It was a trip of life time. It was an isolated small island converted into a resort. We stayed in water bungalow where we got the best view of the sea. It was wooden bungalow on water. The staff were v friendly. Food was a major concern for us, but fortunately we had a srilankan chef who Prepared the food according to our choice :) We had spicy and delicious food. We got the best bungalow, best chef and a v helpful manager. Water sports was explicitly arranged for us, even though it was not present in the schedule for that day. Overall Summer Island village was too good to describe. Looking forward to go again :)

I am going to start this review with the negatives !!!!!
Firstly the biggest and most annoying thing was that every porter, waiter and cleaner had no decorum regarding tipping. Being fair we understood tips made up their income but felt we were almost pressured into giving tips and that they hovered relentlessly until said tip was given, however both my friend and I are very accustomed to tipping but had never experience such an aggressive manner in which they tried to procure their tips, this mainly being the porters and cleaners. The waiters felt the need to inform us what was being given to them by the other guests at the hotel,for example one waiter said " Look they only gave us $2 tip and a bag of Haribos they tight people and I HATE Haribos" . What made it worse was that on the last day I distributed a $100 to the staff in tips and didn't receive one thank you back, I now wish I'd given out $2 and lots of Haribos LOL.
Unfortunately we returned home and my friend felt extremely ill and has since been diagnosed with Salmonella poisoning.

DO NOT BOTHER TO DO THE MALE Submarine TRIP IT'S PANTS AND A WASTE OF MONEY,

However please don't allow this to put you off, the Island itself is a piece of paradise, very relaxing, peaceful and we had the privilege to meet diverse and interesting people from all over the globe. The food tasted good and was presented well, and the alcohol measures were very generous and very potent which made the evenings entertainment all the more enjoyable lol.
The marine life around the jetty was breath taking truely beautiful. The sunset will be something that we will always remember and the Lagoon was an absolute delight to swim in.
the bar staff always had a friendly greeting ......except yes you guessed it ' The famous Grumpy Barman' lol.
I would highly recommend the sea plane, not only was the view leaving the Island breath taking but your journey is shortened by at least 1hr 20 Min's.
One more positive MONARCH no longer fly there Yaaay

My husband and i have just returned from our 1 wk holiday to SIV and it was AMAZING in fact words cannot describe just how amazing it was.i cant believe some people are disappointed with there holiday here.I fell in love with the food and if it had not been for all the snorkelling that i done while i was there i would be the size of an elephant! my favorite meal times were lunch and the evening meal. The the smell off the food was amazing , the taste , flavours and textures ... all i can say is mmmmm..... yummy.
The room we were in firstly was 51 ( sun deck) we were then given an upgrade to 52 wich had a beach hut at the side of the bungalow . The room was cleaned regularly through the day , the room boy was great , friendly and very polite.Inside our room was a double bed and a single , air con , and a fridge , the shower was working very well, and we had fresh towels every morning. We woke up nearly every morning to visits from lovely green parrots on the rooftop , reef sharks , parrot fish, trigger fish, and the crabs under the deck were very entertaining to watch , i still cannot believe how fast they can run or the fact that if you gave them a skipping rope they would give it good try ( the can jump quite high) . The ants over there could lift weights , they are huge !!! thank god for the spray in the wardrobe!
The bar was really nice as were the staff, from reading other reviews about ( the grumpy man behind the bar) ? If you speak to him he is rather friendly and had a lovely smile . The bar area is all sand which was great at night for rubbing your feet around in it, it could be quite cooling.There was one disco while we were ther and it was good music but extremely loud so it was very difficuly to have a conversation and im not much of a lip reader.!! The bar staff were very attentive and were always making sure you had a drink . our waiter was tchina ( im sure thats not how you spell it) he was fantastic and friendly and we tipped the bar nearly every night! They deserve it as they work so hard and it was extremely busy most nights .For the first few night the ladies toilet was out of order but when they did fix it, it was nice to find some company in there while you powdered your nose , the company came in the form of a gheko, a little rubber looking lizard type thing!! so a trip to the toilet was worth while !!!
we snorkelled most days , and it was breathtaking , so many different fish so many beautiful colours, an underwater camera is a MUST! I must admit , the only time i got a fright underwater was when a big shark swam past me , but they dont bother about you, we are too big a fish for them to eat!
we went night fishing , i was slightly dissapointed at not catching anything , but i did get a few bites , my face lit up when some guy caught a massive fish !! so its not a complete waste of time and i would definately do night fishing again.
At night i would go out onto the beack for a walk and you would see on the shore plankton that light up into the most fluorecent blue colour i have ever seen it was magnificent to see in pitch darkness!
While we were there there was a big rainstrom and it was amazing i could only describe it as a monsoon, it was fantastic .
I also done a little shopping at the small shop on the island (very expensive) i bought 2 cups , 2 fridge magnets , 1 post card a small plastic pen and a keyring and it cost around 50 dollars!!! however the staff in the shop were friendly.
One morning we were out walking and went to visit the rabbits , and the guy who was cleaning them out let me feed them , so i was very happy about that as thet were so cute. the people on the island work very hard and care a lot about all the animals , birds and fish it is so lovely to see people take such pride in there work as you dont come across much of that in the uk. the island is very clean and well maintained . We will be back next year for definate and hopefully stay 2 weeks . It was a dream holiday/honeymoon minus the bounty! i should have bought one at the shop!!!

