We've not long arrived back from totally relaxing holiday. Just what we wanted although if you expected to be entertained you need to look elsewhere.
Embudu is a small island with little else to do than eat, sleep, swim, snorkel or dive and read - lots of books. We had a superior room with air conditioning which was very adequate and kept clean and tidy throughout our stay. We found all the staff very friendly and helpful,so any complaints here we find hard to understand. Our German/Dutch neighbours were friendly and were returning to the island again (26 visits was the record). Our room faced East toward the Embudu channel looking onto the most photographed palms leaning over the lagoon (much to our amusement) and we managed to have sunbeds outside our door throughout the holiday!
The weather was not as good as hoped, windy and cloudy a lot of the time but it was beautiifully warm and those seeking a suntan seemed to achieve it without difficulty.

As divers we had hoped for better but the stormy weather reduced the underwater visability so we spent most of our time snorkelling the North/North East side - the coral garden viz wasn't very good. Off the main North jetty we saw masses of fish hanging in curtains facing into the current which most of the time was quite manageable, Banner fish and unicorn fish predominated but the list was endless. To our joy we saw a full sized black tip reef shark sauntering off the East drop off on a snorkelling trip - although the young regularly patrolled the lagoons around the island.

We really couldn't understand the complaints about food in earlier reports. We found the food better than our stay in Sri Lanka last year in a higher starred hotel. There was always plenty of variety, delicious soups and bread, always a range of warm and cold desserts (the dessert chef really wanted you to enjoy) and fresh fruit - watermelon, pinapple, guava, passion fruit etc. The best of all was their Asian night - wall to wall Sri Lankan food at its best. If however you expect fast food, totally European, sorry you will not enjoy the food here. I have learned that a bit of bravery often pays off when it comes to food abroad, Embudu will not disappoint.

This is a 2*+ resort but we would rate it higher. Yes the room was a little jaded but we did sleep very well. There is only 3 evenings of entertainment/week - dive slide show, magic or acrobats and disco - but after a full day of relaxing, snorkelling or diving we tended to return to our room and read before sleep. The girls in the bar were delightful and wanted to practise their English. The egg chef (also the head chef for the resort) wasn't grumpy but just didn't have a great grasp of English. But overall value for money this was a great holiday in the Maldives. It just depends how much luxury you want beyond good food and an idyllic view.

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.