arrived at embdu village on nov 6th for 2 wks,this island is out of this world,such a pretty island snorkelling is great, array of fish so many colours,resturant food excellant,all the staff on this island makes you so welcome,thanks for that,our room had been updated,very clean,cleaned everyday,and back at evening time aswell,to check our room boy was excellant sory forgotten his name. so a big thank you to all the stafffor making our holiday such a good one would we go back to embudu, yes,hoping to get back there in may.

Stayed here for 3 days in a water bungalow. The rooms are dated and basic and can definitely do with refurbishment. However it's the maldives - so the majority of our time was spent out of the room. It's an awesome awesome place to snorkle, without having to go far from the beach. In fact on one side of the island all you need to do it sit in the water with you mask on and look down - it's amazing. There's a steep drop in to the ocean just feet away from the shore so you get to see different fish / coral without having to be an expert snorkler.

On the hotel, apart from the dated room the way the restaurant it managed isn't that great too. I think they have limited seating so they pair you up with other guests.

But that's only part of it!!!!!
The house reef at Embudu Island really is like something taken out of a fantasy. The coral garden, the sharks, the sting rays, the turtles, the tons and tons of multi-color fish makes it really hard to acutally leave the ocean-discovery world, but once you do, you won't be sorry. The tiny island of Embudu is tranquille, picturesque and above all; low key. It is not by any means a posh, jet-set kind of island. Rather is it a place where there is room for who ever you are. The staff are nice and accommodating, the bar tenders alert and on the spot; their drinks go down quite well (to say it mildly) So should you run into a day or two of downpour, do not despair. Hit the bar, the spa or hang on your veranda and enjoy the view, your company, your book or what else you might think appropriate for this dream of an island!

I had purchased the holiday through a deal on Groupon, opting for the more expensive Waterbungalow, and in my mind I pictured the iconic, idyllic thatched-roof accomodations I'd seen in nearly every Maldives advert. Later I learned that these waterbungalows were not much like that at all. instead, they looked pretty much just like a row of cement/brick terraced houses on top of the water (so you if you and the neighbour were on the balcony together, you could quite easily hear what the others were doing - made me very conscious of what I was doing). But, they were above the water, and they did have a balcony. So, kinda disappointed from the outset. Having said that, the waterbungalows are still the best option, as they offer a great semi-private place to tan (without getting sandy) and just look out at the sea without much interruption/interference, save for the occasional snorkeller/neighbour. Night time was also great since we could always hear the gentle sound of the waves around us, and, that was about it. Very quiet and peaceful.

The rest of the resort also saved on some of the bells and whistles (no internet in the rooms, wi-fi was on a pay-per-use basis), but when we needed to pay for anything, the prices were quite reasonable (US$5 for a beer, 7 for a cocktail), quite a bit cheaper than I was made to believe from all the other reviews I'd read about the Maldives. The food at the (only) restaurant was also quite good. Every meal was a buffet there was a decent amount of variety. Some days were better than others, but I never felt like I didn't have enough options of things to eat. But then again, I'm not a picky eater. Although, I think even vegetarians were well-enough catered to with their salad selections. All in all, the resort facilities were good enough, not mind-blowing, but good for a 3-star establishment. Anyway, when going to a place like the Maldives, one shouldn't obsess about the indoor facilities!

The island itself and the waters around it were as good as could be expected from any of the fancier resort islands. Beautiful turquoise blue water and fine white sand. Exotic and colourful fish swimming around, right up to the shoreline!! And the diving/watersport facilities here were adequate. Better than expected in fact, since all I thought there would be to do was snorkelling and scuba diving. They had kayaks, speedboat rental, wakeboarding, water skiing, banana tube riding, windsurfing, sailing (with a guide), and maybe one or two other things that I might be forgetting. Unfortunately, I couldn't take part in many of them because the water was too choppy for most of the 4 days we were there. The instructors at the Diving centre were also very good and extremely patient. Special mention must be made of one of the instructors (Arjan) who, upon seeing my wife not dealing with being underwater very well, didn't charge us anything for the time he had already spent teaching her and the rest of us (a tiny group, just meeting the minimum requirement of 4 people - until my wife dropped out). VERY understanding/generous.

All in all, this was definitely one of the top holidays I've been on. Unfortunately not the "Holiday to end all holidays", due to the image I had built up in my mind, but still a GREAT one.