Canareef Resort Maldives

I know this because every day you will 1. Eat and 2. Use a bike and/or 3. Use a buggy and/or 4. Try to get service. Summary: this is a 3 star resort and only gets 3 stars because it’s in the Maldives (beach is average by Maldives standards), the superior rooms with jacuzzis on the sunset side are large and very good (although the beds are hopelessly hard and uncomfortable, maybe ok compared to prison beds but otherwise terrible), and spa massages and service is excellent. 1. Food: If you don’t like curry and/or need protein you will starve to death. There is almost no variety (not even fish on a small island??) and the layout and presentation of the buffet makes school meals look wonderful in comparison. Breakfasts in particular are depressing; they can’t even make a half decent cup of tea despite Sri Lanka and India being the nearest land masses! Wine at dinner is extremely average and warm because they pour glasses in advance and leave them to warm on the bar. Service is provided if you can tackle a staff member before they walk past your table. They are hopeless at clearing tables so finding a set table can be a challenge. Eating is not a pleasure at all, it’s merely a carb based refuelling exercise. 2. Bikes: a good idea completely undermined by un-maintained, massively uncomfortable bikes. They are painful to ride even for short distances. Hint to resort-you are by the sea, so the air contains salt which corrodes metal. Service the bikes for 10 minutes every week and they would be ok. 3. Buggies: already covered at length in other reviews. Even when they sort of run to request, the swapping required at reception is illogical and annoying. When they don’t work to request, we needed 45 minutes to get back from dinner to our room. 4. Service is well below average for this part of the world. They are generally clueless and untrained. Service at the spa is superb. I’ll stop there other than to ask management-have they ever stayed as guests for multiple days at their own resort? The flaws are obvious. I have a list of at least 50 zero or low cost things that could be done to significantly improve the resort, but I’m not going to provide free consultancy here. Just experience what paying guests do and open your eyes.

Positives : Welcome coconut drink on arrival and very quick check in . All staff are positive, smiling and respectful. Special mention to Millie who listened to our holiday hiccups and made holiday experience better. Even decorated our villa with flowers and champagne which was unexpected and wonderful. She didn’t have to do that, thank you Millie. Chef Lucky in Bar-Kuda beach bar cooks some wonderful food, beautifully presented and tasted delicious. Staff behind beach bar Albert and Jessica, thank you for your warm welcome and topping them drinks up . Lifeguard at beach bar always friendly, always smiling. Island is long and very green with different birds, animals and lakes. We found that there’s lots to do here. Tennis, volleyball, water sports, ping pong, billiards, darts, etc. It also has a gym that is well equipped. Spa treatment was good and reasonably priced. You can go to local villages to explore if interested in local culture. We hired taxi/ guide for couple of hours which was enough. It was $20 per hour. Premium villa was spacious, light and in good walking distance to amenities . Jacuzzi was nice and decking at the front of the villa was large with sun beds, table and chairs. Direct access to the beach from villa was perfect. Beach was clean and waters clear. Plenty of fish to see and baby shark often comes to shore to swim around . There’s some broken corals in the water but plenty of new growth. Rocky side of the island produces some wonderful waves for pictures . Beautiful sound to listen to while eating at the restaurant. Beach cocktails party was nice touch. House DJ is very good, producing great mix adding fantastic atmosphere to the evening. Not so positives : Island is on the other side of equator so you will need to take a domestic flight, which fly 3 times a day. Somehow between resort and our tour operator communication got lost and we hadn’t been booked in for 4.30 flight and instead had to wait for 12hrs for next one at 23.20. After an easy direct flight from London it wasn’t great news, which ment a total 48 h in travel . I’m blaming both resort and our tour operator for this miscommunication. There’s 15+ cats and kittens on resort island and the only reason it’s a negative point because they are hungry and have to scavenge for food in rubbish. It’s an island and cats can’t go anywhere, surely it will be enough left overs from buffet to feed them. They are hungry and it’s negligence to leave them to breed between themselves as it will create bigger problem overtime. Canareef is a nature reserve and it’s a shame to see poor animals suffer. Housekeeping is hit and miss. In our case mostly miss . Unfortunately one keeper allocated per villa and we only found out difference when he was on his day off and different boy came to clean . What a disappointment to have a lazy keeper and forever asking him for towels and to change our bedding which in over two weeks was only changed 3 times . Bathroom floor never swept , jacuzzi not topped up, shower gel not replenished. He was Waste of time. It would be nice to have ability to eat at the beach bar for lunch on all inclusive basis as