Diamonds Athurga Maldives Resort & SPA

The hotel management should be more attentive to travelers’ cultural needs upon arrival. My friends and I are Muslims, yet no one asked us if we required halal food or explained the difference between halal and non-halal options. Interestingly, when I travel to Europe, some hotels take the initiative to ask this. Fortunately, Chef Tito was very helpful — he personally explained which dishes were halal and which were not, which made a big difference in our stay.

The hotel management should be more attentive to travelers’ cultural needs upon arrival. My friends and I are Muslims, yet no one asked us if we required halal food or explained the difference between halal and non-halal options. Interestingly, when I travel to Europe, some hotels take the initiative to ask this. Fortunately, Chef Tito was very helpful — he personally explained which dishes were halal and which were not, which made a big difference in our stay.

Beautiful beach Excellent foodVery friendly and entertaining crew Highly recommended!

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The meals each day were amazing, the house reef at the resort was beautiful with a great range of marine life, the water villa we stayed at was amazing the all the staff were incredibly friendly and happy to help us whenever. Everything was included in our package with no strings attached.

The internet wasn't always consistent

Beautiful Reef, exceptional staff, great food.A little piece of paradise in the Maldives, we had an amazing time even though the weather was not great.Nasoch our waiter went above and beyond, we will miss him and also our lovely waiter at the Buffett restaurant Ramoach ( so sorry about the spelling ?) everyone was amazing ? thank you so very much for making our special holiday so wonderful.

A little dated

Our 2nd time here, it was still the most amazing place to be. We had overwater villa which was impeccably clean, staff amazing as well as food. Couldn’t ask for anything better or more. Snorkelling over the house reef was crazy beautiful and the fish mesmerising. We will definitely be back next year we love it so much.

Absolutely nothing

Lovely twin suites shared with son and partner. Superb food and the staff were exceptional throughout our trip. Also superb value for money.

The water villa was spacious & clean. I loved the large balcony with outdoor couches.The reef in front of villa 21 is amazing for snorkeling – I saw nearly 100 species of fish.I loved that you could access the shower directly from the balcony, after swimming.The host Elize was friendly, sincere & great in explaining the hotel & amenitiesMost of the staff were friendly & helpfulI would like to commend the marine biologist on their efforts to cultivate/ propagate the coral. The corals were in better shape than some of the other hotels that I have visited in the Maldives.The prawn bisque/ soup at the water villa restaurant, and Caesar salad at the bar were delicious; compliments to the chefs.

A few suggestions:1) I would like to suggest that you switch to an electronic billing system (live data system) with tap/pay as you go points at the restaurants/ bar/spa. This would simplify the check out process & final bills could be mailed instead of being printed (more eco-friendly). The guy who made my final check out made a sarcastic & condescending comment that I had not paid one of bills, which was unpleasant, unprofessional & uncalled for, & not the service one would expect from a 5 star hotel.2) I would like to suggest that the check out process be sent by Whatsapp, and only printed as necessary to be more environmentally friendly.3) I would like to suggest that you put more weighted buoys with ropes near the shallow reefs, for swimmers to hold onto while snorkeling, this will help protect the corals especially at low/ lower tides.4) Recommend to provide a Whatsapp number to message when confirming the reservation; I tried to call the hotel a few times to confirm my seaplane flights, but the phone was not answered & my emails were not responded to until I used the enquiries email address.5) Suggest to re-design the breakfast menu layout, so that is more clear regarding what the choice menus are, at the water villas restaurant.

It truly is a beautiful, natural, friendly island. Hugely Italian influenced food which I think is a huge win. The pasta options, pizza and other stuff they offer every day, changes of course but is always delicious. Breakfast is amazing too. Fresh fruit drinks. We’ve had so much fresh orange! The sea life is wildly, the reef is still so colorful. The free group snorkeling twice a day, just perfect. We celebrated our baby boys 1st birthday day there and they staff treated him and us so well. As did the guests. It was a perfect holiday. We’ve been since 2002, 5 different islands and we have finally found our go to. Next year 100% we will be back. Once you know the Maldives, you know that the little things make the difference, the natural steps changed the beaches because of seasonal rinds caused some islands to put break waters in. Not this place, it’s truly natural. You can walk the whole way round, in the water in 15 minutes. It’s tiny, no paths really, the paths are just walking through the trees and it’s just perfect in that sense too. I could go on and on. Great little island.

The only negative and they know it and are doing something soon is the rooms could do with a spruce up, but it’s not at all a problem and I personally enjoyed the style. True beach villa retreat with a nice little outside bathroom too.

Great friendly staff

Certain options where not communicated to us upon our arrival and we found out towards the end of our stay such as private dinners.

Great location. Good house reef. Food lovely. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Decoration is a bit tired and needs some maintenance. Not much to do when it rains and can’t snorkel or do any water sports.

South Atol with access via 25min seaplane from Male. Stunning location, surrounded by a gorgeous beach with perfect wide sand, beautifully clear sea and a reef that is perfect for snorkelling/exploring. With two accommodation options, we were fortunate to be upgraded to a water villa, which was just everything you would expect in terms of exclusivity and service.Both restaurants we experienced were excellent- The water villa à la carte restaurant, with table service and excellent menu choices & the main buffet restaurant with an amazing choice of freshly prepared/individuality cooked dishes & fruit juices.Plenty of excursions to choose from and the service from all the staff were so friendly, offering advice and genuinely wanting to make our holiday an amazing experience.

