Travel, Leisure and Recreation

Over a thousand small coral islands make up the Republic of the Maldives and are scattered like glitter in the turquoise Indian Ocean. Beautiful sparkling white sands, coral reefs, and fantastic marine life provide one of planet Earths most beautiful settings for a holiday.

The Maldives island resort of Bandos is located in the North Mal Atoll, which is the closest atoll to the capital of Mal. Transfer from Mali, which is where the main airport is, takes roughly 20 minutes by boat and allowing you to easily nip back during your stay if you wish to explore the capital city which is more westernized than the remaining islands.

The diving in Bandos is spectacular with an excellent PADI dive school, shipwrecks to explore, and an abundant array of marine species from clown fish, barracuda, giant stingrays and my favourite the white tip reef sharks. For the water-sports lovers the reef also provides some sporting surf. I loved my last holiday when I got to do some kite-boarding here.

Bandos is a 4-star resort and has 100 standard rooms, 48 Junior suites and 48 Beach Villas. The standard rooms are a mix of double and twin rooms to help accommodate families and overall they are nicely furnished. The only thing I would say is that the bathrooms are slightly on the small side in these rooms, but on the upside, most face west and so get a good sunset and the majority of them are beach fronted.

The 48 Junior suites on the resort are arranged in groups and are stylishly decorated, with a ochre color scheme and solid wooden four-poster beds. The only small downside, as far as I could tell, is the beach in this section of the resort is almost completely submerged at high tide, but then these rooms dont cost as much as the Water Bungalows so in a way some may think this a pleasant feature of their stay.

The resort has gone out of its way to accommodate families, with a purpose-built childcare facility complete with female staff on hand to look after the children and provide babysitting in the evenings. Some of the rooms in the standard and junior class have an interconnecting door for families split between several rooms.

For couples intending on getting married on Bandos, you will be pleased to know that the resort accommodates you with the “Kuda Bandos Sunset Wedding” which features a taste of traditional island ceremony, a sunset boat ride, unique cultural costumes, Maldivian drums and traditional style and ceremony. The wedding ceremony is held on the beach of one of the uninhabited islands in the atoll – Kuda Bandos – and is followed by a private cruise for the newlyweds on a Dhoni (Maldivian boat).

Jonathan is a travel journalist and travels frequently to the Maldives to report on diving and environmental issues. Read about the Maldives at the Maldives Holidays guide and about the superb diving island resort of Bandos in particular.