Reethi Faru Resort

We stayed for exactly one week in July, two of us, in a Garden Villa. Writing this in detail because the resort deserves it and the team there genuinely works hard. The food — the single best reason to come here Let me be blunt: the food is outstanding. We were there a full week and not one day repeated itself. Every evening had its own theme, and not in the “they swapped the labels” sense — it was genuinely a different cuisine each time. And this isn’t about a buffet having lots of options. It’s about the kitchen consistently putting out dishes at the level of a good high-end Moscow restaurant. Not Michelin-style chef’s cuisine, but a solid top-tier restaurant standard — every single day. On the meat specifically: the filet mignon here was better than in almost any restaurant I’ve had it in back home. Cooked exactly right, excellent quality, properly presented. The American night was superb. The French night wasn’t a box-ticking exercise either — it was a properly worked-out menu: real Marseille bouillabaisse, ratatouille, mushrooms in Burgundy sauce, a cheese board with honey and nuts, chocolate charlotte, mille-feuille, nonnettes de Dijon with orange marmalade, and crêpe Suzette. Live stations run throughout — pasta made in front of you, a grill with fresh fish. All the baking is done on site. Desserts hold up, and the krokant is excellent. The fruit deserves its own paragraph. The papaya was simply unbelievable — I’ve never had it that good anywhere. The nectarines were among the best I’ve eaten in my life, no exaggeration. The pineapple was outstanding. Everything ripe, everything fresh, every day. The sea, the reef, and who lives there The water is genuinely clear. Not “clear for a busy resort” — honestly transparent. The beaches are clean, the sand is soft, and getting in is easy. You snorkel straight off the beach, no arranging required. The Sea Explorer dive centre also runs a free guided house reef snorkel every day at 11:00. What we saw over the week — all of it with our own eyes, and nearly all of it on the house reef: • Turtles — plenty of them, regularly, and some clearly live there permanently. • Blacktip reef sharks — a great many, especially close to shore. • Spotted eagle rays — a couple of times. Stunning animals. • A giant moray eel — a resident of the house reef, out at the drop-off. • An octopus — also found on the house reef. • Titan triggerfish — huge, and more than one. All calm, none of them aggressive toward us. We ended up with four triggerfish species in total: Picasso, orange-lined, clown and titan. • A cuttlefish — small, shifting through every colour of the rainbow. A genuine wow moment. • Clownfish, needlefish, cornetfish, unicornfish (these actually follow you around), porcupinefish, boxfish and sweetlips. • Shoals of small baitfish bursting out of the water in a silver wave in the sun, hunted from below and from above at the same time. A spectacle in its own right. Dolphins even came in toward the house reef — too far out to reach, though. They move fast. Excursions Dolphins. The dolphin trip is a must. We saw well over a hundred spinner dolphins. And they don’t just jump — they throw genuine somersaults, several full rotations, a metre clear of the water. When we went out on the jet ski we ended up right among them, and we got to swim with them. They moved off quickly, but it happened. Underwater you hear the clicks — a lot of them; we even recorded them. One of the strongest impressions of the whole trip. Mantas. The manta trip absolutely delivered — we saw them, and saw them close. One came straight at us and passed within one or two metres. I saw another at roughly a metre’s distance at a cleaning station, with the cleaner wrasse working over it; it let us get remarkably close and simply stayed put. Wildlife on the island itself The island is green and alive, and that’s a pleasure in itself: • Flying foxes — big, with a rust-coloured collar, out over the palms in the evening. You can hear them clicking their wings. • Kan’bili (the white-breasted waterhen, the national bird of the Maldives) — the little “chickens” running around the grounds. Completely unafraid, they walk right up to you. • Asian koels — you hear them before you see them: a rising “a-wow”, about five times over, getting louder each time. The males are glossy black, the females spotted and streaked, and both have red eyes. • A grey heron — we met it once, a bit battered-looking but full of fight. The local terns kept trying to run it off. • Black-naped terns — slim, loud, and hunting the baitfish that break the surface. • Geckos clicking away at night, and garden lizards doing push-ups at each other like they’re in a gym. Honest about the downsides Mosquitoes. They got us a bit on the first two days — we were in a Garden Villa, which is in the garden zone. After that it was a non-issue. Still, bring a decent repellent (we used Gardex Extreme) and the problem disappears entirely. It is absolutely not a deal-breaker. Everything else is minor and doesn’t touch the overall impression. Verdict Reethi Faru is a resort where the kitchen and the reef are equally strong. In one week we put together a wildlife list that would take a month to assemble elsewhere: turtles, sharks, eagle rays, a moray, an octopus, titan triggerfish, a cuttlefish, mantas at arm’s length, over a hundred dolphins, flying foxes, and half of Maldivian ornithology thrown in. A separate thank you to the staff. They are genuinely engaged — they help, they explain, they tell you where to look for what. The Sea Explorer dive centre are true professionals. Would we go back? Yes, without a second thought

