'Incredible' is the one word description of our holiday.
The next bit is going to be much more long winded. We have been fortunate enough to visit the Maldives on many occasions as my parents started visiting in the mid 1980s and never stopped coming. Our kids now also see it as heaven on earth and so we try and come every few years. Each year we try a different resort which means I have spent many many hours researching islands .. so this review will cover all the things that I would have liked to have found during that research. We are a family of 5 with three adult children of 23, 21 and 18.
First I need to acknowledge the incredible staff that make up the character of Faarufushi... every single person you meet is invested in you having a brilliant stay and not just because they are told to... you can feel it in the soul of the place.
I apologise to those I leave out but in no particular order, special mentions to
Kunal, our house butler, who responded quickly to our every need, making sure we got to eat in all the restaurants, booked trips, moved trips, and generally fixed any problem we had.
To Moreno, the head chef who is so clearly passionate about his craft and ensuring all the restaurants serve the most remarkable food - we had a fun gnocchi making class as well as being fed his delicious off menu lobster risotto on our last evening.
Fernando in Aqua who cooked us a whole fish lunch one day... we hadn't asked but he wanted to do something special for us.. delicious.
Pryanka alongside many others who looked after us so wonderfully at meal times always with a big smile. The team at Mediterraneo and the Beach Club became used to the multiple dishes our rugby playing sons would order once they realised there was no limit on the number of courses they could have... the record was 3 starters and two main courses each... and that is not a reflection on the portion size... they were plenty large enough!
Gary - whose Teppanyaki display was hilarious and the food outstanding.
Aji (apologies for the spelling) who runs the Eclipse Bar.. the most stunning place for evening drinks. As soon as Aji heard our youngest was off to Sydney with a bar job he made sure he gave him some cocktail making lessons... Aji provides the most delicious cocktails and was keen to share his passion. Try the Gilli Faru .. utterly moreish!
To all the pool bar staff who provided dozens of iced lattes, coffees, Kiwi Coolers and chocolate milkshakes over the week ..always with a smile and a chat.
The dive centre team who took us on a stunning sunset fishing trip (sadly no sunset, nor fish for our family anyway but a fab evening).. and then we had the most remarkable trip swimming with manta rays..about 20 .. just swimming around us whilst feeding... something unlikely to ever be experienced again and for which we are immensely grateful.
So how does it all compare to Vilamendhoo, Reethi Beach, Reeth Faru, Ayada....and a few more...
Snorkelling/House Reef - a very important part of our holiday and I couldn't really find much information on this before we booked. Any snorkelling in the Maldives if it is your first time is memorable but it was hard to find out how the Faarufushi reef compared to some of the others we had been to. It was probably the best and that is not to denigrate Reethi Faru and Ayada which had some great snorkelling too.
The reef is best accessed at the end of the Eclipse/Mediterraneo jetty although at higher tide you can swim out from the beach. Most of the time there was no current and on a few trips a small one so very safe and the resort have anchored life rings at intervals so you never feel far from support.
The best snorkelling that we experienced (go left at the jetty end away from the water villas) does not cover a massive area and we mainly snorkelled just this stretch but the variety and volume of fish was out of this world at times and we saw pretty much everything apart from a whale shark!...
Eagle rays on three occasions, turtles twice, reef shark a few times, moray eels, clown triggerfish, titan triggerfish, anemone fish, trumpet fish, banner fish, clouds of angel fish and other varieties.. Picasso triggerfish in the shallower parts, a lionfish, pufferfish, box fish, powder blue surgeon fish, an octopus...etc etc etc...
Sunset Pool - stunning location and a beautifully long pool surrounded by loungers and day beds... hard pushed to beat it.
Rooms - we had two Beach Villas with Pool ..really spacious, very comfortable with stunning bathrooms, large outside day bed plus beach loungers and a beautiful infinity pool..hard pushed to do much better
All Inclusive - it really is a comprehensive offer..fully branded spirits, mini bars with crisps, chocolate, nuts, haribos, beers, wine etc and for our family as much food as they could possibly eat... I mentioned this earlier but every meal involved multiple meals.. and even in places like Mediterraneo serving Michelin quality food they didn't bat an eyelid if the boys ordered three starters each. Snorkelling kit all included as well.
Bikes - at first I thought we wouldn't use them as the island is very small but actually it was good fun cycling around and helped getting down the long jetties when we wanted a quick snorkel or nip to the Eclipse bar for a sunset downer.
Padel Tennis - a great new family activity for us and you can have a free lesson if you haven't played before. Padel is great leveller - our group consisted of good and not so good tennis players but on a Padel court it evened it all out and we had some fun few hours out there.
Food - the reviews don't lie ...its the best food by far we have had in the Maldives and its not fair to qualify it with that as its close to some of the best food we have ever had. It is clear form the food and talking with Moreno that money is invested in quality ingredients
Aqua Breakfast - nothing particularly unusual or different as fairly usual buffet style breakfast but everything is very high quality...fab fresh fruit station, delicious bircher muesli. chia seed pots, my sons had outstanding omelettes, eggs on toast, pancakes, waffles .. every day.. even just toast and marmalade was scrumptious
The Beach Club Lunch - beautiful spot with an a la carte menu which they would happily adapt.. definitely recommend the Watermelon Gazpacho .. unusual but you'd be happy having it at a London 5 star restaurant. Chicken satay and the Wagyu burgers were particularly outstanding but everything delicious.
Aqua Lunch - buffet lunch with lots of delicious choices.. sushi, sashimi, salads, hot dishes and always fresh tuna and chicken to be grilled
Pool Bar Snacks - mini Wagyu burgers kept the boys going in between meals on a number of occasions
Teppanyaki Grill - whilst the food is delicious this one is about the theatre of it... a very entertaining hour in the most stunning location overlooking the lagoon. We did book twice as we love tepannayaki not realising it wasn't just about the food, so if you can only go once, don't stress that is enough as you have the experience
Asiatique - we went our first night and the quality of the food was so high we were incredibly excited for the rest of our stay!.. the best Pad Thai I have ever eaten. It is indoors unlike all the others but really recommend it.
Carnivorous - its the same place as the Beach Club and in the evening the tables are on the beach which was beautiful. Possibly least favourite if I was forced to pick one...starters nothing to talk about but the main courses were as per all our other meals, outstanding. Wagyu brisket was so tender and tasty alongside some giant grilled prawns!
Mediterraneo - best til last.. location out on the end of a jetty over the sea is stunning, and the food was 5 star dining at its best... beautifully presented, delicate flavours from top quality ingredients. With some outstanding wines to go alongside (all part of the AI).
Manta Ray Snorkelling trip - we were possibly very lucky and its not a cheap experience but if you happen to find them it is the memory of a lifetime. The two guys who took us were so invested in it for us. Torah came in the water with us and took the video footage... he was just as excited as we were when a manta ray swam over above his head.
Sorry this is so long but a holiday to the Maldives is not cheap and I decided to provide all the information I would be looking for when doing my research.
It can't all be so perfect would now be my thinking whilst reading this... it really is but if I had to put one thing down that might bother some people it would be that there are quite a few groynes around the island protecting it from erosion but really don't let that put you off.
An outstanding 10 days. The Emerald team really have it nailed... its an amazing island but what makes it is the shared commitment by all of the staff to creating an incredible place to visit.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