restaurants is on the other side of the island and it’s very hot to wait for buggy. Now restaurant the only one available and it’s flies paradise. We were shocked to see how many flies around open food in a restaurant. I mean surely it’s unhealthy and unhygienic not even mention to how disgusting it is to eat something after a fly landed on it. Well we didn’t so it was very limited to want we could eat which was hot food in covered trays. My husband is plain eater and he found it a bit difficult to eat here. It would be nice to have chips or potatoes dishes rather than rice and pasta every day. I found curries a bit same with no real tase difference. To my disappointment I couldn’t try desserts as they were covered in flies. Covering dishes with cling film is not really working as first person takes the cling film off it’s never go back to how it was, leaving it open for flies. Best option would be section food hall with close doors and air conditioning and leave rest of the restaurant open to air. You really should think how to improve this as this is a big issue. Buggies either arrive before you put the phone down or you will have to wait for 20/30 min at a time in scorching heat. Very inconsistent. Our Bikes were a bit rusty and in not good working order. Bike saddle was as hard as a rock. Evening games / activities need to have timesheets so you know when they start . Jet ski is expensive hence not often used. Canareef Shop is expensive. Long sleeve T shirt $140 ! Overall we lost 1 whole day in resort due to miscommunication coming to holiday and good night sleep coming back from holiday . Few suggestions: More food options/ restaurants and healthy options like nuts and grains . Salad bar is not enough. Maybe Pool aerobics , some evening yoga classes and meditation sessions . Local villages bazaar once a week with local produce would be entertaining and excellent way to support local community . Welcome booklet in your room with history of the island and general information.

Our journey began at Heathrow – flying with Etihad Airways who were fantastic. We had a short stop over at Abu Dhabi – literally just enough time to make our way to the departure lounge for our flight to Male. We arrived at Male around 2.15 pm and were ‘relieved’ to learn that we had seats on the next domestic flight – 4.45 pm – so we did not experience the ‘long’ waiting time there. Domestic flight with Maldivian Airways was pleasant and we appreciated the snack boxes which they gave us just before landing at Gan Airport. Speed boat ride of 10 minutes was fun in the dark! We were greeted by staff on the jetty and taken directly to Reception. Check-in was swift where we were given a detailed map of the resort and lots of information which was difficult to take in after 24 hours of travelling. We were taken directly to our Villa via buggy but did experience quite a long wait for our luggage. Our room was nicely presented – the air-conditioning was efficient, lots of storage space and hangers too. We did notice that there was a lack of plug sockets so charging phones etc was a little difficult. Checking out the outside bathroom, we found a huge ants’ nest in the shower but this was dealt with swiftly the next morning. We experienced many difficulties with the TV which resulted in IT coming on two consecutive evenings. Cables were changed, batteries were changed and this sorted the problem! The TV offers BBC/CNN/YouTube and Netflix. Our washing line broke too when we went to use it for the first time. Again, this was dealt with quickly and efficiently. The room towels were of a very good quality and were changed every day and our room was kept tidy throughout our stay by the young lad who looked after us. Water, tea, coffee etc was also always topped up. We felt our room location was just perfect – sunset side – in between The Dhoni Bar and The Meera Bar. For this reason, we only used the buggy service on arrival and departure. The decking was lovely to sit out on and the view was very pleasant too. Sunsets were amazing! We did struggle to open and lock our patio doors initially but we soon figured it out. Rather strange to have handles on the outside of these doors but none inside! The door frame had to be used to close them. We have been to The Maldives before (March 2023) but what drew us to this island was the ‘very natural’ vibe; its length; the cycling opportunities and crossing the Equator. The island is beautiful – yes, the sunrise side is full of coral, rocks etc but we knew this before we arrived – hence why we opted for a sunset villa. The plants, blossom, palm trees etc were beautiful and care is taken to look after these. We often saw teams out and about collecting fallen palms and there was constant raking of all the sandy areas around the villas and along the main thorough-fayre. The little ‘island’ gardens along here were also looked after – we loved the furniture made out of fallen tree branches! We were delighted to learn that we could keep our bikes for the whole of our 2-week stay and boy, did we make use of them. Our bikes were absolutely fine and served the purpose. We spent most of our days at the beach alongside The Bar-Kuda Bar. It was a pleasant ten-minute cycle ride from our villa. There were always sunbeds available but we did feel there was a lack of umbrellas – not every pair of sunbeds had one. The sun is very strong and also the rays