Veligandu
Veligandu island is quite small - just one resort with a few beach bungalows and water villas, a spa, bar/dining room and a dive centre. Despite the very small land area, the island never felt crowded or confining. Having said that, unless you are a serious sun-worshipper or enjoy spending most of your time in the water, you might go a bit crazy after a few days on such a small island with very limited land-based activities.
We found the place beautiful and relaxing, with the most breathtaking diving and snorkeling ever. We'd love to go back to the Maldives and would most likely choose Veligandu again, it was fantastic.
Activities
Snorkeling
We had deliberately chosen an island with a house reef so good snorkeling was easily accessible. The house reef is straight off the jetty just five minutes walk from the villas (at the other end of the island). It's quite extensive and we found plenty to see, snorkeling for several hours every day and covering enough distance in the water to work off the enormous meals.
Pre-breakfast snorkeling at about 6.00 am was definitely the most productive. Nocturnal fish were just creeping back into their holes and reef sharks, turtles and morays cruised along quietly just meters from us.
Diving
A very popular sport on Veligandu, there was a bit of diving snobbery among the guests, but the dive centre itself was very friendly and professional. Niall got hooked after his first trial dive and went on to complete an initial PADI qualification. Water visibility is typically 15-40 metres and there's all kinds of stuff to see.
Other activities
My dodgy ears put me firmly in the camp of non-diving spouses. There were a few of us and we kept ourselves entertained during dive outings by snorkeling, swimming in the sandy lagoon, visiting the gym and spa, reading, sunbathing or drinking cocktails in the bar.
The staff challenged guests to beach volleyball games whenever enough people showed an interest and played amongst themselves when the guests got tired of being beaten.
Excursions
As well as diving and snorkeling excursions by boat, there are fishing trips and excursions to a local island (resort islands and islands inhabited by locals are strictly segregated).
The resort
Sleeping
We'd chosen a beach bungalow but I'd go for a water villa next time. It's amazing how much you can see even in very shallow water. Baby reef sharks just a foot or two long regularly mooched around close to the beach and we also saw pipe fish, small rays and different kinds of brightly coloured trigger fish.
Eating
The food was fantastic; huge buffets of local curries, fish, rice and vegetables. No chips in sight and plenty of variety. All the staff were friendly and attentive and iced coffees at the bar were great. We found the all-inclusive deal worth while as even just bottles of water and soft drinks during the day started to add up.
