We had the pleasure of visiting Rihiveli during our stay in August 2015. Rihiveli and
Its lagoon are a symbol of the Maldives, everyone has seen at least once a brochure showing the photo of sunrise island. When the speedboat is approaching Rihiveli , the lagoon 's emerald green welcomes you and color clears as you reach the arrival Pier. Beside the landing pad of seaplanes. I wasn't aware that there was an option to reach the island by seaplane, we're still in South Male and speedboat from the airport an hour away too. The gentleman welcoming us has a nice typical Maldivian dress with sarong . He invites us to remove our shoes and accompanies us at reception to Check in through the long Jetty. The dazzling color here is white, white on white sand covered the long Beach Pier traveling all reception and ends at the bottom of all the island, white beach bar. Reception view paintings with descriptions in French, here is the language mainly spoken and cherished tourism is French. There are
Even some Italians and Spaniards but
The prevalence is French. Take a guided tour of the island, starting with the Water sports, where you can rent for free and continue towards the center of the island. The rooms are spread over 2 sides, each cottage is independent and has its own private beach. Each House has a name in French, on the walkways that lead to the lodges are posted
Wooden fish that bear the names of tourists repeaters. Almost all the rooms, which are approximately 35 are not air conditioned, there we are informed that the ventilation is guaranteed thanks to some openings that we see on the walls of the House. We continue this exploration into the center of the island. Here the road splits in two roads, left, we head to the seaside restaurant, right down to the other houses and the bar. We meet a grey-headed Grey Parrot who speaks in French and Italian and continue towards the bar. Here there is the SPA reception. The treatments are performed in the halls near the sea. Prices and treatments in the Standard levels. Next door is the bar Center of life on the island. In the Ground floor large sofas extend along the circular perimeter of the room, on the inside the bar which also offers a decent
Espresso. Upstairs 2 pool tables, smokers
Cannot access this plan but can smoke on the ground floor. The floor is sand, there is a variety of Board games and outside even the bowls. In front of the bar there are tables and chairs, very pleasing in the
Evening but impossible to stay during the day under a scorching sun and dazzling reflection of the Sun on the sand. Here one evening per week
Place the white evening and have dinner on the beach. One night a week you dine on sunrise or barbecue island. Themed evenings are among the few activities proposed generally
It's an island 100% relaxation. If you want they will
Lead you to snorkel with dhoni because in Rihiveli there is an extraordinary lagoon but no Reef. But you can't have everything and the lagoon is impressive. On the side of
Bar it is easy to see pass the dolphins in the morning, on the side of the Islands the lagoon allows you to walk around for hours in less than one meter of water. I highly recommend the coral shoes, the bottom is rich in
Broken corals, especially between the 2 islands of sunrise and birds. If you don't want to walk you can fin kick or canoeing the islets or the wonderful sandbanks formed in the lagoon. It's a wonderful show. The restaurant is very nice, done in Overwater wood platform with the buffet from the inside and the tables arranged along the sides of the sea. The water is served in a carafe, the kitchen is European, the buffet has a few courses, due to the small number of rooms. Very good pasta, choice of meat and fish, vegetable buffet, French fries, desserts are good. The fruit is fresh and dry. Delicious ice cream available upon request. Wi-Fi is
Free and good and picks up all over the island. You can feel a
Atmosphere of peace, time seems to stand still. Unfortunately I have to report the bad habit that they throw in sea fish scraps. In this way they
Used stingrays and sharks to be served by humans and this kind of fish feeding we know
It might be dangerous to us. The spectacle of all these animals, including large sharks arriving as soon as someone goes in this area is impressive. I lost count of stingrays and sharks are grouped waiting for food. There are tourists who go specially in the morning to attend this show, I personally I was shocked without even seeing them
Eating. This is the only move which dulls my memory of Rihiveli because the rest is fantastic and the only memory makes my heart jumps