Sun Island Resort & Spa

There is a lot to say about the Sun island Resort and I will try to summarize everything we experienced during our stay which was 8 nights from 08.02.2019 WEATHER: Although we went during the driest month of the year(February), we had plenty of rain. Before our arrival it was constant rain for 2-3 days. We had a couple of days with lots of rain, and a few other days when it was very windy and cloudy. It mostly rained at night and it was very difficult to sleep as the roofs are metal and the rain was very heavy making it very loud. THE ISLAND: Sun Island Resort offers a lot when it comes to deciding what to do with your time. If you want busier more buzzing places, just go to the pool area. There will be some music, pool bar and some activities. If you want a little beach to yourself, just go to the south side of the island. This is the side with the water bungalows. Here you will find quieter places compared to the pool side of the island. If you want the quietest places, just walk to either end of the island where you will find crystal clear water and you will be pretty much alone there most of the time. You might want to take bikes as it can be quiet a walk depending on where you are on the island. Overall the Island is beautiful and you can explore and find your own little paradise (different one for each day of the week).Pool side of the island is windy with more rough waters, Water bungalow side is zero wind with very calm and warmer waters. In the afternoon, the water is literally luke warm. You can sleep in it. GETTING AROUND: The island is quite big so you might want to hire bikes. Cost is 5USD per day per bike. The bikes are limited and are pretty beat up. Despite that, they help a lot getting around. OUR ROOM: We stayed in one of the Sunset Beach Villas, No 449. During February you can’t actually see the sunset from there. The room was the most modern from the other room types and the second most expensive from the water bungalows. It is right on the beach with some trees for shade. The water is extremely calm, no waves at all, and very warm. The seabed is sand mixed with some dead coral. You might want sea shoes. Water is very shallow, you can walk in 100s of meters and it is still knee deep. Nothing in water so not for snorkeling. Rooms are cleaned twice every day. POOL: the pool is not heated, that being said it is nice and warm. It Is spacious with some seating area in the middle of the pool. There is a pool bar with some free alcohol. Branded spirits and some cocktails are not included in All Inclusive. Pool is big enough with shallow and deep sides. FOOD: The food was generally very tasty and a lot to choose from. Some repetitiveness but overall very tasty quality food. Mostly Asian style dishes. Plenty to choose from every day. You’ll get your own table and waiter for your stay, so no fight for seating which is nice. Leftover food from lunch is often served at dinner the same day. EXCURSIONS: Excursions are not very expensive but they are a hit and miss. We went for whale shark snorkelling, with no show from the shark so we lost all our money. There were people who went for the same trip 3 times without seeing the shark. Bear this in mind. If it’s windy, they will not find the shark for you. Don’t bother asking for refund as they make you sign a paper saying you agree that you may not see the shark. It was 68USD per person. There is stingray and shark feeding every evening on the island at 6:30 pm by the water bungalows. They are nice and free, check them out. THE BAD: Although the island is beautiful and there is lots to do, there are some things that we would like to have changed. They constantly try to sell you special dinners at ridiculously expensive prices in the range of 100 – 200 USD per person. They come to you were ever you go and ask you if you want to go every day. This was a bit annoying. All a la carte restaurants are to paid for and they are also expensive. 30+USD per person on a normal night. Not something we can change, but weather can be a hit and miss, just be mindful of that. Make sure you check the amount on the receipts you have to sign every day in the room or at dinner as they might charge you for something you didn’t have. Like a small vine from room minibar for 35USD Everything outside the All inclusive is very expensive and with Halfboard you might end up paying more than with All Incl. Every room comes with a yellow key card which you have to present at every food/drink serving outlet for the first time so they know you are AI. This can be a bit of a pain. OVERALL: Plenty to do, plenty to eat, plenty to see, buzzing at the same time relaxing little heaven on earth. If you can afford it, go you will love it. Read less

Paradise on earth!! Clean island, they respect nature and the island itself. Clean the beaches every day. Rooms are good and clean (superior beach bungalow) Had the best cleaner, called Sadun. He was very friendly and professional. Had a creepy supervisor of cleaners! Called Asif. Came into my room without asking a few times!! Kept lurking at me at the beach. (Smoked a sigarette in the bushes while lurking at me) Since I travelled alone it made me feel very uncomfortable. Gave me notes about wanting to meet me in the evening. Just NO!!! Also creepy messages on my bed. Very creepy guy. Just leave alone traveling girls/women alone! Food is amazinggg!! No need to go to one of the expensive restaurants. The normal restaurant is fresh, tastefull and the menu is different every day of the week. One girl working in the restaurant was very rude. She made low comments about me travelling alone. Even got a “puhhh”. When she asking me (after 10 days of seeing me) “Are you travelling alone” me: “yes” .... well if looks could kill it would have. Weird girl. Not very friendly. And I was a good tipper so I don’t know what went wrong. The trips you can book are really cool! Booked the dolhpin trip twice and the big game adventure snorkling trip. Prices are good. Also had a day at the amazing (but expensive) spa. Worth it though. Ahmed Sham was my excursion guide and he was the absolute best!! Very passionate about his job. I had him as a guide on my second dolphin trip. I was a little dissapointed because I didn’t see dolphins on my first trip (seeing them is not garanteed, no refunds). But at the start of the trip he cheered me up with all kinds of beautiful photo’s and movie clips of dolphins and other sea life. Very cool. A little while after that he spotted them and nOw I have seen them in real life ❤️ So, Ahmed Sham, you are the best! Give that boy a raise or promotion or something 😂 In short: very nice island!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Read less

