Boutique Beach resort sells itself as an all inclusive dive resort and they do not disappoint! Good diving in the Maldives I think is a give in but diving with Boutique was amazing! You have the great environment coupled with exceptional dive masters, boat captain and deck crew that all combine to provide you an experience that I can truly say has set the bar so high I don’t think we will be able to fairly judge another dive outfit again. Speaking with the proprietor of the hotel they basically wanted you to experience a live a board experience with the convenience of being in a hotel. The operation is completely professional you will have a dive meeting every night laying out the plan for the next days dives. You receive tons of information on how to interact with the big beautiful fish that are in the Maldives. Lastly with regards to the diving and personnel diving with you, I truly feel no matter what your diving level or experience you will leave Boutique a better diver. Lastly I need to talk about the hotel itself. The rooms are a great size large enough that they have a king bed and desk with enough floor space that you could still do a good stretch or yoga after your day of diving. The outdoor showers are wonderful and the food is lights out. You eat buffet style every day but the chef makes it feel like everything was cooked just for you. If you have allergies no worries he is extremely accommodating and will keep you well looked after. This was a magical experience and we just want to thank Romney, Mete, Seb, Ibrahim, Shag, Saheed, James, and the rest of the staff sorry for not listing you all by name because you all contributed to make our trip so memorable.…
The team of boutique beach is fantastic. They take care of you and they try to do the best in order to offer you a perfect holiday. Rooms are so nice and Meals are everyday different and delicious. Dive team is very professional and competent. My husband and I did the dive course and we had fantastic moments. They work hard in order to guarantee animal sighting both by diving and by snorkeling We suggest this place because here there is the opportunity to live unforgettable and magic Moments both underwater and in the island
It’s sometimes hard to pin down what makes a place so special. In this case it’s quite simply everything! The Maldives is a fantastic dive location, and IMHO one of the best in the world- so let’s take that as a given and move onto the place and in particular the staff at Boutique Beach. What a team!! Romney has clearly recruited an outstanding team of “can do” worker bees, who go out of their way to help make your holiday relaxing, friendly, and safe. Dive team, lead by Seb, are encouraging and helpful and don’t make you feel like a muppet when you find the first few dives challenging or when you’ve forgotten a basic skill! Seb also does briefings for all new comers on the local Whale Sharks, including the dos and dints of diving and snorkelling with them. The crew are very responsible in their approach to all marine life, including these special fish which is more than can be said for some Of the other operators. The boat guys lead by Inbrahim, are super skilled at getting you in just the right place for the Whales Sharks, Mantas and dolphins, and manage to avoid the zoo like environment created by many of the tourist boats. Food is fab, I really don’t know how the chef does it! Great quality , fresh and healthy with daily salads/ fruit/ fish etc. and served by the ever smiling Saeed, who never seems to sleep! Rooms are clean and spacious with super comfy beds and stunning outdoor showers…. Perfect after coming in rather salty and sun swept! Thank you James.. Every evening there are briefings about the next days dive and an expertly compiled video by diver and marketeer Mette. This is a real bonus as you are able to send the link to family back home and let them see what you’ve been up to all day. Ideally see if you can get a direct flight to Male and then speed boat, it does make the journey less arduous. So after all that…. What’s brought me back for the second time this year?? It’s a feeling of coming home! All I can say is “book it now”…. And see for yourself What exceptional looks like!…
Just came back from a great week at the Boutique Beach hotel in Dhigurah - it was truly amazing! I almost don’t want to share it as I am hoping it stays a best kept secret! The hotel is located on one of the beautiful islands in the Maldives. It is a local island with ~750 inhabitants and a couple of hotels. There are a few shops, ATM and restaurants at the island- all sandy roads and giving you a real local island feeling. Dhigurah is a long island and has an amazing sandy beach with palmtrees and crazy nice blue, warm water. You can have a nice walk along the beach and a great sunbathing spot at the end of it, but you can also walk 10 steps from the hotel to the postcard beach in front of the hotel. Given it’s respect for the local environment- there is no alcohol in the hotel (which was ok for me- and besides two nice sunset moments where it would have been great to have a beer; didn’t miss it and made