We had the most incredible time at Reethi Faru ☀️ We've been home two weeks and miss it already. We met the lovliest people, spent time under the water seeing amazing creatures and exploring on land in awe of the natural beauty of the island. The food was just fantastic and I was so well looked after, being vegan, nothing was too much trouble. The staff were all so lovely and friendly and made us feel so welcome. To name a few (but by no means all) Janeesh & Jinu from Dhiyavaru who looked after us on many occasions, Rishi from the dive centre - a wonderful instructor, Musalih who kept our villa immaculate, chefs Sakir and Rajesh from Vakaru, Bruno, Milton & Pari who looked after us so well at Veggie Vegan, Reethi Grill and Haruge Bar, Sateesh at Vakaru, Devita, Tika and all the ladies from the spa and Roberta, who literally was the spirit of the Island and always made our day with her wonderful smile and positivity. Looking forward to our return visit 🏝

This was our third visit to Reethi Faru, and once again it did not disappoint. We arrived on 26th June for a two-week stay, and we couldn't have asked for better weather throughout our holiday. As always, our experience was exceptional from start to finish. The resort continues to impress with its beautiful surroundings, excellent facilities, and, most importantly, its incredibly friendly and welcoming staff. Everyone goes out of their way to make you feel at home and ensure your stay is memorable. A special mention must go to our old friend Janaka, who is a real credit to the resort. His warmth, professionalism, and genuine care for guests are just some of the reasons we keep returning year after year. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to Rajesh, the Sous Chef, for his outstanding hospitality during our stay. In addition, Abishake at the Dhiyavaru Restaurant was simply fantastic. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and the quality of his food and cooking was exceptional. His passion and attention to detail truly enhanced our dining experience. We would also like to recognise all of the staff at the Dhiyavaru Restaurant, who were consistently accommodating, attentive, and friendly throughout our stay. Their excellent service, welcoming smiles, and willingness to help made every meal a pleasure and contributed greatly to the overall experience. Reethi Faru continues to exceed our expectations, and it feels like a home away from home. We are already counting down the days until we return next year! Thank you to everyone at Reethi Faru for another unforgettable holiday.

This was my first time visiting Reethi Faru Resort, and even though I came for a work trip, I had such a wonderful experience. Everyone was incredibly welcoming and made us feel right at home. A special thank you to Shiva, the IT Manager, for his kindness, professionalism, and exceptional hospitality throughout our stay. The water villa was absolutely beautiful, peaceful, and the perfect place to relax. The food was delicious, and every part of our stay exceeded my expectations. Thank you to the amazing team for making my first visit so memorable. I can’t wait to come back!

