“A slice of heaven at The Anantara Dhigu in the Maldives”
Stepping off the plane into the (rather hot) Maldivian humidity. We embarked on our journey to Dhigufinolhu Island which is in the South Male Atoll of the Maldives. It takes roughly about 45 minutes to get to the Anantara Dhigu (click here) by the resorts’ private speedboat from the airport. (Luckily for us the weather was beautiful and the water was calm for our boat ride to the island).
The scenery much like from the plane was absolutely breathtaking. Passing by the beautiful reefs, deserted islands and bungalows made this trip go extremely fast, I felt as if I had been transported to another world.
Check’n In:
The Anantara resort surrounds a lagoon with a total of 3 islands, making up Dhigu, Veli & Naladhu. The turquoise lagoon is home to beautiful marine life that makes it perfect for snorkelling and scuba diving.
As our boat pulled up to the resort, we hopped off and we were taken up to the sandy lobby. My first impression was heaven. The staff (a mixture of locals and ex pats) were extremely friendly and more than happy to take some happy snaps of us on arrival.
Once we checked in, we were taken by our butler to the over water bungalow by golf buggy. In the back of my head I could not stop thinking how extravagant this all was.
The Room:
We stayed in the ‘Sunset Over Water Suite’, which was such an incredible experience in itself.
Our entrance room was decked out with everything required for a secluded tropical holiday (think disposable water proof cameras, a chess board, mini bar, nespresso machine, life jackets & umbrellas).
Our bungalow was extremely spacious and peaceful with an open plan living room fitted with king sized bed, oversized wooden wardrobe and entertainment unit. Our suite opened out straight onto an oversized deck through floor to ceiling bi-folds with uninterrupted views of the ocean as far as the eye could see. You could literally jump into the ocean from the bedroom.
The sublime bathroom had floor to ceiling sandstone tiles and was fitted out with a custom built-in stone bathtub*. There was also a seperate Grohe rain shower that overlooked the horizon through floor to ceiling glass panels.**
Oh and underneath our toilet there was a little glass viewing panel built into the floor to see glimpses of the marine life underneath.
*note since our stay the resort has had a major revamp and the bathroom has dramatically changed in appearance to give ‘a more contemporary feel’.
** important note: remember your surroundings. Since the end of the bathrooms are floor to ceiling glass and a very popular activity on the island is paddle boarding around the islands. It is as easy to see in, as it is out! I found this out one afternoon, while turning around in the shower to see a young Scandinavian family of four awkwardly smiling at me.
The large wooden sun deck had an abundance of lounging spaces, including 2 sunbeds, built in lounges and outdoor dining. We really were spoilt for choice.
At sunset, our room truly came to life, the vast array of turquoises, emeralds and blues emulated throughout our room with picture perfect sunsets every night. On the last night you could see a distant rolling thunderstorm pass by to open up for a star struck sky.
Getting to & from your room and around the island is a breeze, there are communal bike spots placed around the island where you can drop off or collect bikes at will and can simply ride them to your doorstep. From our room to the other side of the island only took roughly took 3 minutes.
Or roughly 10 minutes walk
Food & Beverage:
As Dighu is in the middle of the Indian Ocean and miles away from anything you would think that the food would be limited. Think again. With two buffets options and four main restaurants on the islands we were once again spoilt for choice.
We ate at each of the buffets for breakfast, which were both great and had an assortment of different choices. It wasn’t until our fourth morning that we actually understood how the breakfast was set out. There was no bacon or ham options for my omelettes in the morning (which is blasphemy in my eyes) but I really should have worked it out quicker, since the Maldives is predominantly a Muslim country where pork is not allowed, the buffet breakfast on the Dhigu Island is completely Halal where as the buffet breakfast on the Veli island is Haram and full of bacon goodness.
For dinner we ate at the buffet style restaurant another two times for dinner, which was once again was nice but it’s the Anatara’s restaurants that really excel. My favourite restaurant of the trip was definitely Baan Huraa. Baan Huraa is a Thai restaurant poised in between the Dhigu and Veli islands. The restaurant is perched above the rocks that divide the outer reef and the turquoise lagoon The easiest way to describe the restaurant is a glamorous, oriental inspired, oversized, open plan teak hut that is softly lit by lanterns.
We dined here late one evening and the food and the cocktails were great. The dishes are inspired from the north-eastern and southern parts of Thailand. What really made the dinner special was watching the reef sharks scouting for food amongst the rocks and coral. The waitress mentioned every night at that particular time you could see them for up to one hour, which was a pleasant surprise.
Another dining option that the Anantara provides is ‘dining by design’ which is a private banquet on the beach with your own personal chef. There are several different cuisines to choose from. We chose the bbq seafood banquet. Our seafood was caught that day and could not be any fresher.
Around The Island:
There is a lot to do around the island as well. With every type of water sport imaginable at your fingertips, paddle boarding, wind surfing, snorkelling, scuba diving & the under water rocket to name a few.
There are also cooking classes available for entertaining indoors if you are unlucky enough to get rain.
Or there are endless amounts of spots you can simply pull up, relax and take in the beautiful surroundings.
Spa:
If leisure is more your thing there is a luxury spa perched over the lagoon on Dhigufinolhu. The spa menu features holistic therapies designed to enrich and detoxify, while you relax and take in your perfect island holiday. We chose the Anantara Synchronised Massage which was totally pacifying that my partner actually nodded off during it.
Overall:
The Anantara Dhigu is a complete luxury island getaway where you can totally immerse yourself in the island’s serenity.
Anantara Dhigu Maldives Resort
Dhigufinolhu, South Male Atoll 20109, Maldives
+960 664 4100
