We visited Embudu in November 07 after 11 annual visits to a couple of other islands. It is the lowest price for the Maldives and we did not expect luxury as the water is the main attraction.
The rooms were quite adequate though pretty spartan and two bedside tables would have been useful. Balancing your cup of tea on a turned up case is not ideal.
Our bungalow was attached to others but the arrangement did not cause us any problems. We overlooked the sunset and saw dolphins very regularly.
The underwater scenery easily made up for any shortfall in the room as the reef was amazing. We spent most of the holiday in the water even snorkelling at night and dawn There is a lot to explore and the fish incuded some that were a bit different from those we were used to seeing elsewhere.
We enjoyed the company of different nationalities and as we don't spend time lounging on the beach it didn't worry us that there was a bit of a scramble for sunbeds.
The dive school was very friendly and helpful to me as a non diving snorkeller. My husband found the dives well organised with a range of dive sites.
Their was a vibrancy and sense of fun that made this island somewhere we want to go back to.........we've bood for March 08 and hope to see you there.

Island wonderful but hotel and guests not.

I agree with the negative comments previously, over run by sun bed hogging Germans and idiots that bring toddlers and babies to a place like this, may be because its the cheapest resort.

The island is small and very nice, with an abundance of fish in the warm clear water, 7 days is enough, if you have 2 weeks do sri lanca as well. (and of course another resort)

The hotel side is a bit of a let down, i agree with previous comments, food poor and after spending about £3.5k getting the 4 of us there you would expect to have a coffee or tea when you wanted, and what a scene if you took a tea spoon, unbelievable,
all inclusive is a rip off, poor drinks and set up compared to the rest of the world. Shame it could be so good.

For most the Maldives is a once in a life time experience, so i would recommend finding another resort that has more facilities and less of the mentioned negatives.

Thompson flight:
the plane is good with direct flights and in seat entertainment, however they do rob you of another £5 to access all channels, not bad leg room, food poor, dont believe the Aldo Zilli hype, absolute rude and ignorant crew at the back of the plane, where did they get that bunch from, every one was complaining, i would try every other airline rather than go with Thompson again.
These thoughts are the views of many, not just our crew , i cant understand why previous reviews are so positive about the place, its just miss leading.

We flew out at the end of March. The weather was perfect the whole stay, with only 2 rain showers at night and were a welcome relief.
The boat was kept company by dolphins and flying fish on the journey to and from the island.
Our arrival was pain free, greeted with a cocktail and luggage taken to the room. Popping our swim wear on immediately, we took a walk around the island.
Great snorkelling and diving, for every level of experience. You always manage to find a piece of beach and sea to yourself and it is if you could be the only ones there.
The food was amazing, something different to suit all tastes. Although you do have to share your table, they do try and sit you with people of the same language and our table companions were brilliant. The waiter Mohammad was always welcoming and come the end of the stay had our drinks waiting for us.
The room boy cleaned the room twice daily and was very friendly.
We flew with Thomsons and had no problems.
All we can say is the island is a tiny piece of paradise and it is exactly as breathtaking as any pictures you've seen.

Booked with Thompson AI 1 week - 2 adults 2 teens,

i chose this location due to some good reviews on trip advisor,

Flight delayed 1 h out and 1 h return, then diverted to Manchester to drop a few off before going to Gatwick making the hotel to airport return leg about 18h - yawn. very stressed and rude flight crew at the rear of the plane - same crew on return and they were just as bad, possibly the worst i have ever encountered in 30 years of flights.

We were one of only 5 British family’s on the island last week, the rest were Germans, you know the type - towels on the sun loungers at 6 am then left all day - pushing in at dinner, loud etc etc - some of them even had babies and toddlers with them, screaming all day - nightmare, avoid like the plague - hotel rooms are very close so you can hear Hans clear his throat every morning - nice, it must have been a nightmare being on the same block as the crying babies, we were lucky we only had to suffer them at meal times. All the brit couples mentioned the same problems and positives.

- i could go on about many other negative things but they have been covered by other reviews, coffee / limited trips / poor food/ no entertainment plus much more but there is no point in going on about them as you don’t want to go here. AVOID it might be slightly cheaper but its money wasted.

The island its self is lovely, as i would imagine all of the Maldives are, warm clear fish filled water with nice soft white sand so next time we visit and we will as its one of the most stunning areas of the world, we shall choose one with out Germans... and babies .. lets hope that’s possible.