Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon

It was a very lovely stay at Cinnamon Ellaidhoo! We got upgraded to a water bungalow which elevated the entire experience. Joie from front desk was very responsive and helpful. The meals at Madi are so good! They are also very thoughtful with their cake and decorations as we celebrated our son’s birthday and our wedding anniversary.

As a family with two children, we spent two weeks on Ellaidhoo in August/September 2026. This was our 5th island visit in the Maldives. First of all: The house reef here is unbeatable!We arrived by speedboat. After arriving at the new terminal in Male, an Ellaidhoo representative greets you outside. You then take your luggage over to the old terminal to the resort's counter. There, we were informed that the speedboat would leave in about an hour. You can wait in the public area of Terminal 2.The speedboat ride was pleasant and took 1.5 hours; water was provided.Upon arrival at the island, we waited in the reception area where we were given all the necessary information, and the lovely Joie showed us to our room. Since there were four of us, we booked a Superior Room. You cannot book any of the other categories for four people.We had requested a ground-floor room in a specific area prior to our arrival, and this request was granted. The room was very well equipped. Two extra beds were set up for our children, which was not a problem at all due to the good size of the room.The minibar is refilled daily (beer, soft drinks). In addition, you get free water every day based on the number of guests. We had All-Inclusive, so the minibar was included (except for spirits, Pringles, etc.). There is also a kettle along with coffee and tea-making facilities.The bathroom is open-air, and everything was clean. Shampoo, shower gel, body lotion, and even toothbrushes were provided.The only thing we missed compared to other islands were bathrobes.On the terrace, there are two chairs, a table, and a daybed.Unfortunately, no new beach towels were placed in our bathroom for 4 consecutive days. We have absolutely no problem using them multiple times. However, after 4 days of use with salt water, a swap was definitely needed. We eventually had to actively ask for them. Meanwhile, our neighbors' towels were being changed regularly.If you value complete privacy, this might not be the right place for you. This initially put us off a little bit as well. Since the Superior Rooms are located in blocks of four and the beach is generally quite narrow, the sun loungers are indeed placed very close together. This is the only downside. However, we had very nice "neighbors."The buffet restaurant is located just around the corner from the Superior Rooms. The food was always outstanding. There are many different curries (an entire Maldivian and Asian corner). Every day, something different is freshly prepared at the live stations (fried noodles, meat, fish, and they even served kebab once :)). There is also a pasta station and pizza for western palates. During check-in, we were already asked about food intolerances. We don't have any, but it is clearly taken into account if you do.Unlike the other islands we have visited, there are no fixed table assignments here. During our first week, the island was very busy, so guests arriving around 7:45 PM or 8:00 PM (dinner starts at 7:30 PM) actually had to wait. They waited briefly in the adjacent bar.We would especially like to highlight the waiters Salah (from Lombok) at the salad bar, Najah, Adam, Shaned, and Susil (who speaks excellent German!). All the other waiters were always accessible and courteous too. They took special care of our children and joked around with them. The waiters always enjoy a little chat and show genuine interest in the guests.The adjacent bar opens at 9:00 AM. The cocktails and drinks included in the All-Inclusive package are very good. All the bar staff members were always in a great mood and very friendly.All the employees appreciate a little recognition in the form of US dollars, which they truly deserve. Please also remember to say "please" and "thank you"—it costs nothing but should be an absolute given.Next to it is the "games corner" featuring foosball, billiards, table tennis, and darts.A snack buffet with delicious little bites, ranging from savory to sweet, is available here in the afternoon from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. We always skipped the lunch buffet and preferred to grab a small bite here in the afternoon instead.Now to the highlight: The house reef! It was the best of all the Maldivian islands we have visited so far (even ranking above Vilamendhoo). We saw an abundance of sharks (blacktip, whitetip, grey reef sharks, nurse sharks), many eagle rays, feathertail stingrays, turtles (including the famous three-finned "Tripod"), squids, etc. One morning, we were even able to spot a Mobula ray at the house reef! Do watch out for the titan triggerfish, though. In our case, however, only the parrotfish showed any aggression towards us. One tried to bite my GoPro while I was simply swimming over the reef.The current was quite strong at times, so fins should always be worn. Unfortunately, we noticed that many guests couldn't really swim; they wore life jackets and fully relied on them.We booked the Manta Trip through the dive school and were not disappointed. We saw many mantas and were able to swim and snorkel with them. At times, our boat was the only one at the spot.We also booked a Sunset Fishing Trip through the resort, which was fantastic. The fish you catch are prepared for you for dinner the next day and served right to your table.It would be nice if showers could be installed on the beach at certain intervals near the ocean exits. As it is now, you always have to go back to your own room to rinse off the salt water.In the interior of the island, there is a small garden where they grow lettuce for the meals, as well as fruits and vegetables. There is also a soccer field, which the staff uses for cricket matches in the evening. Additionally, you will find some badminton courts, a tennis court, a gym, and a spa, though we did not use the latter two.The pool is located by the water villas. There is also a bar and the restaurant reserved for the water villa guests.On three days of our stay, day tourists were brought to the island (two boatloads each time). They were quite loud around the bar and beach area, crowded the bar so much that resort guests could barely get through, and were binge-drinking alcohol. They were taken back at 5:00 PM.Unfortunately, there were also some regular guests who did not behave appropriately. We have children ourselves, but if you let your kids scream for hours while you just stare at your phone, maybe you should look for a different destination (and again, we have kids ourselves!).Once at the pool bar, we watched a guest—who apparently had not booked All-Inclusive—try to charge his cocktails to five different room numbers in a row to get them for free. The bartender saw right through it and politely pointed him back to his own room number.In the evenings, there is some musical entertainment at the bar daily, which was perfectly fine.At night, the arrival jetty is illuminated, attracting fish and sharks. We had absolutely amazing weather during our two weeks; it rained for just ten minutes on the evening of the first day, and not at all after that.In summary, we will definitely come back. The island is a beautiful size, everyone always made an effort to take care of everything, and the house reef is absolutely unbeatable.