This is my 2nd trip to Reethi Faru. The first in 2022 was a solo holiday in a water villa in the April time. My experience at Reethi Faru was so professional and consistent that I was confident particularly as a female solo travelling that I felt it was a safe and great location for my children including one who has a medical condition. This trip was with my two teenagers in a deluxe beach villa. It won’t be my last visit. However I will list some pro’s cons and recommendations for anyone wishing to travel to this resort. I chose a beach villa on this trip as neither myself or my children are avid snorkelers. The water villa is beautiful, but unless you intend to use and are very confident in the ocean it wasn’t worth the added cost for us. I booked sea plane transfer through the hotel, which worked out about $500 pp return. A cheaper alternative is to take a domestic flight to a closer location than a speedboat. However, this adds extra journey time and be sure your stomach can manage a speedboat transfer boat for 40mins! I won’t talk too much about transfers etc as this review is about the resort, but I will add that the transfer process in Male has significantly improved since my last trip and the luxury starts the moment you reach the seaplane departure lounge We spent just 5 nights at Reethi Faru, it was supposed to be longer, but last min changes due to the issues in the Middle East meant that I had to rebook the entire trip. I recommend you spend at least 7 nights here. We journeyed at the end of June, which is classed as off season, weather wise, we only experienced rain during one evening/night and drizzle off and on on another day. There was a gentle breeze which was welcome, and we all caught the sun beautifully. The resort was quieter which made it feel more private, however it isn’t a heavily crowded resort in the first place. You won’t have to queue for anything and none of this fighting for sun loungers by the pool nonsense. Upon arrival at check in, I upgraded us to dine around all inclusive, this cost an additional $50 per person per day it also includes the mini bar which was great when we spent time on our ‘private’ beach. my reasoning for this is because it is what I had last time and it brings an added less consideration with teenagers as we can eat/drink wherever and pretty much what ever we want. However I must say the occasions we ate at the main restaurant, the selection was brilliant. So go with your budget, you won’t be disappointed. The resort staff were utterly professional, a special shout out to Alam who works at reethi grill, he was there at my last visit and honestly made my day when he said he recognised me from my last visit. Another special shout out to the gentleman who ran the bar at the pool, I am so sorry to forget his name, he has a young baby daughter. He was so friendly and his cocktail making was brilliant. I hope I will get to see him again on my return. Staff there remembered our drink orders, so friendly and just really a relaxed vibe. We had a dolphin cruise, and sadly didn’t see any dolphins. However (this was unexpected as we wasn’t properly aware) the boat guides took us to what can only be described as sandbank and asked us to jump out with a life jacket on and swim to the shore. I politely declined but my two children did. They were told not to kick too low as there is coral, but unfortunately my eldest got a cut to her foot from the coral. So anyone who goes on this cruise, pack your swim stuff and make sure you have swim shoes as coral cuts are deep and hard to clean. We also went on a sunset cruise, but this is where the weather turned and couldn't see the sunset and it was a bumpy ride back in the rain. My daughter really wanted to try parasailing but we were informed the boat has been broken for a while. The fruit bats are glorious and active during the day, the birds are wonderful and you will see multiple fish and sharks. We saw a fair share of jelly fish on the first day, but didn’t see any more again. WiFi is brilliant around the island, my teenagers were very happy. My only grumble with the resort, in comparison from my last trip. I was able on my last trip to be entirely barefoot. This time however, I had to wear my clunky crocs around the island as the ground by the beach villas towards the main area is very sharp and hard. Little to no sand and definitely uncomfortable to walk on barefoot. (There also is an unusual smell when you are walking behind the staff area from beach villas towards the main dining area, like they are mulching food waste?) Advice I will give people who wish to visit: -Spend min 7 nights -bring swim shoes to protect your feet from coral -all skin types, pack decent sunscreen -insect repellent is a must, the mosquitos are thirsty -bring plasters, including waterproof ones and antiseptic lotion for any accidents. -upgrade to dine all around if you can -bring medication for travellers stomach -there is no pressure to tip, I didn’t bring any cash and I regret this and wish I actually tipped the staff who made our holiday amazing. -bring flip flops you can wear on hard ground -Try the spa (I did on my first trip and it was so relaxing) I best start saving and working towards Reethi Faru part 3