Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu, Maldives

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!

We are just heading back from a week at Coco Palm Dhuni and we bring with us splendid memories. Highlights: - Wonderful access to animal life all across the islands, both on land, with lots of local birds everywhere, and in the water, with plenty of tropical fish under the lagoon villas, but also the chance to encounter turtles, eagle rays, and black tip reef sharks meters away from the villa! - The turtle rescue centers, with volunteers taking care of injured turtles as well as caring for nests on the island - Superb diving and snorkeling trips, where we got to spend hours in splendid spots with views of tropical fish, hawkbill turtles, sharks, dolphins, lion fish, scorpion fish and, most impressive, massive manta rays. The diving instructors were also super nice and professional. - Great food - the kitchen is doing an amazing job and the buffet they set up for Easter was particularly beautiful. Kudos to the chef Both adults and kids are now coming home with stars in their eyes and a desire to go back soon!

Oh my gosh, where do I start about this beautiful Island where we stayed for just one week. We arrived on my birthday and were met off the sea plane by smiling faces. Onto the speed boat to the jetty for even more smiling faces. A young man led us straight to our room to find flowers saying happy birthday (thank you to Pratyush our housekeeper for being so great). The room was a delight and lovely and cold to escape the heat. A charming outside toilet and shower with lovely towels and robes and tea making facilities plus a decent size fridge. Perfect! Off to the bar next for our first sunset. Sanjit was the first to serve us but we soon got to know Ram and Abu as well over the course of the week. The best Piña Colada I have ever tasted. Next off to the restaurant where we sat down and then we were whisked to another special table by the gorgeous Sarmila with a message for my birthday set on the table. How very special. Next we met the cheeky Bibek who became our waiter for the week and made sure we had everything we needed, making us laugh every day. The Island is a beautiful as we imagined and only took about 25 minutes to walk around the whole thing. Our villa was near the great snorkelling part and it wasn't long before we saw brightly coloured tropical fish. We also saw from the water's edge, reef sharks, black rays and not forgetting Turtle hatchlings making their way to the sea. Talking of Turtles, it was great to visit the turtle hospital and see the great work that Michelle and the team were doing. We organised a few trips while we were there, guided by all the helpful reception team including Hajiba and Matheena, thanks girls, you were smashing! One of the trips was for my husband to go fishing. Naswaan the office manager helped us with that and arranged a speedboat with a local professional - what a great experience that was with Abdulla - thank you Naswaan for joining us and bringing refreshments too. A final thank you to Aakash, the Head Chef who has 70 staff under him who cannot do enough for you. We had 3 nights of bespoke dinner cooked for us rather than using the fantasic buffet, we had missed out on the Maldivian food night so he arranged that and then he cooked us the fish my husband caught and finally on our last special night, he arranged for seafood risotto, a favourite of mine. I cried on the last day, we had made such great genuine connections here (plus it was the end of our 30 day trip in India and ending in the Maldives). Sam and Bill will definitely be back!

Coco Palm Dhuni Kholu is the quintessential tropical beach paradise. This was our second stay and I hope it won’t be our last - we’d love to return. The accommodation is beautiful - spacious & comfortable, tastefully & thoughtfully designed; the island is beautiful - soft coral sand with lush tropical plants, and cleverly hidden cottages; the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful - you get the sense everyone wants to make sure you have a wonderful stay. Special mention to the gardener who gave us an impromptu tour of the cook’s garden when we turned up one afternoon. The food was very good, there’s lots of choice and much is freshly prepared and cooked in front of you. If you like Indian breakfasts look out for the photos next to the pancake station - this is where to ask for egg hoppers, pav bhaji, puri bhaji… yum. The Thai restaurant Cornus is excellent and not expensive since the portions are so generous - we found one starter, one salad and one main was plenty for two of us. We were slightly apprehensive about All Inclusive but found it to be very good - no bracelets to wear (phew!) and if you want anything different you are free to purchase as normal. Given this is the Maldives, and everything needs to be shipped in specially, I didn’t find the prices of food and drinks on the non-AI menus outrageous - pretty much what I’d expect in a smartish place back home in London. The excursions were great and reasonably priced. Zaaid and his team were so enthusiastic about the sea life and keen to make sure we saw everything there was to see. We booked through Angelfish travel who were brilliant - again! Their service is second to none. It’s a rare pleasure nowadays to find customer service delivered by human beings - and the people at Angelfish are very well informed, helpful and responsive. Not only did they give us excellent advice and make sure everything went smoothly, they also got us an excellent deal - so we made a significant saving by booking with Angelfish versus if we’d booked direct with the hotel or through an online booking platform. Win win.

This is our dream Island, it’s simple luxury in a beautiful environment, lovely staff. we love our bungalow on the water, we love the service, we love the snorkelling and scuba diving, or basically we love everything! As soon you step out of the airport in Male the experience begins with smiling staff.. Don’t look for marble palaces, giant waterslides, electric golf carts, huge out of place swimming pools or anything completely out of place on such an island. here you walk to your bungalow through luxurious plants and gardens, silence is only broken by birds and the gentle sound of waves. Staff is very attached and attentive to your well being, everywhere. The food is good and there is a lot of choice. We will come back again and again. Thank you for having us, see you soon