Vilamendhoo, Maldives
Sonja and Wouter Gijsbertse
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Diving on Vilamendhoo, Maldives - Visit Report
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Vilamendhoo is one of the many Maldivian islands which are available to tourists. The island is situated in the Ari Atoll, some 45 miles south west of Male, the capital of the Maldives.
In October 1998 we spend two weeks on this beautiful island. For the first time we took the PADI beginner diving course and made our first encounters with the underwater world. There is just one problem: we are completely hooked and we want to go back again! The silence and peacefulness under water are incredible. There is much to see under water, even after all the coral died because of the high water temperatures caused by El Nino.
Our personal rating (October 1998)
| Topic | Rating | Comments |
| Island |
| Big enough (900 x 75m), very clean, much vegetation and shade, but not everywhere a private little beach. |
| Bungalows |
| Spacy and comfortable. air conditioned, nice outside shower, the chained bungalows are not very well sound-isolated. |
| Eating and drinking |
| Large and delicious buffets for dinner, coffee-shop with a large lunch menu, soda, beer and refreshing cocktails (beautiful sunsets on the coffee-shop terras). Our recommendation: select half board and go for lunch at the coffee-shop. |
| Facilities |
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Catamaran sailing, table tennis, tennis, scuba diving, snorkeling. |
| Under water |
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Much of the corals are dead due to El Nino. However, there
are many small and bigger fish (reef sharks, rays, etc.). Water
temperature: 29°C (5mm shorty is sufficient). |
| House reef |
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About 5 to 15m from the beach, 5 exits through the reef, beautiful
for snorkeling or scuba diving. Book a few days non-limit diving
and go on early-morning dives and/or night dives. Dive packages
are cheaper than single dives anyway. |
| Dive sites |
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Some 30 excellent diving sites at less than an hour with the
Dhoni. Each morning and afternoon the dhonis leave for the dive
sites. Lunch is usually again at the hotel. |
| Dive centre |
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Not very inviting, this crew. Definitely not cheap, relaxed
in practicing diving rules. |
| Prices |
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Not cheap (especially diving), but worth it: 25$-35$ per dive
(without boat, incl. air and weights but using own equipment).
Cocktail drinks are 8$, a bottle of water costs 3$. |
| Conclusion |
| Definitely not a bad choice. |
Vilamendhoo Resort
If you want to contact the hotel on vilamendhoo directly, try this link to the homepage of the Vilamendhoo resort.
If you have any comments, don't hesitate to let us know!
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