We honestly don’t know where to begin with Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon. We chose Ellaidhoo for our honeymoon and went with very high expectations of the Maldives, but somehow this little island managed to exceed every single one of them. It really was paradise – but what made our stay so incredibly special wasn’t just the beautiful island, the crystal-clear water or the amazing marine life, it was the people.

From the moment we arrived, we were made to feel so welcome. Joie gave us such a lovely welcome to the island and that warmth continued throughout our entire stay. One of the things that amazed us most was the memory of the staff. So many people knew our names, our room number, what we liked to drink and the little things we had mentioned in previous conversations. Nothing ever felt forced or scripted; it felt genuinely personal. By the end of our stay, we felt like people knew us rather than us simply being guests at a resort.

There are so many people we want to thank individually.

Dinesh – thank you for the pancakes, the food, the smiles and the cooking demonstration! Such a lovely part of our stay and something we’ll remember.

Soe – always so helpful, particularly when helping us arrange our excursions and making everything so easy.

Nausheen – despite being new, you were absolutely wonderful looking after us at lunchtimes. You’re already doing an amazing job!

Adam – another lunchtime favourite! Your memory was incredible, you seemed to remember everything about us. We also loved having you as our photographer on the sunset cruise – you captured some gorgeous memories for us.

Atik, Ifah and the spa team – our massages were absolutely amazing and such a relaxing honeymoon treat. Thank you All!

Amjay and the entire diving team – you were brilliant. The snorkelling experiences were easily some of the main highlights of our honeymoon. We joined both the turtle and manta ray excursions, where the team took us out to sea to experience these incredible animals in their natural environment. Seeing turtles and manta rays up close was something we will never forget and made even better by how knowledgeable, enthusiastic and reassuring the team were throughout. We felt completely safe and looked after at all times, while still being given the freedom to properly enjoy the experience and take in everything around us. These were genuinely once-in-a-lifetime moments and such a special part of our honeymoon.

Asda – thank you for looking after us on the sunset cruise and for all the drinks at the bar. Always friendly, attentive and another familiar face we loved seeing.

Moosa – thank you for keeping our room immaculate and for the incredible honeymoon, anniversary and birthday decorations. Walking back into our room and seeing the effort you had gone to was so special.

Susil – a huge thank you for making Luke’s birthday dinner so memorable. It was such a special evening and one we will always remember.

And finally, Igbal, Muaaz and Ioufan at Seanic – thank you for looking after us so brilliantly. The service was exceptional and once again so personal. You really helped make our final part of the honeymoon extra special.

The house reef deserves a review of its own. It is absolutely incredible. Being able to step into the water and have such an amazing underwater world right there is something we will never forget. The amount of marine life we saw was unbelievable, and we happily spent hours every day just snorkelling around the island. For anyone choosing a Maldives resort specifically for snorkelling or diving, Ellaidhoo would be very difficult to beat.

We spent most of our honeymoon in a beach bungalow, which we absolutely loved. Being able to walk straight out onto the beach and ocean every morning was exactly what we had imagined when we pictured our honeymoon in the Maldives. For our final night we moved to a water villa, which was the perfect way to finish the trip. It was beautiful, spacious and felt incredibly special being directly over the water. Our only tiny recommendation would be to add steps from the water villa deck directly into the sea – that would make an already amazing experience absolutely perfect.

Something else that really stood out to us was Ellaidhoo’s commitment to sustainability. We loved seeing that it wasn’t simply talked about, but actually visible around the island. From refillable water bottles and reducing single-use plastics, to the organic farm, repurposing materials and the work being done to protect and support the reef, there seems to be genuine thought behind reducing the resort’s environmental impact. On an island surrounded by such incredible marine life, it was really reassuring to see how seriously this is taken.

We travelled to the Maldives expecting beautiful beaches and clear water, and of course Ellaidhoo delivered all of that. What we didn’t expect was to leave talking just as much about the people as we did the island.

There are beautiful resorts all over the Maldives, but it is the team at Ellaidhoo who make this place what it is. The attention to detail, kindness, humour and ability to remember the smallest things about us made the whole experience feel incredibly personal.

It was the most amazing start to married life and genuinely exceeded everything we had hoped our honeymoon would be.

Thank you to every single person at Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon who played a part in making it so special. We left with very full hearts, far too many photos and absolutely no desire to come home!

We would return in a heartbeat. ❤️🏝️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Five stars simply doesn’t feel enough.