderful stay. We were booked into a Deluxe Beach Villa on the all-inclusive package. We were met at the landing jetty by Hajiba who escorted us directly to our villa (No 62) and after a few minutes we were left to get on with our holiday. The villa design is fairly basic but it was very comfortable and absolutely fine for our needs. How long do you want to spend in the room anyway? One of the great features of the room is the outside bathroom, which we really liked. At the back of the villa, a path takes you through the bushes to your own bit of beach. Now, this is where your own experience will depend on where you are on the island and the time of year. At the time of our visit, there was very little beach to speak of at the back of our room, however, we found out that the island changes throughout the year as the sand gets removed or deposited by the tides, depending on the season. The lack of beach immediately behind our villa did not bother us at all as the main beach on the other side of the island is long, wide and always feels quiet, no matter what time of the day you are there. It’s also close to the main reception area, restaurant and beach bar. Our villa had the same cleaner for our visit who would also service the room in the evening. It’s not unusual to have an arrangement of petals or leaves on your bed when you get back in the evening. It’s a nice touch. As we were on the all-inclusive package, the default for meals was the Cowrie Restaurant. You can book to eat at The Cornus Restaurant (Thai) if you wish but you will pay extra. The restaurant is buffet style catering for a variety of different tastes. You can stick to what you know or be a bit adventurous and try something different. The beauty of the buffet is that, if you don’t like something, change it. You’ll probably have a particular waiter who will serve you for your stay although they may not be around the whole time. Our main waiter (Raja) seemed to appear out of nowhere each time we arrived and after a couple of days knew what drinks we would like. If he wasn’t there, Didi seemed to be there in his place. Some reviews suggest that there’s not much choice. We didn’t think so, however, if you’re staying for 2 weeks, it’s reasonable to expect that some of the dishes will reappear. For drinks, we mainly visited the Beach Bar. It does exactly what it says on the tin but was a great spot to have a pre-lunch game of scrabble/beer or a pre-dinner drink with a beautiful view of the sunset. On a few evenings, the beach was visited by dolphins and rays. On most of our visits we were given great service by either Anees, Abul or Arun. At the top, I mentioned Hajiba, who welcomed us to the island. She has a pet bird (Hajibo) who likes to perch in and around the Beach Bar, occasionally landing on unsuspecting heads. We also saw him entering the restaurant on a young boy’s head one evening. The island has a reef which, the main part of which seems to start just after the water villas, going clockwise round the island and is just a short swim off the beach. Although there was a good range of reef fish present when we were there, it seemed to be large numbers of a relatively small number of species. If you want to see a wider range of fish of all sizes, then it’s probably better to go on one of the trips. We had the opportunity to snorkel twice on a reef by a neighbouring island and the number of different fish we saw was mind blowing! Nevertheless, we did enjoy the house reef as it was right there by the beach. One amazing thing was that, just off the beach there was a strip of bait fish that seemed to stretch round the island with Reef Sharks and Blue Trevally (I think) just waiting for dinner time. We saw two Reef Sharks beach themselves in a frenzy while trying to feed. There was also a Heron waiting patiently for one of the bait fish to come near. If you’re not used to Reef Sharks, it may be a bit daunting at first to see a large shark swimming nearby but they are really not interested in us. Don’t worry about taking snorkeling equipment as it’s all available from the dive centre. We went on a couple of excursions, one to see Manta Rays (which unfortunately we did not) and one to see turtles (which we did). You have to accept that it’s down to luck. Also, we did get to snorkel on some incredible reefs with lots of different fish; some in large numbers. Just like being in an aquarium. Back on the island, a visit to the Turtle Sanctuary is a must. Some reviews have said that parts of Coco Palm Dunhi Kolhu look a bit “tired;” I’m not sure. It’s not the most modern or glitzy of resorts but it does look and feel like it’s being lived in by happy and content guests and staff alike. There’s a wonderful laid-back feeling from the moment of arrival till you put your shoes back on to leave. We had a wonderful visit. Thank you. Oh, and don’t forget to look for the peacocks!