We were lucky enough to be recommended this wonderful resort, we stayed for one week with our friends then had a week on our own. What can I say except it was perfect. The food was plentiful and so much choice. The accommodation was clean and the staff were amazing. Nothing was too much trouble. We are saving already for another trip ! p.s I cried on arrival as it took my breath away and I cried when we left because I didn't want to leave !

We visited Royal Island for the third time in January 2011; our previous visits were in 2006 & 2007. Based on our previous visits, we asked for villa #207 on the west of the island, where the sun sets each day.
We love the accommodation, which is very spacious and well equipped. The accommodation is cleaned twice per day by very friendly villa attendants. We asked our villa attendant to provide flowers in our friend’s villa when they arrived – he created a spectacular floral display for them, and also did the same in our villa as a surprise for us. The villas look out towards the beach and sea beyond, allowing for plenty of sun or shade whatever your preference (although the north & east sides of the island are mostly in shade after about 4pm). Gardeners come along each day and sweep the beach, and we were offered fresh coconuts while sitting on our villa veranda.
The food in the main restaurant is excellent with a wide variety of choices for all meals. Although buffet style service may not meet everyone’s requirements, we never had to queue very long to help ourselves and the food was of a very high quality. Dishes were never allowed to run out, and we could see the chefs constantly checking the temperature and quality of food. Our waiter, Mohmed, was wonderful – very friendly and spoke good English. He anticipated our water and wine requirements, and brought us tea and coffee served just as we liked it at every meal.
We had several treatments in the Spa, which although a little expensive, made our stay all the more relaxing. The Spa staff were very attentive and we very much enjoyed all the treatments we had in beautiful surroundings. We also received excellent service from the water sports centre staff, with free snorkel / mask hire and reasonably priced fishing trips and inflatable rides.
The snorkelling is fantastic, and we saw wonderful fish, turtles, rays and sharks every day. On our previous trips we had not ventured beyond the island reef, but did so on our latest trip and didn’t regret it. It was a little difficult to cross the reef barrier if currents were strong, but setting off from the jetty overcame that problem. We snorkelled with a turtle and were able to see an amazing variety of sea life – fantastic! The island reef has been built up since our earlier trips, so that large rocks & boulders protrude from the sea. This might not be to everyone’s taste, but if this barrier protects the island from the rising sea then I think it is a good thing.
As repeating guests, we were provided with fruit & wine in our room upon arrival. We were also invited to a Repeaters Cocktail evening, and a Repeaters Dinner in the a la carte restaurant. We were introduced to quite a few managers during our Cocktail evening, and all were extremely pleasant and wanted to know how they could improve our stay. We only had a couple of minor suggestions – one being more coat hangers, which were provided by the time we returned to our beach villa. Our second comment was that our favourite wine from previous trips was no longer available. Astonishingly, the Food & Catering Manager immediately contacted suppliers and arranged for our favourite wine to be delivered!
We consider this to be our dream holiday destination. Good quality, trustworthy food; excellent, friendly and attentive staff, where nothing is too much trouble; beautiful surroundings maintained to a very high standard. We would holiday here every year if we could!

Beautiful island - fantastic beaches, sunsets, fish and coral! Since our last visit a small wall of boulders has been constructed around the island a few yards from shore to slow the really serious coastal erosion by the rising sea. It is not at all obtrusive and is a good solution to a real environmental problem which the Maldives has to tackle to survive. It provides a lagoon just by the beach which offers a safer place for children as well as good for kayaking.
Accommodation is in beachside villas - we had two with adjoining door so it was like our own house. Beds very comfortable, cable tv but no internet in room. Bathroom has bath and shower open to the air which is wonderful. There are geckos and you can shower listening to the birds...
Royal has a large restaurant where you serve yourself and take the food to your table - it is a little canteen-like but the food is great - wide choice of western and ethnic - and the staff friendly. There is a smaller one on the other side of the island but we only had cocktails there. Wine is expensive and we just drank the free bottles left in our room (perk of returners) but anyway cocktails are better (not necessarily cheap but unmissable experience on the beach in the dark or better still at sunset). There is no real nightlife - this is not a clubbers paradise and the disco's rare visitors go on crab racing nights. It is ideal for families (and there were a fair few young children who seemed very happy - even toddlers) and older people. But our two children (18 and 21) also enjoyed themselves greatly so.... It's true that the Boli Bar at night is filled with people using the internet connection - never seen so many ipads, iphones, macbooks etc. outside the apple store!! We hadn't brought anything but really didn't feel the lack.
We were half board which is quite enough given the vast meals at breakfast and supper - a snack in the Boli Bar can be had if needed at lunchtime. For activities our new thing this visit was scuba diving which was amazing - both our children already had their open water and we completed ours with the open dives while on Royal. The dive centre is superb - very well run with excellent, experienced and very friendly staff from all over the world. We went to different reefs every day and the kids were able to do their reef diving qualification. Highly recommended!!
We also went kayaking, took the big catamaran out several times and visited the spa for wonderful massages.
Certainly none of this is cheap but the activity prices are online so you know that before you go. Although it was at least two thirds full when we were there we never felt it was overcrowded or that we lacked privacy. Often the beaches were almost deserted and one wondered where everyone had gone!
It is a beautiful and well-run resort island with plenty to do and excellent accommodation. We certainly hope to return one day when we've saved enough!!!

We spend one week in January 11 in this beautiful resort. The service is very professional , the island is very clean. Our beach villa was located in the south part of the island was just perfect! We were a little bit disappointed with the internal reef where all the corals are broken dead.. Still the snorkeling is very nice when you start from the jetty. But the main purpose of our trip was the scuba diving ! Overall we were disappointed .. The Baa atoll is not the best for the diving. Ok we were not in the right season we didn't see any mantas or big sharks... We made a lot of drift dives but the dives were not exceptional few corals but zillions of colorful fishes. The dive center is professional and the locals are very nice and helpful especially the gentleman who filled the nitrox.. The dives master are nice but you dont feel a lot of harmony between them and some tend to forget that we are coming to make fun dives and not an underwater marathon against the current...
In the island the buffet food is good and various...
Its also the perfect place to practice your russian since 90% of the guests are Russians...
Besides that perfect vacation...