bounce off the sand so Factor 50 and shade is essential. We noticed there was no sea grass apart from three days when the wind was a little stronger but this quickly dispersed and was raked from the beach by the life guard and his colleague. He was a friendly chap who greeted us every day and on a couple of occasions, swept the sand off our sunbeds and opened the umbrella for us. We noticed he also assisted other guests in locating vacant beds/umbrellas too. When the tide was low (early morning) it was lovely to wander by the coral and spot the many different fish. We skipped breakfast on a couple of occasions and opted to pay for our lunch at The Beach Bar. The club sandwiches and burgers were amazing – beautifully presented and accompanied with a side-salad and fries. Great value at $11.50 and $12.00 respectively. Highly recommend! Staff were excellent here. We were unaware there was a selection of ‘all-inclusive’ drinks available at The Beach Bar until way into our second week. This could be informed at check-in? We enjoyed The Blue Lagoon cocktail a couple of times and they truly matched the colour of the sea. Late afternoon, we would make our way to The Dhoni Bar and make use of the ‘huge’ swimming pool. Struggled, at times, to get sunbeds with umbrellas – also these were not in the best of condition. Considering the space around the pool, there was a lack of beds but that is our thoughts. We enjoyed the snacks served here – the samosas were delicious! We watched the beginning of the sunset, with a drink, before venturing back to our villa. Flies were a massive issue here! We enjoyed our evenings after dinner, at The Dhoni Bar. It was very busy but the atmosphere was lovely – games of pool, darts etc being enjoyed along with the DJ sets. There was a good mix of age ranges of other guests. The bar service was generally good but we did experience some long waits at times. The quality of our preferred drink varied drastically – some were so weak (watered down perhaps?) and some were so strong. It would have been nice if there as a consistency in the quality. Although we stayed All-Inclusive, we only usually ate breakfast and an evening meal. We tried sitting in all three sections of the restaurant in search of an efficient service – this was very hit and miss. Would we get tea today? Would we have a table correctly laid? We found there was a lack of and inexperienced staff and at times, communication was difficult. However, things drastically improved when we met Lockesh halfway through our first week. He is an asset to the team! We enjoyed our chats with Lockesh and he introduced us to his managers. They were keen to hear our feedback on the food. We explained that we would prefer the curries to be more authentic in flavour and with more spice as we felt they tasted quite bland. We both felt that our views were taken onboard – they even encouraged us to ask the chef to add and adapt these dishes to our taste. Other foods that we particularly enjoyed were the beef cheeks, grilled prawns, biriyani rice, pickles and papadums. It was fabulous to see the traditional making and cooking of the nan breads which were utterly delicious! Breakfasts were enjoyable and the two guys running the egg stations worked really hard to cook a variety of eggs to order. Thoroughly enjoyed the flipping and flamboyant presentation of our eggs. They were so polite too. We found, at times, that the food was not topped up quickly enough. However, we just simply ask politely for more sausages, baked beans, orange juice etc and they appeared instantly. Honestly, do not be afraid to ask for anything – the staff are so willing to help. Just remember your manners and smile! Shame that other European guests forget their manners! The usual barging and queue jumping – and why, oh why do they open the lids covering the food in the heated trays and not shut them? We felt like we were members of staff running along and closing them. Guests complain about the temperature of their food – could this be the reasons why? One major disappointment – the desserts. In our first week, we could not eat any of what we selected – they tasted so ‘chemically’. However, they improved in our second week so at last we had a chocolate hit!! 😊 The most frustrating part of our trip was the annoyance of flies. We were expecting to be bothered by mosquitos so packed citronella ‘slow-release’ air diffusers. They were not a bother at all – ground spraying every day at around 5.30 pm by the staff. However, we were constantly bothered by the flies at the pool, on our terrace and were bombarded by flies in our outside bathroom. I called Reception to report this and within around 20 minutes, a member of staff arrived at our villa with a can of bug spray. He sprayed around and then left the can with us – which proved very useful. Interestingly enough, he turned both taps on and checked the water?? The following day, whilst cycling back to our villa we spotted this fly trap – picture attached. This was in front of the trees in the main thorough-fayre just adjacent to our villa. Unsure why there was such a huge number of flies? Yes, we were on a natural island – we’ve been on many – but have never seen or been bothered by such a huge number before. This problem overshadowed the beauty of the island, the fantastic beach, bike riding, all staff we met and the comfort of our villa. Though there were many