Summer Island Maldives

Summer Island is, I guess, like most of the Maldivian resorts a small island with a hotel of beach and water villas. We arrived at Male airport and went off to our resort desk to get our transport. We were told that there was a 1.5hr wait, in fairness we were taken to a good airconditioned lounge. The resort details quoted 40 minutes in a speed boat – a good hour plus is the reality. Checking in was simple and the manager, like all the staff, was delightful. We were taken to our well-appointed villa, a good-sized bedroom with ensuite and a balcony overlooking the sea. Most rooms are beach villas and meals are served in a large restaurant buffet style. The food quality is good, staff are very friendly. We found ourselves feeling a little indifferent about the resort having arrived from a fabulous trip to Sri Lanka, that is until we were, out of the blue, upgraded to a water villa. The experience suddenly became a different ball game. A lovely self-contained villa with balcony and steps into the beautifully warm Indian Ocean and a full-size bathroom. The Water Villas are served by a different (and better) restaurant, breakfast being the same, but dinner is chosen from a menu. It was far less frenetic sitting over the ocean looking into your very own aquarium! So as for the positives • The Maldives is, if nothing else, very beautiful • Excellent staff, very friendly and helpful • Good food • Nice facilities (gym, spa, freshwater pool, boat club) As for the negatives • It’s reassuringly expensive (a can of coke is $8 and the cheapest bottle of wine $60) probably full board would be a good idea • There is a huge divide between beach and water villas • Smoking is allowed everywhere; we found ourselves moving tables in the restaurant to avoid a face full of smoke. • Service can be slow, getting a glass of water always took an age but that couldn’t be said when you asked for the bill which was immediate! So, in summary Summer Island is no doubt like the many resorts in the Maldives well appointed, well run and expensive. The all-year-round weather is wonderful and the aquatic life is stunning (fish, sharks turtles etc). We have been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively, from a personal perspective I prefer Mauritius as there is more to do. Would I recommend Summer Island – yes but book a water villa and have a budget of around $200/day/couple if you like a few drinks and have the odd excursion or spa treatment. The manager and his staff are first rate.

We are just home from an amazing ten nights at Summer Island. We travelled as a family of five adults in three beach bungalows (numbers 341, 343 and 345) the trip was to celebrate my mums 65th birthday and boy did summer island deliver. The accommodation was lovely, perfectly clean and right on the beach. Our room was serviced by Khorshed who was charming, friendly and amazing at his job. The beautiful decorations on our beds were a work of art! The food was fantastic, lots to choose from at the main buffet with fresh cooking stations at every meal. We paid an extra £20 per person to use the overwater restaurant on the night of the birthday celebrations and the team there created a beautiful table set with Happy Birthday in flowers and the table was overlooking the water which had spotlights allowing us to watch the beautiful reef sharks and fish swim past as we ate. The food was lovely but no better than the buffet and the choice was limited. The staff brought out a lovely birthday cake and make a nice fuss of the birthday girl. We really enjoyed the entertainment in the main bar especially the live band and the DJ. The resort went all out for Halloween with a haunted house and decorations everywhere. It was really something special. Each day around 4.30 most people meet at the bar for afternoon tea and to watch the sunset. The beach and sea were spectacular with amazing snorkel opportunities just off the shore and two free snorkel tours available each day by boat. Head to the jetty between thee and four each day to see reef sharks and rays. The spa was lovely and prices were reasonable I would probably have used it again if they had special offers or if they offered massages by the beach when they were quiet as some other resorts do. The only thing I would change would be the extra costs for all inclusive guests, for example you could have coffee but if you wanted cappuccino it was extra and you could have as much alcohol as you wanted but a coconut water was $6 which seemed a bit silly. It didn’t spoil the holiday and staff were always transparent about extra costs but it did seem a bit much given the cost of the holiday. There were about ten cocktails in the all inclusive package with daily special offers on the premium cocktails, order a Flaming Lamborghini.. you won’t regret it !! All in all it was a wonderful holiday and the staff were fantastic, if you happen to see the little cat I have named him George and he is very partial to beef bacon. We will definitely return again.

We stayed at this resort for 5 nights in premium beach villa on the sunset side.Quite windy all the time but nice because couldn’t feel the heat so much.Sunrise side of this island also extremely beautiful but hot.Our beach villa was very nice and elegant inside out with jacuzzi bath.Perfectly cleaned twice a day.However villas are located quite close to each other so it doesn’t give too much of a privacy.Very friendly,polite and professional staff with special thanks to Bradley and Daha at the Avi bar and Hiya restaurant.we dined at both restaurants Hiya and Samuga.First one is located on the water and offers great experience in dining and watching sharks and fish swimming below.The second one,Samuga offers greater meals variety.Great respect to the resort for innovative system to repel mosquitoes and flies We chose all inclusive option which works well in terms of food and drinks however the latter menu is very limited,cocktails and mocktails.There’s no house reef so if you stay on the island there’s nothing to watch if you’re a snorkelling fan.You can go on a free snorkelling trip but if have seen some coral reefs before don’t expect too much.Average The island,resort ,beach and water extremely clean and tidy.No plastic in any form like we’ve seen in other places before. Downside is even if you’re on all inclusive you can have a proper Nesspresso coffee only in the room and not at the bar or the restaurant where they serve cheap granules coffee aka Nescafe gold.You could have one proper coffee but only from 10am at the bar and at the additional charge!Really??? All inclusive?? Same thing is with Jack Daniels which you have to pay for additionally even if you spend nearly £500 per night at Premium beach villa with all inclusive option 👎🏼

Very nice Island with different kinds of bungalows on both sides of the island. Snorkeling is possible right from the beach and a daily guided trip by boat is included. We had a premium beach bungalow with a private „garden“ and direct beach access. We took our meals in the over water restaurant where the chef (unfortunately we forgot his name) took perfect care of my wifes spice allergies. Special thanks for that!!!

The sand and the sea was beautiful like in the pictures. The room was nice and clean. Service was really good and friendly. Food was okay but we got bored in a week. We saw sharks, many fishes and ray when snorkeling on the beach. I recommend to take snorkeling equipment with flippers with you if you got one. The weather was really good, only one day with a little rain.