me feel more rested). When you are walking on the island they ask you to wear cloths that cover your shoulders/to knees, but at the beach you can wear your bikini. The hotel is great and the room has all what you need during your stay - a nice huge bed, an amazing open shower, chargers for phones/cameras and good products. I normally only go to hotels with swimming pools, but didn’t miss it at all!! The team of the hotel offers a really friendly, family and professional environment. At various moments during our stay we were surprised by the staff that made us feel very special and welcomed. We had a cool coconut drink at arrival, cookies on the way back, and during our last evening a surprise meal for example. The team consists of ~15 people that all did their best to give us a great time: friendly, personal but professional and doing a good job. And then the diving/Snorkling- we didnt realise that this was a specific diving hotel, but were so happy that it was! Every morning till ~1pm we had a good snorkling or dive with a super professional diving team. The evening before we would get a briefing with the plan and you get the choice to join or sleep in. We went every day and had a great time! We saw so much - whalesharks, manta’s, eaglerays, dolphins, turtles and on and on and on! The staff ensured that the encounters with the animals were professional (trust me we saw things from other hotels/excursions where people were jumping with loads of people near a Whaleshark and trying to touch it!!), and helping us to have a good view and experience while respecting the ocean and animals. They really knew where to go when! My husband went diving and I went Snorkling and both enjoyed it! In the afternoon we were then able to relax on the beach or a swim back at the hotel. And then the food - it was great! I am a difficult eater, but enjoyed every single meal! The chef is amazing, taking into account allergies, oreferences and makes great variety of foods! I even had an evening where he showed me the cooking and recipes! So, you could go to a ‘typical water villa on poles’ or you go to boutique beach hotel where you have a great experience with nice people and excellent Snorkling/diving and a great beach holiday! For a much better price that is all known upfront with no unexpected costs afterwards.…
A trip to paradise! Beautiful hotel, a wonderful team, beautiful dives. Many thanks to the Boutique Beach team, you made our holiday an unforgettable stay. You make us feel as a part of your family. We will be back definitely.
I've got the tip to stay at Boutique Beach Guesthouse on Dhighura Island, from a friend. Someone, who has very good connections all over the islands, and so I trusted her. And I would say, this was one of the best tipps ever! Actually it should even be a top secret tipp, but, you know, I am very pleased to share it with you aswell. I have travelled a lot, but I have never experienced this kind of hospitality. So personal, so authentic, so much of a feeling of being welcome, being "home". Having the best cook, the best dive teachers, the best everything! To be on a local island gives you the chance to "feel" some of the real spirit of Malediven. And the dives, the possibility to encounter megafauna is excellent. I will for sure go again! And again, and ... hopefully soon!
We were a party of 5 adults who stayed at Boutique Beach in early November 2022. From the moment we arrived at Male airport, everything was well organized to ensure we made it Dhigurah. Upon arrival at the resort, the staff were all incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, especially Afzal, their manager. The day of our arrival the dive crew worked with us to determine our watery adventure goals and made every effort to ensure they were achieved. My partner and I had originally planned to dive but an ear infection meant we ended up snorkeling. Our change in plans were well accommodated and we still were able to see a lot including whale sharks. Forewarning, going to see whale sharks is like Hol Chan in Belize or going on safari. Once something is spotted, ALL the boats show up and the water is crowded. Be prepared to be kicked in the face and dodge wayward limbs while trying to catch a glimpse of these beautiful creatures. That said they keep the diver:DM ratio low, even for snorkelers, on the boat so it doesn’t feel like a giant impersonal dive operation. The boat was very nice, was covered and included a toilet onboard and storage above the seats so items like towels stay drier. At least in the Caribbean, I can say this is not often the standard for dive boats. Each night everyone gathered to plan for the next day and watch a video recap of the day’s diving before dinner. Speaking of food, allergies/preferences were accounted for (shoutout to Saeed for making strong coffee as my partner requested!) and the food was excellent; our party joked we’d like to fly the chef out to cook for us at home. Each meal was well timed and varied. You can even learn to cook from the chef, which I recommend everyone do. If they ever have a cookbook, I’d definitely buy it! They also provided a special