Helengeli is situated on a narrow islet in the middle of a deep channel on the NE fringe of the Male atoll. As a result the house reef is excellent and we saw a very large range of marine life on our many snorkelling trips. It also means that you can always see the ocean, which is nice.

The resort itself is excellent. I booked directly, and the resort arranged all of our flight connections and timings for us. Upon landing in Male we didn't have a thing to worry about. The service was always excellent, with the only exception being one double billing. This was clearly an accident by a new member of staff and I believe it is unusual. My only, and very slight, complaint about the resort is food; particularly the buffet dinner and the limited lunch menu. Some dinners were excellent, and some were very average, and all were pretty bland (overcompensating for the western palate perhaps). The breakfasts though were very good. To be fair the resort has only 50 bungalows, hence limited numbers to cater to, and I would prefer less people to a better dinner buffet. But it is something to keep in mind if great dining is high on your list of priorities.

We went to relax and to dive. The dive sites in the area are absolutely excellent, and the resort has no nearby neighbors. So this means most dives are almost exclusively used by Helengeli resort. Unfortunately I cannot rave about the diving provider, Ocean-Pro. This operator was my biggest disappointment of our stay. Despite a surplus of staff, they chose to dive often challenging current dives with a guide/diver ratio of 1/16. Due to the difficulty of some of these dives, this was not only clearly unsafe practice but also meant the dives could be uncomfortable as everyone remained fairly close to the dive guide for safety reasons. On safer dives with little to no current, my buddy and I were told off for wandering away from the rather large herd of 14 other divers even though we stuck to the dive plan. Ocean-Pro unnecessarily compromised the safety and comfort of many of the dives, and for no apparent good reason. Ocean-Pro also insisted that dives on the house reef pay a full guided rate, but refused to actually provide me with a guide (such as an instructor or divemaster). I was told that I had to find my own buddy for all house reef dives (my wife is pregnant and cannot dive). In effect the only service they provide for house reef dives is an air fill, but the full dive rate is charged.

In sum I would have rated Helengeli as 5/5, but the poor dive operation gets in the way. It is the only thing that would give me pause for thought of going back.

My husband and I stayed at this resort for two nights in January 2006. We took up an offer from Meeru Island Resort to transfer and upgrade (HB to AI) to Helengeli for two nights.

The island has only 50 bungalows and has a very intimate feel. At the southern tip of the island there was something almost like a sand bank which runs out for about 100 metres (by 15 metres wide) which we had to ourselves for the entire duration of our stay! The water around it was very shallow and we could see manta rays and sharks and all sorts of different fish.

The bungalows are very basic but adequate with a very nice outdoor bathroom. Everything is kept immaculate.
There is only one restaurant and one bar with a terrace overlooking the beach and sea. The restaurant has rather limited selection of food but the food we found to be very nice. The staff were so friendly and went out of their way to help us. Special thanks to Firaq!

There is an excellent house reef all around the island which is much better than on Meeru Island. We saw lots of fish and turtles which was our highlight! However the water gets very shallow at low tide and there are quite strong currents so watch out for the corals.

Overall the island is very nice, it’s a good place to chill out and relax but we think we would get bored if we spent a whole week there so we were quite happy to return to Meeru after the two nights spent on Helengeli. The island didn’t have the wow factor as we experienced when we arrived at Meeru, saying that we really enjoyed staying there and it was interesting to experience a different island in Maldives.

My wife and I visited Helengeli from 14/11/05 - 28/11/05
we have traveled before to mexico, various Caribean India Malaysia Australia Europe and North Africa. We are in our mid 30s i hope you find the following review usefull.

Location
Helengeli is a 50 minute fast speed boat ride from Male or 20 minute by seaplane we did both got the boat there as its less hassle at the airport and upgraded to a seaplane transfer from the resort for $40 each

The Island
Helengeli is beautifull and very natural all the 50 Beach Bungalows are set on the Fringes of the beach in natural vegetation this means when you look along the beach there is only a natural view in front of you and your room is just a few meters from the sea there is sand everywhere and i promise you will not need shoes.
The Island is completely surrounded by a fabulous house reef right off the beach this makes for Fantastic Snorkeling and Interesting water sights but terrible for swimming as there is no real lagoon (Sand Bottom) at helengeli although i unnderstand that at times of the year the sandbank is much bigger which will probably offer limited swimming they do have a freshwater pool for swimming and cooling off
Just over one half of the island is reserved for tourists the other section is for staff and the general running of the reort this is off limits to visitors to give the staff some privacy i was curious to see how a desert island was run for tourism and was given a guided tour by freddy the Swiss Manager
who was happy to do this.

