Second Honeymoon in Maldives: Visiting paradise again – Eriyadu Resorts, Maldives

• Introduction
• Low Cost Portion - 2 flights and an overnight at KUL LCCT
• First time in Colombo
• First time on Emirates First Class – Colombo to Dubai
• Layover in Dubai with Le Meridien Hotel Review
• Emirates Dubai First Class Lounge
• Dubai to Male in Emirates First Class
• Visiting paradise again – Eriyadu Resorts, Maldives
• Leaving paradise - Finifenmaa Lounge and Dubai to Male in Emirates First Class
• 2nd Dubai Layover - Review of Novotel Dubai Deira City
• Emirates First Class - Dubai to Colombo
• Negombo, Colombo
• Getting home on Malaysia Airlines (Colombo - Kuala Lumpur - Penang).
• Conclusion

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We got off the plane and walked along the pavement to the arrival terminal. Just behind the custom clearance, was the luggage collection bay. The airport was pretty small. We stood under an air condition vent while waiting for the luggage, weather was hot and humid. Then the conveyor belt started to move, and to our surprise, our luggage was the first that came out on the conveyor belt (as we were the only 2 first class passenger). We were very impressed, a praise of respect to Emirates for taking care of all the minute details even one such as this. 

We exited the arrival hall to find our guide from the tour agency we booked from waiting for us. We were promptly transferred to a speed boat headed for Eriyadu Resort. The boat ride took approximately 1 hour. Along the way we saw many resort islands, many times mistaking some of them for Eriyadu, in hope of arriving sooner as we could not wait. 

Speedboat to Eriyadu

Arriving to Eriyadu..

When we finally did arrive at 10am we were greeted at the lovely pier by one of the hotel staff. We were then brought to the reception where we were served Maldivian cocktails & cool towels, filled in a guest information card and then was shown to the room by the bell boy. 

The first thing we did was to check out the island. There are 2 piers on the island, one part of the island is lined by lovely white sand beach, good to sunbath on. The other part of the island is mostly shaded by low growing trees. It was a pretty small island about (~39 thousand square feet).

 The water was of course clear blue and the sea was calm so I couldn’t wait to get in for a good snorkel. Calvin was thinking of a nap and going snorkeling after lunch. However, he was quick to agree to go for a snorkel as the water was just lovely. Snorkel we did and wow were we impressed, the drop off were just 10m from the shore. The drop off was jaw dropping, the corals were good, there was a lot of variety of fishes, just what we expected out of a holiday in Maldives. Thankfully we did snorkel as it just poured the rest of the day after lunch! We just spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep and rest.

 

We spent the next 5 days going through the "paradise routine" - snorkeling, lazing on the beach, sunbathing with a book in hand / occasionally dozing off to the soft sound of the waves crashing on the beach, rinse and repeat.

It was just so serene and relaxing. The island had very few guest, not more then 40, maybe cause of the low peak season.  The only downside with this was the excursions. The island does organize excursion trips but required a minimum of 6 pax. As we were the only 2 who were interested, we could go if we paid for the cost of 6 people which we obviously did not do.

Food wise, breakfast, lunch and dinner was pretty much the same every day. The desert was however different everyday and they were quite lovely, we had blueberry cheesecake, butterscotch pear, pineapple cake, carrot cake, chocolate mousse cake, chocolate pudding, espresso mousse cake, …..

Overall, we would recommend Eriyadu for someone on a budget especially those who want to skip the seaplane. Comparisons with Dhiggiri (where we went on our first trip to Maldives) kept coming up and at the end of it, we liked Dhiggiri more simply for the "wow" factor of having a water bungalow. We definitely want to head back to Maldives and already missed it! Ending with some more pictures..