bday dinner on the beach for us, which was very memorable. The hotel rooms themselves are spacious, simple, clean and comfortable. If you’re American, remember to bring a converter for the outlets. The outdoor bathrooms were great for rinsing off gear if you choose to take it back with you from the dock (in case you want to snorkel across the street from the hotel), otherwise the hotel will clean/store your gear for the next day. We also each got a code to access the free wi-fi; I was able to call into a WebEx meeting where multiple people had cameras on and screens were being shared with no connection issues, so the signal was surprisingly strong. Many of the guests at the hotel were repeat visitors, which after our stay, I can understand why. Boutique Beach checks all the boxes: it’s clean, safe, comfortable, great food, excellent hospitality and it’s affordable considering it’s full board w/ excursions. Even if you don’t plan on diving, it’s still a gem of a hotel with beach access. I just wish it was closer to where I live! Hopefully one day, we can return to this great dive hotel!…
Travel to get to the Maldives took years off our lives. Boutique Beach brought us back. There is something special about staying on a local island. You become part of the family. Afzal was always responsive and helpful leading up to our visit. Imagine spending the day on the water and coming home to delicious home cooked meals. That's Chef Shanthi. Mette and Saeed will become your BFFs. Romney's kittens will make you miss your own a little less. We're not as hardcore as their normal guests (we get seasick and don't go into the ocean 3x a day) but that was no issue. The people may change but the spirit of Boutique Beach will remain. For those who care more about the facilities, the rooms are good size with ample storage and charging outlets. The rooms smell good, too! The outdoor bathroom in our room was beautiful with space to rinse our equipment and plenty of drying racks. Water, tea, soda, and coffee are available at all times in the lobby. We had no issues with the WiFi.…
The has got to be the best hotel we have every stayed at, and we’ve travelled the world together and stayed at some pretty amazing places. There’s a really positive and fun energy that is infectious from when you arrive to when you leave in tears. We stayed in a standard room (the one closest to Romneys place) and were personally greeted most mornings by Charlie or Buster who would patiently wait until we were ready to walk us to breakfast (they are Romneys cats who she has fostered, you can tell a lot about a person from how they treat animals and the cats are so happy up on their veranda with their giant cat scratching posts). They will also leave you alone and don’t go into any of the inside areas but if you like cats and think you’ll miss yours when you are away ask for the standard room next to Romney’s house and you won’t be disappointed. The room was perfect and the bed is very high quality - I’m a very light sleeper and don’t normally sleep well but here I slept better then I have in months. The diving is the best I’ve ever done, and for my husband the best snorkelling he has done in the 8 years he’s been snorkelling including the Great Barrier Reef and simillian Islands. The diving is very safe, my ears have never let me do more than 8 dives in a trip but I did 12 here and my ears were still doing ok by the end. The reefs are looking a lot healthier then I expected with the vibrant colours I remembered when I first dived before the 2016 El Niño - that was incredible to see, we were told it’s been in the last 3 years that the reefs have really been recovery due to cold water currents - now is the time to go if you have been thinking about it! We also saw 4 whale sharks and snorkelled with some of them for ages, and the most incredible dive with Mantas coming over us again and again at the cleaning station. The food is the same high quality as everything else. You have a Chef personally cooking for just a small group so the quality of meat, fish (the tuna is amazing), lentils, vegetables, desserts is very very very good. We stayed in a nearby 5* resort after which we had been recommended by friends for the food and the food (although amazing) was not as good as Chef Shanthi. The coffee is freshly ground with a proper coffee machine - very important, and for your afternoons there is a beautiful beach with good snorkelling (including Manta Rays if you are lucky) and beautiful sunsets.…
Simply put: pure magic! Almost all has already been rightfully said in many previous comments. Hence, in a nutshell: If you're serious about diving, this is the one stop shop to go! whalesharks and mantas, all year long, where else ? passionate, expert and lovely staff ( rather friends from day one) constantly looking to cover the extra mile, where else? Genuine Maldives feeling on a wonderful local island, where else? The answer to all of these questions: nowhere else, hence we've already booked our next stay even before leaving this little paradise. Highly recommended, by all means.
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