This island is a simple place with no cars, no motorbikes only transportation your feet. Acceptable food and outstanding service. Diving and fishing great. But bring your hardhat to avoid the coconuts :-)

On my first visit to the Maldives, my girlfriend and I visited Asdu. The resort offers a laid-back atmosphere with good service and rustic accommodation and is in my opinion perfect for a simple beach holiday. There is no aircon and no hot water, but in hindsight, I would not have wanted it any other way. The manager told me that they are under pressure from the Maldivian authorities to improve on their amenities and rooms, but they are trying to keep it just the way it is, which is the way it was...

The island measures 300m by 100m and can cater for about 50-60 guests. Meals are served in an open dining area, where you have a specific table allocated to you for the duration of your stay. The food was varied and interesting and we never left the table unsatisfied. It was nice to get to know some of the other guests (whom are mostly Italian). There is no entertainment available (which was great!), but we played volleyball daily at 4 pm with the staff and some of the other guests. After dinner, it was always a pleasure to chat to Wasantha, the friendly barman. The drinks were reasonably priced, but the selection was limited.

Like most of the Maldives, the island is surrounded by a coral reef. Most of our days were spent snorkelling and I found it incredible to free dive down along the reef - in some places it drops vertically from 3m to 30m. There is a very safe and beautiful coral pool to the north-west of the island, about 50 m from the beach. It is about the size of a half-size Olympic swimming pool and about 6m deep. It is only accessible through a small channel in the coral, but if you go looking for it, you will find it. You cannot go to Asdu and not snorkel! The underwater visibility and marine life is incredible.

We expected ants and mosquitoes to be a problem, but we found that they fumigate the shrubs once a week and they supply mozzie coils in the rooms. Typical to Tripadvisor, some people complain about the mozzies, others about the fumigation. We found neither to be of inconvenience, but take some repellent to be safe.

The only negative experience we had was with our boat transfer. Our flight landed at 09:00 am, but we had to wait for another couple whose flight was delayed to only arrive at 12:30, before we could depart from the airport. A slight inconvenience, but nobody's fault. That's travelling. The speedboat transfer takes about an hour and is very scenic. A seaplane hop would have been nice, but is probably not worth the price for such a short trip.

There are some chickens with attitude running around on the island, the flying foxes are something to see and at night time, some jungle noise take over. It all adds to the charm.

When I return to the Maldives, I will try to visit another island as well, but I will definitely return to Asdu too. Apparently you can get more for your money at some of the bigger resorts with spas and bands, but the question is, do you really want to?

We have stayed at Asdu three times over the last few years. It is cheap, friendly and quiet. No tv's, no air con, no hot water, but it is real. You don't feel you're being conned by a big international company. It is one of the oldest resorts and is run by a maldivian.... that is to say it is very relaxed. The house reef is like no other in the area and totally unspoilt. usually one pays a huge amount of money for the benefit of sharing an island with very few people, last week we shared the whole island with 9 other guests. It is a castaway island. One is not endlessly pampered with western comforts. The chickens that run around the island add to the charm. If you want tv's, fresh towels every 5 minutes and a sterile environment, don't go. If you want peace, a taste of the real maldives, excellent but simple food, educated guests and excellent value for money, go.

I stayed at Asdu a few years ago with a friend of mine, and after seeing some of the negative reviews here on Tripadvisor, I felt compelled to write my own. As one can tell from the website and affordable prices (most resorts in the Maldives are significantly more expensive), the Asdu resort is very minimal. That is part of its charm. On this small island you will not find manicured flora, or luxurious villas set out above the water. The point of the resort is to keep the island as natural as possible, without damaging its beauty. If you are looking for something extravagant and fancy, go stay at the four seasons. If you want to feel like youre on a tropical island by yourself in the middle of nowhere, stay at Asdu.

I also found the staff a great balance between being friendly and helpful, but not too invasive. They were willing to take us out snorkeling or sailing, but left us to relax on the beach when we wanted some down time.

The food was a great mix of Italian and local Maldivian food. If you got up early enough you could see the fisherman bringing in that day's catch - which you would be eating at lunch and dinner.

The villas are very basic, but again, that's the point. I completely loved staying at Asdu, and I always recommend it to people who want to visit the Maldives but are not interested in going to one of the big fancy resorts with hundreds of people, screaming children, and in-your-face service.