Makunudu Island Resort

This hotel is utterly charming. There are only 37 bungalows so not crowded, and the staff are what really make this paradise perfect. When you get on the boat at Malé you are given a nice cool towel and a bottle of water. When you arrive someone is waiting at the jetty with star garlands made from leaves. During check in you are given another towel and a delicious iced tea. The team work really hard and give you a personalised service. The beaches are pristine white sand with turquoise water. Snorkel equipment is available to borrow (no deposit), including full face masks. I'm not sure what the situation is for scuba gear, or kayaks. The bungalows are a perfect size. A HUGE bed, a partly al fresco bathroom, deckchairs, and sun loungers. Feels private, and you are only seconds away from the water. There's a handy tap at the back to rinse the sand from your feet. If my bathroom door was open I could hear my immediate neighbour in the shower or flushing the toilet. 5/7 days dinner is from a set menu. Soup, appetisers, fish/chicken/vegetarian mains, choice of 2 puddings and tea/coffee. There is a Madivian buffet on a Tuesday (delicious curry from a live cooking station) and BBQ on Fridays (which I'll miss as I'm heading home). The sandbar serves soft drinks, coffee, alcohol and snacks during the day. The flora and fauna are marvellous. 20+ hermit crabs by my back door. Crabs on the beach during the evening. Cheeky herons throughout the day and night. Sharks by the jetty during the early evening. Lizards/geckos, noisy birds with huge feet, plus the fish in the clear water. The place is kept really clean. Housekeeping came twice a day. I would just suggest a broom is added to the rooms so that any sand we've traipsed in can be dealt with straight away by us guests! We had rain for the first day or so and the staff kept apologising! It is warm rain and it's so peaceful. We went to the Maldives following a week in India and it was just the tonic we needed. I wish I had the names of the super staff to give them the credit in this review. Interestingly, I only saw 2 female members of staff, the team is effectively all male. What stopped this being a 5* review is that in spite of telling them on arrival that I was checking out the day after the date listed on their forms, and being told "that's fine", they expected me to leave a day early. I'm not sure being on the phone to the travel company at 21:30 is what I needed. Then, they asked me to check out at 05:30 for a 13:20 flight (almost 8 hours beforehand, despite it being a 45 minute journey from the island to the airport). They told me the boat wouldn't be back until 13:00. I appreciate that journeys need to be efficient but this really takes the biscuit. Perhaps they needed my room for a quick turnaround, who knows? My usual waiter wasn't at my last breakfast, I was disappointed. This meant I waited 17 minutes to be offered coffee. I had already eaten and needed to go back and finish packing so just had a quick sip. Again, a disappointing end to a good trip.

We have been regulars to the Maldives for over 12 years. We always stayed at a beautiful laid back island called Rihiveli which is currently undergoing renovation. In search for another island with a similar atmosphere, we came across Makunundu Island. After reading lots of reviews, I gathered that there were some bungalows with hardly any privacy and no sandy beach in front or very clumsy beach access. When making the booking directly with Makunundu, I specifically asked for a bungalow with easy beach access which was "well noted". However, when we arrived we were given possibly the worst bungalow on the island. Unless you wanted to climb over a tree trunk and sharp rocks, a blue pipe and some discarded sand bags, you had no direct access to the sea from your property. The only option was to cross over your neighbours properties to make it into the water. The sun beds were cramped into a shaded area with no space to move them anywhere else if you wanted to sunbathe. My husband went back to the reception and asked for a different bungalow, but the island was fully booked and no alternative could be offered until "maybe tomorrow". We tried to find sun beds to spend the afternoon but the handful of them in the common area were all occupied. We tried to get our free snorkelling equipment but no sizes were available for me: "maybe tomorrow". We returned back to reception to speak to the GM and also mentioned that we specifically ask for a certain type of bungalow and were told: "We do not entertain requests from first timers. When you come back as a repeat guest, we will give you what you ask for".... This was quite a harsh statement and makes you not want to come back to be honest. The next morning, we were prepared to leave the island and move to a neighbouring resort if no other option had become available, but luckily we were moved to a new place. The new location was paradise, we had privacy, direct beach access, a beautiful view. It made all the difference and we were the happiest people for the remainder of the holidays. The bungalow itself was also bigger and although not upgraded yet, it was sparkling clean and very comfortable. Apart from the unfortunate room allocation, everything else was perfect. Food was delicious with tons of choices, staff always eager to help and make your stay better (special thanks to Ismail in the restaurant and Mohammed from the housekeeping team). The island itself is tiny but beautiful and the house reef stunning. Mosquitos are an issue so bring along your repellent. Fumigation happens regularly but there are still plenty of them around. After a very rough and disappointing start, we had a wonderful holiday on the island and will definitely come back again if a bungalow in a nice location is available and guaranteed. If you would like to see a comparison of the "beaches" of our and our neighbours bungalow, check out the photos. The discrepancy between the bungalows is huge and considering everyone is paying the same price, everyone should enjoy the same facilities.