This was our first trip to the Maldives, despite being well travelled we didn't know what to expect, I will try and break the review down into sections. Check in was smooth and simple, no issues, everything was explained to us, this was done whilst we were sitting down with a nice refreshing drink, no queuing, which was a plus after such a long journey. Our room was a superior beach bungalow, 256 which opened onto the beach, it was a 2 minute walk from the beach bar, the room was a nice size, big bathroom although a bit dated, you have the choice of an outside or inside shower, the aircon worked perfectly no issues at all, our room boy was Ali Musa, he was brilliant, the room was spotless everyday, no issues with the all inclusive drinks allowance, you can swap fizzy drinks for water if you choose to. The restaurant was fine, plenty of choice for every taste, loads of fresh fruit/salad/breads everyday, if I have one gripe it would be that the staff are constantly approaching you whist you are eating to sell you a lobster dinner or BBQ at the beach, we didn't purchase any of these as we felt the buffet was sufficent. Main Bar was very good, they have differnet entertainment every evening, they also have 4 pool tables, the waiting staff were all very good however there was one member who exceeded them all he's name was PAVAN, he is a credit to the hotel, we never really had a long wait for a drink as some of the other reveiws suggest and for us the all inclusive menu of drinks was absolutley fine. Pool area was also very nice, well kept, the staff are always working hard to ensure the area is kept clean and tidy, a big thank you to Musad and Shameem fo looking after us when we was around the pool, the pool bar is ok, it's a shame you cannot take your drinks away from the actual bar, I don't see any harm in it, they are in plastic cups. The beach bar was very nice, not overly busy, nice if you fancy a change from the main bar, again the service was very good here, one thing I would say is get an updated playlist, I've lost count the amount of times they had Ed Sheeran on whilst we was there. other facilites included bike hire, snooker, table tennis, darts, gym, mini golf, squash, badmington, sauna, jacuzzi, there really is loads for everyone. the stingray feeding and shark feeding are a must, they are both daily at 18:30pm, to get a good view it's good to get there at about 18:20pm. we didn't use the spa, however if you went on first impressions it looked lovely from the outside. we done the Whale Shark excursion, please don't bother wasting your money on this trip, I understand that the sighting of a whale shark is not guaranteed however I thought we would be snorkeling in a certain area and if we managed to see a whale shark it was a bonus, I couldn't have been more wrong, we was going up and down a certain stretch of the sea as were a load of other boats, there was two members of staff stood at the front of the boat looking for the shark, apparently if they saw it we would have stopped and jumped in the water, REALLY, I'm not an expert but I doubt there will be whale sharks in an area that is full of boats going up and down looking for them, anyway after doing this for about an hour or so our guide said, no whale shark today, we'll head back to the resort and stop off and do some snorkelling, the place where we stopped was rubbish, there were a few fish but nothing worth shouting about, your better off snorkelling by the itallian restaurant back at the resort, for us we felt the trip was a waste of $136 plus tax and gratuity. we didnt use any of the free water sports that were available to us and if we wanted to do any of the motorised ones (Jet ski, parasailing etc) we was put off by the extortionate prices, $210 per couple for 15 minutes parasailing is a joke. overall we loved our stay at Sun Island, the staff at this resort are excellent, I will be going back to the Maldives, I will probably try a different island but so glad we experienced sun island. Like i have said all of the staff were brilliant however the following people went above and beyond for us we felt. PAVAN, SHIMAH, ZIRAR, ALI MOHAMED, LERA + ALI MUSA. Read less

The Maldives are wonderful. We were in apartment number 482, and we had a roomboy called Sumon. He is so polite, quiet, helpful, and kind. This way we would like to be especially praised for everything he does. Sumon is the best, all praise! Also, all praise for a waiter in a restaurant, his name is Rasheed. Best waiter! We'll come again. Thank you for everything. Patrik & Petra Read less

We stayed for 2 weeks on this absolutley gorgeous island. Orginally booking a superior beach bungalow which was ideally located on the beach with a few steps to the most stunning sea ive ever seen! On arrival we noticed the 2 plug sockets in our room actually unattatched to the wall.we called reception who fixed them the very next morning. I did not like the amount of ants that came through into the bathroom every night. Twice our aircon system failed so we were very kindly upgraded to a sunset bungalow for our last week. These ones are worth booking they are modern and more comfy. The superior bungalows are such a let down as they are very out dated.the food was really nice with a choice of different meats and fish cooked freshly whilst you wait. Nice freah salads,fruits and desserts served also.staff are so friendly.lots to do during the day eg water sports day trips snorkling or even just enjoying the beach.for us being a couple on honeymoon we didnt enjoy the music during the night as it was very loud we pictured sun island being abit more tranquall during the evenings.however any negatives we found we still had an amazing holiday. Read less