Fihalholi — Local services in Malé Atoll

Best vacation we had so far!

We are from Europe and mostly travelled to Greece and Turkey for our holidays, this is the most exotic place we've been to and it was fantastic.

We booked a water villa and the experience was worth it. The villa is huge, you have room for anything, it is very intimate and I am glad we left the kids home. At night you can turn the light on and the fish will visit you. There is an excellent snorkeling area next to the villa but I recommned special shoes. I recommend booking at least 2 nights on the water villa and the rest on land.

The nature is amazing. I don't have a talent for taking photos and I hate it when people use different tricks or filters to make their photos look great. I can tell you it was not the case here, what you see is what you get, near the water villas the beach is made of soft white sand(acutally I assume it is coral dust because it is to soft), then you see different shades of blue.

Snorkeling here is so easy ... I used to get a drink at the bar near the water villas, leave it at the bar near the volley net, go in the water and let the current (a very slow one) take me back to where I started. The water where all fish are is very small, you don t have to swim, you just float(I am not a good swimmer)

The island is very small, a tour can be made in 15 minutes. But we were not bored because the sun, water and snorkeling were amazing. There are also a lot of trips you can do near the atol (I do not recommend the one to Male, you can leave earlier on departure day and visit it but anyway it is not great). They have karaoke and movie nights or request nights but don't get your hopes up about the enternainment.

Food and drinks. We took an all inclusive but to be honest if I went back I would pick a half board and buy the drinks extra. You are served water when you eat and also get bottle of 1L per day in the room. An extra one is 4 usd. I think a beer was 8 and cocktails 10-12. The reason I am saying this os because the food was not great, it was below what you get in Turkey at all inclusive. And having all inclusive I consumed to many drinks ...

The best beach is near the water villas. Then you can go north and it will be almost as good but smaller and with more nature. The one on the east side is with a lot of rocks and usually free. There is room to use any beach you want because the island is not crowded (we were there in peak season ar the end of Feb), I assume the number of rooms was carefully thought.

It rained 3 times in 7 days but in 30 min it was like it never rained. The humidity is good, I did not feel any discomfort. The temparerature was 29-30 C and the water was always good.

If you visit Male in your way back don't get the illusion it will be simillar with Fihalhohi. Get a taxi to the fish and local markets and then head East (in the west its an 'industrial' zone). Be prepared to negotiate prices up to 80%. If you are not in the mood to be hustlex just get some souveniers from the hotel, the prices are the same unless...

Don't get me wrong the island is beautiful, but the admission/visiting price (70USD at the time of writting for all inclusive) is way too steep considering Adaaran Club is just 2 km away, has the same price and provides (from my point of view) a much better experience for visitors.

We went on an excursion to Fihalholi after a beautiful experience in Adaaran a couple of days before. We paid the same price for all inclusive and we were a little dissapointed.

So let's go over the differences that lead to this: in Adaaran we were greeted with cocktails and cold wet towels;none of that in Fihalholi in Adaaran they let you take drinks to the beach; in Fihalholi only at bar, and if you're staying on the snorkeling part of the beach, it's not that close in Adaaran you have included cocktails in the All Inclusive menu; they also allow alcohol at lunch time, in Fihalholi only soft drinks at lunch time in Adaaran the bar is open an extra hour ubtil 5PM; that might not seem much, but since the boats usually leave at that hour it makes for a better experience waiting at the bar instead of on the pontoon. The bar for all inclusive is also located at the port for Adaaran which is a nice touch; In Fihalholi there's a bar near the port but you have to pay extra in Adaaran there's a wider selection of food and deserts at lunch time in Adaaran lunch time lasts an hour longer which gives you more flexibility when to go to lunch in Adaaran the wi-fi is great, even at the beach; in Fihalholi they have routers scattered everywhere, but the wi-fi sucks or can't connect in Adaaran they provide beach towels, not in Fihalholi ( Kaani Grand Seaview provided us with towels before the excursion to Fihalholi though); but it's still worth mentioning since it's easier not carrying them around on the boat in Adaaran

Honestly, the only things that i found on Fihalholi on the plus side were more vegetation and lizards. I like both, but they don't make up for the same price.

It also seems they're trying to scam you through paid cocktails and the paid bar near the port for extra money, after you've already spent 70USD for the all inclusive experience.

So in conclusion, i recommend visiting Adaaran Club Rannalhi first and only after if you still have money left go...

We stayed at the resort in March 2019 in a comfort room and returned in August 2020 to stay in a water-villa. Both stays were extraordinarily pleasant. The staff is always friendly and welcoming. The island is really nice and designed like a garden which makes walking to dinner even more pleasant. During our first stay the breakfast, lunch and dinner were served as a buffet. This lead to a great variety of food. Due to covid there was no buffet during our second stay. Instead every meal was served à la carte with an appetizer, a soup and a choice of three main courses and three deserts. We experienced this concept as an actual improvement for lunch and dinner. In the evening there is entertainment at the bar. We often played pool-billiard or ping-pong. They also had karaoke and we especially enjoyed the movie night with one of the latest blockbusters. Concerning the room-choice the water-villa was definitely worth every penny. Here we could relax in solitude or jump off into the water to go swimming or snorkeling. Waking up in the morning and watching the see from bed is a big plus. We will definitely return for a third stay.

Only one downer maybe: Since the hotel was quite full we shared our table with an other couple during our first stay. In our case this lead to quite pleasant conversations, in general we would however prefer being seated at our own table. And even that is not even a really...