I have visited 8 Maldives resorts in the past 6 years and I have now been to Bandos twice and I can honestly say that I shall be going back! I have tried to present an objective overview in this article for anyone considering visiting it, or who is not sure which island to choose.
Bandos was closed during 2005 being practically rebuilt, the resort that is not the island, and reopened as a new resort. The resulting resort is magnificent in my opinion. Being in close proximity to the capital Male makes the transfer to Bandos by boat short and sweet, which makes it very attractive to many holiday makers who don't wish to board a seaplane to visit some of the more remote islands. The resort has great facilities and is also very family orientated, resulting in what has become a very popular resort in the last few years.
As well as the sheer beauty of this island, the food and service here is top class. One of the focal points of the resort is the lighthouse restaurant, which has a white peaked spire, making it the only building on the resort that doesn't have a thatched roof. You will see the lighthouse in most of the marketing pictures for this resort.
The other restaurant is the Cayenne Grill which prepares a range of meat, seafood and vegetarian options to your own requirements and presents this at one of the individual thatched pavilions at the waters edge.
There are 3 different category of room on the resort, as is typical with most Maldives island resorts - water villas, Baros villas and the Deluxe villas. The attention to detail and the workmanship is second to none, and walking into these rooms for the first time makes you feel good about arriving - always important for me. There are designer fittings, concealed plasma Tv, quality coffee maker, and more importantly for me, a well-stocked wine cooler.
Every room in this resort is just a few strides away from beach or lagoon and each has a large decked verandah complete with a daybed. Combine this with the 24 hour room service and the well stocked wine cooler, and its not surprising that many guests stay put by their rooms for days on end.
With a fine and easily accessible reef encircling most of the island the snorkeling is really good here on Bandos (yes I am actually writing this while on the island)!. The PADI dive school is very friendly and offers open water courses and beginners can try an introductory dive in the lagoon. There are more than 30 dive sites you can visit from Baros and with several trips per day even the most avid divers have plenty to go at. There is a Marine Biologist on hand to provide talks and accompany the snorkeling and diving trips sometimes to chat about the local marine life for those who want to know more.
All in all you really are hard pushed to beat Bandos island for a rewarding tropical getaway. - 29892
Bandos was closed during 2005 being practically rebuilt, the resort that is not the island, and reopened as a new resort. The resulting resort is magnificent in my opinion. Being in close proximity to the capital Male makes the transfer to Bandos by boat short and sweet, which makes it very attractive to many holiday makers who don't wish to board a seaplane to visit some of the more remote islands. The resort has great facilities and is also very family orientated, resulting in what has become a very popular resort in the last few years.
As well as the sheer beauty of this island, the food and service here is top class. One of the focal points of the resort is the lighthouse restaurant, which has a white peaked spire, making it the only building on the resort that doesn't have a thatched roof. You will see the lighthouse in most of the marketing pictures for this resort.
The other restaurant is the Cayenne Grill which prepares a range of meat, seafood and vegetarian options to your own requirements and presents this at one of the individual thatched pavilions at the waters edge.
There are 3 different category of room on the resort, as is typical with most Maldives island resorts - water villas, Baros villas and the Deluxe villas. The attention to detail and the workmanship is second to none, and walking into these rooms for the first time makes you feel good about arriving - always important for me. There are designer fittings, concealed plasma Tv, quality coffee maker, and more importantly for me, a well-stocked wine cooler.
Every room in this resort is just a few strides away from beach or lagoon and each has a large decked verandah complete with a daybed. Combine this with the 24 hour room service and the well stocked wine cooler, and its not surprising that many guests stay put by their rooms for days on end.
With a fine and easily accessible reef encircling most of the island the snorkeling is really good here on Bandos (yes I am actually writing this while on the island)!. The PADI dive school is very friendly and offers open water courses and beginners can try an introductory dive in the lagoon. There are more than 30 dive sites you can visit from Baros and with several trips per day even the most avid divers have plenty to go at. There is a Marine Biologist on hand to provide talks and accompany the snorkeling and diving trips sometimes to chat about the local marine life for those who want to know more.
All in all you really are hard pushed to beat Bandos island for a rewarding tropical getaway. - 29892
About the Author:
Shelley is a journalist and writes about tropical holiday resorts such as Bandos island and other Maldives island resorts.