My husband, my dad and I went to Summer Island last week. I have rushed stright onto write a review on my first morning back because I want to share my true feelings about this fantastic resort and the variable reviews it receives.

My family and I became a little alarmed the week before we left because of the spell of bad reviews the island appeared to be receiving. This was our first trip to the Maldives and we had hoped it would be amazing. I am happy to report that it lived up to our expectations!

The important thing about Summer Island is that it is beautiful, clean, and everybody is friendly and make you feel welcome. This island is only a 3 star resort, and the price reflects that. Therefore we did not go expecting a 5 star resort, and we were pleasantly surprised.

Although I felt I had an awesome holiday, and the staff are 5 star, there are 2 things that technically make it 3 star. They are the lack of extra facilities - no gym/swimming pool (which is not needed - the lagoon is only 3-5 feet deep, clear, and as warm as a bath with no current at all), or alternative restaurant/bar; and secondly the quality of the fixtures and fittings in the rooms. I actually was not bothered by either of these things - we had picked the resort based upon the diving and the fact that there wasn't regular noisy evening entertainment. The island is too small to accommodate extra facilities like that, and it just isn't needed if you spend your evenings chatting with a glass of wine over the days activities amongst yourselves or with new friends. I think this helped to make the holiday more relaxing than usual.

The quality of the room decor is not great, but everything worked, the shower was warm, and our room (we had a room with sun deck) was located on the edge of the lagoon with a beautiful view. We were not fussy that it looked a bit tired and patched up in places. In fact it almost added to the charm! When you see the staff on the island making their own bricks in the sun, and using only man power for everything, it makes you appreciate how hard the Maldivians work to create and maitain what is there. Summer Island is a good hour and 45 mins by boat from Male, so getting bulky/heavy things to and from it is rather a feat.

The diving was AMAZING, and the team at Diverland (instructors, divemaster and boat crew) are really friendly, helpful and welcoming. The food was fine, if a bit Westernised for my liking - there is always a good range of things to choose from and usually bread, chips, rice/pasta and soup for those who don't want to try something new! The beer only came back on tap towards the end of the week, but while the supply of barrels was down, there was Lion beer from cans served instead. The house wine was suprisingly drinkable too, so we had no issues at all from the all inclusive front.

In summary, Summer Island is a little more budget than many of the other islands, making it that bit cheaper to go, but it is rich in experience, and friendly people. If you don't go expecting a 5 star resort, you will have the most amazing holiday, with memories that will last a lifetime. I don't tend to go to the same place twice, but I'm already itching to get back...