Guest User
August 30, 2023
This was my 4th visit to Dharavandhoo and I have always stayed at this small hotel without any complaints. Dharavandhoo is a local island with the only airport in the Baa Atoll, therefore it is very convenient to travel here from Male, the capital city of the Maldives. The LVIS Blancura management has always helped me to book my domestic flights between Male and Dharavandhoo all these years without any hiccups. This hotel has 3 room categories, I always take the highest room category, which are the rooms located in the original building that is located right on bikini beach. The room rates here are very affordable, I paid USD100 per night for my room and it includes breakfast for 2. The rooms of this hotel in the village are slightly cheaper but away from the beach. Guests have a small drying yard with clotheslines to hang out their washing, if you wish to wash your clothes. Since this is a local island, visitors can wear bikinis and swimming trunks only on bikini beach and not on the public beach closer to the village. Recently, the Maldivian government had to construct a rock wall in the sea just off the shoreline of bikini beach to protect the beach from sea erosion. Even though the scenery looks a bit different now, we can still swim and snorkel from the beach as usual, and there are still plenty of reef fish to see just off the beach. The meals here cost USD10 per person for lunch and USD15 per person for dinner, and it includes a Friday local buffet dinner plus a barbeque dinner on Wednesdays. These are the cheapest and best meals anyone could ever get in the Maldives, which is famous for exorbitant high-end resorts! This hotel also organizes full-day snorkeling and sandbank picnic excursions for their guests at USD45 per person, including lunch. The manta snorkeling trips to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Hanifaru Bay costs USD60 per person. Please remember to bring your own snorkeling equipment(mask, snorkel & fins) because this place doesn't have any water sports gear to rent out. The staff of this hotel are very friendly and helpful, they can help you to make arrangements for just about anything you wish to do or see around these islands. Kudos to all the staff and the management of this hotel, for their excellent service rendered to me all these years! Please take note that this hotel doesn't serve any alcoholic beverages nor serve pork. This place doesn't have any after-dinner entertainment, loud music, wild parties or anything like that. Dharavandhoo is ideal for a quiet and relaxing beach holiday, for snorkeling and scuba diving with mantas, whale sharks, giant stingrays, eagle rays, moray eels and lots of tropical reef fish. Bonus tip: In the evenings, you can get to see lots of giant stingrays and sharks gather in the sea next to the fish market, which is located next to the harbour. This is the nightly entertainment for visitors and it's complimentary! I wish everyone Good Health and Safe Travels always!