Staff were amazing, food was also amazing. Snorkelling over the reef was like being in a huge aquarium, just magic. We had an overwater villa, so comfortable, clean and loved waking up to our water view and coffee on the balcony.

We just came back from this resort and are already planning our next vacation at the same place.We stayed for two weeks in a standard beach villa and liked everything, the most important for us being the house reef.The house reef: simply outstanding, daily encounters with the sharks, turtles, whole families of the eagle rays, porcupine and boxfish, moray eels and so on. We enjoyed snorkeling at least twice a day and were never disappointed.The food : simple but good, with Italian influence. One could find pizzas and pasta at a daily basis (pasta with speck and safran sauce is my favorite). Every day the resort changes the theme of the diner, my favorite being Maldivian, we had it twice during our stay. Live barbecue with meat and fish, live naan station (just excellent) as well as other dishes from all around the world. We also booked the lobster dinner, while being a bit too expensive, it was one of the best we had so far. The Chef prepared an excellent lemon butter sauce that was just perfect for the lobster, highlighting its delicate taste. Thanks to the General manager Jaco we also had one diner at the a la carte water villa restaurant, we liked a lot the romantic setting, lounge music, service and of course the food.The excursions: we went on a whale shark excursion and were lucky to see two different of them. In our sixth’s time in Maldives it was the first encounter, what a beautiful experience ! We also went on the night sharks snorkeling and had seen at least 30 friendly nurse sharks of different size, it was impressive and beautiful. Finally, we went on manta safari and unfortunately haven’t seen any, but we will try again the next year.The resort also organizes the house reef snorkeling excursions twice a day (free of charge) with the marine’s biologists. If you are not a confident swimmer and/or would like to know better the marine’s life, I highly recommend to give it a try.The shop: I loved this shop.

We liked everything.

Meals are quite expensive. Service by staff is superior.

Location require sea plane for a very expensive cost plus extra payment for luggage that internationally are included.Day / Night activites were boring. No animation team.Sport center guardians are irrgent and not very cooperative.

We loved everything! From the staff, to the location, the marine life, the beautiful beaches and the unbelievable food. What a wonderful experience! Huge shoutout to Titu, Malik and Naish, who made this extra special.

The rooms are nice, especially the water villas. The staff in the restaurants are very helpful and friendly.

The hotel charged us twice, and we are still waiting for a refund 2 weeks later. They took the money from our account even though we had stated on the booking we would pay at the hotel. When we got there, they said we could pay in cash and they would reverse the payment they had taken from our bank, which would take no longer than 3-4 days. It's been more than 2 weeks now, and we are still waiting for our money. I have emailed and messaged the hotel several times but haven't gotten a response on when they will be refunding the money. I hope they do the right thing soon.

Property is in really good location.

Food is repetitive and that’s in the overwater villa restaurant. Required more choice.

Athuruga was everything we had hoped for an more from start to finish. We stayed in the Junior Suite on the island, as well as the water bungalows over the duration of our stay and both were great accommodations with their own perks. The house reef is very large, with a diversity of wildlife and the marine lab on the island has done a great job at preserving the beautiful coral gardens. We saw lots of fish, nurse, white and black tip reef sharks, rays, turtles, you name it! We went diving a few times and the dove spots the school offer were all amazing, including Shark Thila and Maadu Faru corner, which were something very special. If you like diving, the night dive on the house reef is also not to be missed, the nurse sharks are very friendly! What gives this island it’s ‘extra’ factor is the people. The team are all really wonderful: kind, friendly, helpful, open and authentic. A special thanks to Abdullah and Mohammed from the restaurant for making every meal an occasion for laughter, Marco and Adam from the dive school for such an all around awesome time, all of the reception team for their help and Nivo from the spa for an amaazing massage.

My only recommendations would be to increase the vegetarian options, and to put out tip boxes for the reception / general staff / boat crews etc.

Amazing relaxation experience Awesome Water activities and on-site marine biologist and conservation projects.The Resorts exotic ambiance. We enjoyed the friendly and courteous staff membersThe food spread was always tasty and well presented and more than enoughThe watervilla was well kept and comfortable with awesome views and excellent 'sealife experience right on our deck.

The seaplane costs to transfer from Malé to the island and back are exorbitant. It really is exploitative when you have to an additional $504 per person for transfer when booking through Booking.comA bath in the bathroom was missedSpa treatments are too expensiveI suggest a vendor machine with chocolate and crisp/snacks, something to nibble on when in your accommodation

"food" was exceptional - absolutely delicious, the cuisine varied and the Maldivian themed night dinner was just incredible!"reef" was exceptional - excellent snorkelling, for all level of swimmers, they even offer you a free diving experience."water villa" was exceptional - it was beautiful, well maintained, well located and the housekeeping services excellent.The staff are amazing, they are kind, warm, helpful and welcoming. The beverages are of very high quality. Truly an incredible experience - a must-see on any Maldivian tourist list. And we've been to the Maldives 10 times. This was by far the best experience - the resort and island has an incredibly serene vibe.

Everything was fantastic! Nothing to complain about