Reethi Beach Questions

Hi all, I%26#39;ve just booked my belated honeymoon to Reethi Beach and I%26#39;m so excited, we are going for 2 weeks, flying out the 30th May 09. I have a few questions though and was hoping people who have been before might be able to help me? Ok here goes...

%26gt; We have booked a Deluxe Beach Villa, could anyone recommend a good number to request with a good view and a nice bit of beach? (Though I%26#39;m sure they%26#39;re all gorgeous!)

%26gt; Could anyone recommend some good excursions and/or snorkeling trips to go on?

%26gt; Can anyone recommend a good make of Waterproof Camera that is reasonably inexpensive?

%26gt; Is there a dress code for any of the restaurants?

%26gt; We are not drinkers so have booked half board and are prepared to pay for drinks and snacks, could anyone give me some inside info on whether this is a good idea or if it would be better to upgrade to Full Board or AI before we go? Other than food I have no idea if anything else is in included in AI or not.

Thats all I can think of for now :) If anyone could help me with my queries I would really apreciate it, thanks very much.

Reethi Beach Questions

Hi JMD,

Deluxe villas 120-130 are the best location in my opinion with the best stretch of beach.

The dive centre does a couple of snorkelling excursions to a coral garden %26amp; Turtle reef, both offer better snorkelling to the house reef.

Miladhoo is a local island owned by Four Seasons, this too has excellent snorkelling, but will cost a speedboat ride to get there ($100+ depending on numbers in the boat).

If you already own a digital camera why not get one of these (cheap way of capturing the uw world of reethi)

dicapac.com/new_eng/02_products/sub03.html

I would stay on HB %26amp; dress code is very relaxed, just no bikini tops.

Here is my review from this time last year:-

The negatives in my review were only minor issues, just wanted to give a balanced review

tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298326-d316…

Hope this helps.

Regards

Emu

Reethi Beach Questions

Hi again Emu, thanks again for your advice and help I really apreciate it!

The underwater camera cases make me really nervous, I think I would always be paranoid about them leaking and being left without a camera for the rest of the holiday. Then again I am really inexperienced with things like this so they are probably great. Thank you for the idea I will definitely look into it!

I%26#39;ve just read over your review, thanks very much for highlighting all the prices etc that is really helpful. I think Half Board is definitely the best option for us as we are just not drinkers at all and would like to at least experience the other restaurants. Thanks again for all your help :) xx

We went half board and as I have stated in review this was great for us and I think cheaper than paying AI. We still went to the gym/tennis,drank during the day and cocktails at night (better value than bacardiu and coke which worked out dearer). I dont think we couldve eaten during the day as it was too hot.

If you happen to own a Nikon L-18 camera you could go with one of these:

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/FNTL18.html

Watertight to 200 feet and guaranteed for 1 year. They will replace the camera if it does leak.

You can order it with or without a Nikon L-18 camera.

I have purchased one for my trip (and also for local diving) but have yet to try it out underwater. All reviews Ive read about the housing are favorable.

I%26#39;ll post up pics taken with it at the end of May.

I agree with Emu regarding the location of the Deluxe Villas – I would definitely book one next time I go to Reethi and hopefully there will be a next time! As for the camera, we bought a Vivitar Vivicam 6200w after reading reviews on the forum. We were not disappointed although we are not serious photographers. At the time we paid a good price for it with Amazon (£59) which was cheaper than eBay. Enjoy your holiday.

Hi we came back from Reethi last month and stayed in a DL beach villa, number 122 and were very grateful for this position which in our opinion was the best location as it was far enough down to not get any noise at all from the beach bar and also had the widest bit of beach in front of it so agree with asking for numbers 120-130 as the best ones for a fab view and beach.

Only trip we took was the dolphin safari which we chose to do on our own on the small katamaran which was really relaxing as the guy from the sailing centre stopped off at a lovely little sandbank with the most amazing view where we walked alone for 20 mins and sailed back, sadly didnt see any dolphins on our sail and they say you have more chance if you go by speedboat because if they dont find any when you get to the sandbank they go off to another location - but it%26#39;s all just luck in the end.

No dressy clothes needed really, we found everyone very casually dressed even in the evenings.

We also went HB as we drink mainly wine which we wanted to choose not have house wine, and we ate out quite a lot at the other restaurants as the main buffet one does get repetitive after a few nights, so happy with our choice. Yes you do get a bill at the end but we were prepared for that and had the drinks we wanted. You can always upgrade to AI when you get there at the reception at any time, should you feel you have made the wrong choice. You do get an island trip in with AI and of course most drinks and afternoon tea, but we could not eat another thing after breakfast until dinner anyway!

I will also endorse the earlier comment about the Vivitar ViviCam 6200W. I took one with me for the first time recently and was very pleasantly surprised at the results! I had previously paid over twice as much for an underwater case for my digital camera, and the third time I used it, it leaked and ruined the camera completely! Fortunately that camera was my %26#39;second%26#39; one by then as I had bought a newer model %26#39;for best%26#39;, but nevertheless, it was perfectly Ok until this experience. I got the Vivitar for £49.99 from Amazon, though I did have to pay another few quid for an SD card. Hence my expectations of it were pretty low, but in the event, it produced some very creditable results indeed, certainly for the average everyday %26#39;amateur%26#39; enthusiast.

Endorse the room numbers for deluxe at reethi.Ibought a vivitar think it is a 5399.Its a bit cheaper thatn the 6200 ( couldn%26#39;t find one of those at the time.It is 5mp and comes with a waterproof case.It took fab pictures whilst snorkelling.Found Argos was chepest £48.00 OH bought a dicapac for his nikon which also worked but it was a bit harder to control the zoom etc than with a plastic case.No leakage in either case. As a first time visitor to Maldives thought the snorkelling at reethi was fantastic even though not much coral growth. I upgraded to AI before going and it worked for us even though we at at Moodhu bar a couple of times. Not heavy drinkers but got through a fair few cocktails and soft drinks in the day. Not a winde drinker but OH said house red was fine at meal times.Didn%26#39;t get bored with the buffet at all but Moodhu a nice change.recommend the speedboat dolphin safari.Literally saw hundreds.Did trip turtle quay and saw 7 turtles but not many fish. Turtles worth it though. If yo email resort they will send you a full list of what you get in the AI including a breakdown of the cocktails and how much it costs to upgrade when there. You will love it