Atmosphere
The island is run by a swiss company and 80% of guests are from switzerland the others are english dutch and even some japaneese if you are looking to party Helengeli is not for you as there is no entertainment and 60% of visitors are there to dive so the bar is always quiet and the island seems empty during the day most people just relax and chillout the environment is perfect for this the bar and resteraunt have sand floors and its great eating your dinner scrunching your toes in the sand while giving a friendly Heron a piece of fish
while crashed out on your sunloungers outside your room by the sea you very rarley see other people due to the clever room positioning and Natural vegetation
there is always something to look at whether its the beautifull beaches amazing marine life and interesting wildlife including fruit bats herons lots of crabs and birds small lizards etc.
Most people seem to keep themselves to themselves with a friendly nod or word or two here and there

Service
The staff were always happy and friendly to give an example of the excellent personal service we recieved my wife does not like ants we casually mentioned this while joking with a barman one evening the next day in our outside bathroom we found our room boy had left a can of ant spray for us (the ants were not a problem there were very few but my wife has a phobia)
The service was full of nice liitle gestures like everyone knowing your room number and anticipating your needs you have the same waiter throughout your stay but you can sit anywhere in the restaurant you choose.
Our waiter was always smiling and friendly and obviously happy with his work
we tipped our waiter around $25 a week we also tipped our room boy around $20 the barmen were great and very friendly we tipped them around $25 a week this paid of with special service and free drinks and snacks etc

The Rooms
Only Meters from the sea
The rooms are simple comfortable with good airconditioning and a realy nice outside bathroom
there is no phones television radios clocks or tea or coffe making facillities
There is a good sized comfortable bed well stocked Minibar safe and hair dryer
The room was immaculate and is cleaned twice a day it also has a really nice outside bathroom with a powerfull cold water shower and a good modern shower with nice bathroom fittings i really enjoyed having an outside bathroom.
each Beach Bungalow has 2 plastic good quality sunloungers and table and chjairs in front of it facing the beach there is plenty of Natural vegetation so there is a real feeling of privacy and shade if required.

Food
All food is served in a nice sand floor resteraunt which is spacious with comfortable chairs you do not have to share a table as in other resorts
The food is of a reasonable quality and nicely cooked there is always salads vegetables fish chicken and red meat a variety of traditional european food and currys with a maldavian buffet night and a beach barbacue once weekly
Lunch as above with pasta cooking station
Breakfast omlette or egg cooking station + good selection sausages or bacon cerials fruits breads cheses cold meats etc.
There was nothing to complain about with the food but after 2 weeks it did get a bit repetative but im not the greatest fan of buffets
on the whole we were never hungry and there was always something good to eat.
you can have a private al carte diner on the beeech but we did not feel the need to do this

Snorkeling/House Reef

This is where Helengeli Shines the house reef is amazing although at low tide it is very shallow there are 6 entry points to the drop of point of the reef and you can always start off from the jetty which was my preferred option it is like snorkeling in an aquarium there is abundant species of fish and corals the reef has a pronounced edge all the way around the island on a typical 1 hour snorkel you will probably see Turtles Small black tip and white tip reef sharks(harmless) parrot fish napoleon fish unicorn fish rays shoals of butterfly fish trigger fish angel fish loads of different corals the list goes on and on on of our main reasons for choosing helengeli was the snorkeling and it exceeded my expectations i saw everything just fabulous

Overall
I was a bit concerned i would get bored stuck on an island for 2 weeks as generaly i like to be active but i didnt feel bored for a minute the days flew by and there was always something to see

The only minor downsides were the lack of a lagoon to swim in and slightly predictable but well prepared food.

A fabulous Beautifull Natural Island resort to relax and chill out with exceptional personall service if your after that no news no shoes feel it must be hard to beet

If your after entertainment and partying you will be dissapointed all ther is is a pooltable dart board ping pong table and beech volleyball occasionally

in my opinion it is probably the best holiday we have ever had and and was better than most 5 star resorts we have stayed in due to its uniquess and natural beauty
Hihgly recommended

Prices ($US)
Beer or spirit shot $3US draught $3.50 Minibar
water $2.75
Cocktail $5-10
House wine £4 glass
Bottle Wine $30 for something decent
Excursions $40 US eg snorkeling island hopping Dolphin spotting (we did not feel the need to leave the island)although people enjoyed the snorkeling trip to a different Island and sandbank
all in all was very pleased with pricing it was very fair

Tips
Take a good torch to explore at night just shine on the water as you walk along the Fabulous beeches

Dont take shoes (flip flops if you must) water shoes will be esential if you enjoy splashing around in the sea

Cocktail of the day from 5.30 - 8pm watch the magnificent sunsets see dolphins leaping in the distance and enjoy the buy one get one free offer on the Cocktail of the day from 5.30 - 8pm

Take some good books

No mosquitos to worry about 1 bite in 2 weeks we did use reppelant most nights though.

Take some snorkeling equipment including fins