We have been regulars to the Maldives for over 12 years. We always stayed at a beautiful laid back island called Rihiveli which is currently undergoing renovation. In search for another island with a similar atmosphere, we came across Makunundu Island. After reading lots of reviews, I gathered that there were some bungalows with hardly any privacy and no sandy beach in front or very clumsy beach access. When making the booking directly with Makunundu, I specifically asked for a bungalow with easy beach access which was ”well noted”. However, when we arrived we were given possibly the worst bungalow on the island. Unless you wanted to climb over a tree trunk and sharp rocks, a blue pipe and some discarded sand bags, you had no direct access to the sea from your property. The only option was to cross over your neighbours properties to make it into the water. The sun beds were cramped into a shaded area with no space to move them anywhere else if you wanted to sunbathe. My husband went back to the reception and asked for a different bungalow, but the island was fully booked and no alternative could be offered until ”maybe tomorrow”. We tried to find sun beds to spend the afternoon but the handful of them in the common area were all occupied. We tried to get our free snorkelling equipment but no sizes were available for me: ”maybe tomorrow”. We returned back to reception to speak to the GM and also mentioned that we specifically ask for a certain type of bungalow and were told: ”We do not entertain requests from first timers. When you come back as a repeat guest, we will give you what you ask for”.... This was quite a harsh statement and makes you not want to come back to be honest. The next morning, we were prepared to leave the island and move to a neighbouring resort if no other option had become available, but luckily we were moved to a new place. The new location was paradise, we had privacy, direct beach access, a beautiful view. It made all the difference and we were the happiest people for the remainder of the holidays. The bungalow itself was also bigger and although not upgraded yet, it was sparkling clean and very comfortable. Apart from the unfortunate room allocation, everything else was perfect. Food was delicious with tons of choices, staff always eager to help and make your stay better (special thanks to Ismail in the restaurant and Mohammed from the housekeeping team). The island itself is tiny but beautiful and the house reef stunning. Mosquitos are an issue so bring along your repellent. Fumigation happens regularly but there are still plenty of them around. After a very rough and disappointing start, we had a wonderful holiday on the island and will definitely come back again if a bungalow in a nice location is available and guaranteed. If you would like to see a comparison of the ”beaches” of our and our neighbours bungalow, check out the photos. The discrepancy between the bungalows is huge and considering everyone is pa
The island is small with one bar & a beach bar, one restaurant, small spa, small gym, pool table & table tennis. We stayed in one of the bungalows but wouldn’t describe them at all as deluxe as they are very tired so much so that the manager even agreed and it also does depend on the location of your bungalow as there was a lot of swapping going on but this is not always possible. The food was good but we did go for dinner & tea at the beginning of the service to ensure that it was hot and fresh. We chose this island as we wanted small and the easy to see sea life. This was our first visit to the Maldives and we were really looking forward to the Maldives experience and the holiday of a lifetime but unfortunately this was spoilt as Blue Bay Travel sent 2 emails regarding building work on the island, one just a week before we were due to go, they told us that nobody had complained and that it wouldn’t affect our holiday. The island was taken over by new management in June and we have since found out from other guests that they were shown the plans for the island which are major changes for the future. We have since found out that an inspection was carried out and this work was on the report which clearly means that people where aware and we feel that the island should have shut for a couple of weeks to do a new dive centre and a new jetty all at the same time. The email we received from Blue Bay Travel clearly said that the work was on the 42 year old jetty and the work was preventative maintenance work but this was total incorrect as the work was building a new jetty!