Makunudu excelled in a lot of ways. It’s not pretentious which was a key factor in choosing this resort. There are mega expensive resorts within touching distance of Makunudu. Yes the rooms aren’t pish posh but they’re perfect if you’re after a tropical island vibe. The rooms are serviced every morning and evening with water, fresh towels etc. The beaches are beautiful - just bring some water footwear as that makes wading in to the sea a lot more comfortable. The food is excellent, the employees are clearly happy and will do anything for you. Be clear on pricing and really investigate what is and what isn’t included in full board and all-inclusive. We almost went AI but realised that it was better to have total flexibility on what you want to drink and where you drink it. The snorkeling is incredible. We have snorkeled in the Caribbean and other parts of the world but this is the best by far. I did my research and there are world class reefs close to Makunudu and local tours stop by the Makunudu house reef. We saw a lot of live thriving coral, sharks, turtles eels and an array of beautiful fish - the reef is teeming. We leave very impressed and would stay here again in a heartbeat.

We returned to Makunudu in October 2024 after our first visit 26 years ago and it still remains a paradise island. The boat ride going to the island was very bumpy but still enjoyable. On our arrival we were greeted by the General Manager Abdulla Shaugy and we showed him photos from our first visit and he asked could we send them to him as he is looking to create a collage of images from when the island first started to take guests. So maybe if you have any photos you could forward them onto Makunudu. We were lucky enough to get the same Bungalow No. 19 as we originally stayed in, home from home. The room is near to the sunset bar where you can have a cocktail drink while watching the sun go down. We were all inclusive but there is also a mini bar in the room. The daily bottled water is free but any alcoholic, non alcoholic and food are chargeable. You can either raid the mini bar or take a short walk to the bar for a free drink. Also thank you to our male maid who visited our room twice a day to clean it. There is just one bar and one restaurant on the island but these are more than sufficient to cater for you. All of the bar and restaurant staff were so friendly and helpful, thank you to all of them. The food is amazing so much to choose from. Breakfast and lunch are buffets and on these visits, you are given a large menu to choose from for your evening meal. There are BBQ and Maldivian nights where the cooks prepare your meal fresh outside and the meals are really tasty. On a couple of nights a week you sit outside on the beach. One night the two of us were sat together in the bar and Abdulla asked if we would like to join him at his table and he introduced us to the island owners daughter. We reminisced about how Makunudu has remained traditional in the Maldivian way, what a great night. If you need it there is free wi-fi available on the island, the signal in the bar and restaurant is strong but outside these areas you will struggle to get a signal. There is now sand all around the island so if you pick low tide you are able to walk around it. As I did before I snorkelled around the island and saw turtles and small sharks. You are guaranteed to see small sharks next to the jetty where the boats are moored. We did hire a kayak from the dive centre, this was fun but do pick a calm day. We truly loved the peaceful time on Makunudu and hope of returning next year.

We thoroughly enjoyed our latest stay on Makunudu earlier this month. From the moment we stepped off the speedboat and were welcomed by management and colleagues, we felt like we were back among friends. The respect shown to returning guests is quite remarkable and is in our experience unique. It cascades from the hugely likable GM, Mr Shaugy, downwards. We were delighted to be involved by Mr Shaugy in Makunudu's latest environmental project, a survey of this tiny Island's incredible 69 species of trees and other plants, which are now being identified by name plaques together with a very professionally produced colour photo guide held at reception. Our room had been tastefully upgraded since our last visit, with a new bathroom and shaded seating area outside. Elsewhere, the food, service and friendliness were of the same exemplary standard as we had experienced previously. Obviously we greatly look forward to our next stay and we thank everyone for making our most recent one so enjoyable and memorable.