highlights, we feel we could not confidently recommend Canareef to our family and friends as they would not appreciate the flies either! TIPS: - Take care as you leave the shower – you may need to lay a towel down. The floor is extremely slippery – my husband took a tumble after his first shower. Warning sticker on the mirror! - Take care when letting the hot water run in the sinks - after around 10 seconds it turns to a rusty/brown colour - we ruined swimwear because of this! - Do not cycle your bike into deeper sand as I did. It will come to a complete stand-still and fall to the side. I fell and badly bruised my left hip. If you were there at the same time as us, you may have noticed my bruise! - The buggies travel at quite a speed and on occasions, without head-lights at night. A little worrying when you have to get out of their way quickly when walking. - Be careful around some of the plants – usually have little circles cut out of them. My husband accidentally touched one with his rucksack and several waspy/bee type insects buzzed around and he got stung twice. - Enjoy the dolphin evening trip – 4.30 pm – 6.30 pm – saw plenty and the sunset was amazing! $75.00 each. - The staff – from the leaf sweepers, lifeguards, gardeners, Reception and waiting staff generally greeted us and with a smile too – they appreciated our smiles too. - Staff do not expect tips but are so appreciative when they are given. - We saw massive progress being made to the new restaurant, as we cycled by each day, and see this as a huge ‘progress step’ for future guests. - The weather was absolutely beautiful – we both left the island with a great sun-tan and we only experienced one heavy down-pour whilst eating our evening meal on our second night. - We left the island at 3.00 am due to our early flight from Male. All our connections worked perfectly – yes, a long return journey but at least we arrived at Heathrow before the 24-hour closure! 😉 We believe this resort will continue to improve and if they should ever think about including alcohol in the rooms (as part of the All-Inclusive) there’s a guarantee that they could surely expect to achieve a higher asking price. Sunset villa, beautiful beach and water!! ☹ We wish Canareef a successful future – would we return? Mmmm … possibly!

Today I went to canareef Resort for Iftar Iftar was very perfect food excellent thanks to Haleel's hospitality and the kindness of the staff. Hope to go to Canareef resort Holiday soon. I would like to tell tourists to come and spend their holidays at Canareef Resort at an affordable price. #Visitaddu #Canareefresort

Recently stayed at Canareef resort for 12 nights. The resort currently is one of the more ‘natural’ resorts in the Maldives (which we prefer) and has not been over developed to a stage where it loses its charm. We stayed in 627 whirlpool room … the rooms are very spacious and had a lovely decking area straight onto the beach. Throughout the stay they were kept clean and tidy and the air-con worked great. If you need an ironing board / iron you can request from reception and it will be sent up to you. Water replenished in room daily and fridge in room too. WiFi throughout the resort was good … in the rooms, bars etc … we only lost signal when travelling up and down the island on the buggies. Regarding the buggies … you can get bikes but we did not bother … instead we either called for a buggy, walked or hailed one down if space available on it. For us, it was never a big issue getting around … do note though that this is a very big island (I think 4.5km in length). Food was typical of a Maldivian island … we never had a day where there wasn’t anything we liked but on some days we wished there was more choice (and ironically, other days where we were overwhelmed with options !!). A snick bar option would be welcomed. The staff here were amazing and you can see future developments in place where it is only going to improve the guest experience … little touches to make it memorable. As an example, the cocktail evening on the beach was a nice touch and a good selection of ‘finger’ food available and drinks. The sunset setting was stunning and gave you a chance to mingle / chat with guests / staff. Snorkelling … the corals were actually not too bad and still had colour on them in places (not totally sun bleached). The usual ‘suspects’ of fish were around but we did not see the bigger sharks, rays or turtles (although some guests did). All the pools / beach were kept clean and never had an issue getting a sun-bed around them or at the beach. The beach at the end ‘Bar-Kuda’ was our favourite spot as stunning. There are many options for trips and experiences (dive centre, private dining, dolphin trip, sunset cruise, fishing etc) … we actually booked with a local company outside of the resort and had a great trip. There seems to be a lot of changes happening at this resort which look like they will only improve it … nice to see they are not sitting back and resting on their laurels but actually asking for feedback, digesting the feedback and then making changes. Would like to give a special thanks to Aloysious and his team - a credit to resort ! A special mention to Gilbert, Hemal & Jessica at (Barkuda), Anjali, Bishnu & Reina (restaurant), Diane (private dining and main Dhoni bar), Millie (reception) …and finally again, Aloysious (FNB manager) who made this stay special for us.