Meeru Island (Maldives) - Heaven on earth (Meeru Island Resort)

Member Name: malvern15

Product:	Meeru Island Resort
Date:	09/02/09 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: White beaches/Sun/Excellent staff

Disadvantages: None

Meeru or Meerufenfushi to give it its full name is a beautiful island in the Maldives. My wife and I were lucky enough to have visited this island for our Honeymoon in 2005.

The only way to describe this place is heaven on earth. From the white sandy beach to the clear blue water you cannot help but fall in love with this place.

We took a direct flight from Manchester to Mali (Maldives capital) which took around 10 and a half hours. This was followed by a speedboat transfer to our island. I must admit that the boat was not the newest and the journey was somewhat bumpy. By the time we arrived at the island (Transfer time approx 60 minutes dependent on weather) we were feeling a bit worse for ware (This may have had something to do with a number of alcholic beverages downed the evening before at our reception). - A tip for anyone planning to visit the island for their honeymoon would be to give yourself any extra day before travelling. Or alternatively have an early night -If this is possible on your wedding night!!


On arrival at the island you are greated with a cocktail and a refreshing cold towel. To be honest after your journey you are just looking forward to sitting down in your room and having a nice cool drink. The reception staff were very speedy and rooms keys and all inclusive wrist bands were arranged quickly considering the number of people arriving at the same time.

Bags are marked up with your room number and left at reception while you are taken to your room by hotel staff. We booked an All Inclusive Jacquzzi Land Villa, which was one of the more expensive rooms on the island but as we found out was well worth that little extra seeing as it was for a one off special occasion. Once at your room the hotel employee will give you a tour of your room, which in our case meant a demo of the jacquzzi which was located in our own private garden.

Our room also included (amongst other things) the following:

Double patio doors
Air conditioning
Fully stocked minibar - including snacks
Four poster bed
Outside Shower - This takes a bit of getting used to due to the local wildlife wanting to shower with you (Small lizards/Geckos) and thought of peeping toms climbing nearby trees to catch a glance.

No sooner have you been shown around the room and your bags are delivered to your door by Golf buggy. A tip of around five dollars looked to be much appreciated by the gentleman lugging your luggage around in some very hot conditions.

The first evening we visited the Maalan restaurant (Exclusive to people staying in the north end of the island) On arrival you are greated by a member of staff who show you to your table. This table will be your designated table for the whole of your stay and we were advised that at busy periods you could end up having to share with other couples. This was not the case on our visit and we always found that this restaraunt was never over busy. Once seated your own designated waiter who will serve you morning, noon and night will take your drinks order. Our waiter was called Ikle and was always very polite and you never found yourself asking for anything. In fact after the first day he didn't even have to ask what drinks you wanted and you found yourself sitting down and having your usual drinks placed in front of you.

The food in the Maalan restaurant was buffet style but of a very high standard, each evening had a different theme such as French/Italian or our our favourite Maldivian night which included a number of different curried meat dishes and a wide variety of fish dishes.

The Maalan restaraunt themes are repeated on a weekly basis so after the first week you are looking forward to your favourite dishes appearing again the next week. Drinks we free at any bar on the island ( With the exception of cocktails which were around five dollars each) as we were all inclusive and I found myself quite fond of a Tiger beer or two,three,four..........

Although there were plenty of activities to do on the island such as football and golf (Driving range) we were more interested in relaxing in the sun/sea. We did go on two excursions which were included in our all inclusive package the first of which was a two hour night fishing trip. A Dhoni Boat (Maldivian Fishing Boat) take around 10 people out of the coast of the island and hand reels are handed out already baited, you simply lower your line into the water and wait for the fish to grab hold. As a keen see fisher myself in the UK i thought i was going to be one of the first to pull a fish overboard. This was not the case and I found myself one of the only people onboard not to catch anthing. Much to my annoyance and my wifes amusement. There were a number of catches including a small basking shark which was return to the water immediately. If wanted any fish you catch can be taken back to the island and cooked to your requirement for your evening meal. (At a small cost)

The other excursion was the Love Boat Cruise which was one of the most amazing excursions I ever been on. This is a full days cruise on a lovely wooden sailboat, we met around 8.30 in the morning at the jetty and were taken out with 4 other guests for a full days cruise. Lunch was provide and set out under a canopy on the deck, again alcholic and soft drinks are provided in a cooler for you to help yourself. The early part of the cruise is best spent taking in the rays on the deck. We picked a good spot and lay on out towels for a couple of hours. (Don't forget to cover yourself in lotian as the breeze makes the strenght of the sun very deceptive).

After a couple of hours the first stop is Fishermans island which is a very small island with one house on it. We were told this was the fishermans house who catches all fish for the Meeru restaurant. Alcoholic and Soft drinks are brought ashore in a cool box for you to enjoy while sunbathing/strolling on the island. After an hour or so it back on board and lunch is server out on the open sea. The food was very fresh and extremely tasty, and again all of the crew couldn't do enough for you.

Next stop was just off the coast of another small island and it was for snorkelling/swimming. The water was quite choppy at the time of our visit and life jackets were provided if you want to enter the water. There was quite a stong current in the water and I wouldn't advise entering the water unless you were an adequate swimmer. (These conditions may have been a one off at the time of our visit) Having said that what you see under the water while snorkelling is amazing. There is a shear drop off the side of a coral reef which goes from around 15 to 100 feet, around this is just a unimaginable amount of tropical fish. I was lucky enough to see a giant turtle whilst in the water. After have an hour in the water its back on the boat and a slow cruise back towards the island. Whilst on your way back to the island the crew are on the look out for dolphins again we were lucky enough to have around 5 or 6 dolphins along side our boat splashing in and out of the water. The crew seem just as happy as you are to see the dolphins and this is the perfect end to a perfect day. You return to the island just as sun is setting and the sky is a lovely shade of red.

After my encounter with the turtle most of my days were spent in the sea snorkelling next to a small reef just of the shore of Meeru. Infact you could stand up next to the reef as it is only in shallow water. This is a excellent place to see large numbers of colourful fish and an underwater camera is a must. We bought a disposable one for around £15 and found it easy to use for an amatuer photographer.

The only disapointment on my visit to Meeru was that I had been looking forward to going on the "Big Game Fishing" excursion which involves a full days trip trying to catch giant tuna or sail fish. Unfortunatley at the time of our visit the boat used to go on this excersion was out of order and so we were unable to enjoy it.

In summary Meeru island is the most unbelivable place I've ever visited. Although it is quite expensive to visit, you'll find that it is well worth the extra cash.

You won't be disappointed. Trust me.

Summary: An beautiful island that must be seen to be belived