For us Komandoo Island Resort is the ultimate destination, it is the place we dream of returning to, and a place where we have had the most magic of times. We have been so lucky that we have had the chance to visit twice, first time was on our honeymoon in 2004. And our last visit was Christmas 2019. Komandoo is the leading adults only resort in the Maldives, located on the Lhaviyani atoll, a scenic 40-minute seaplane flight from the Velana International Airport on the main island and capital of the Maldives, Malè.

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On both our visits to the Maldives we had the pleasure of flying with Qatar Airways from Oslo via Doha to Malè. When arriving at Malè airport we were met with representatives from Komandoo, and we had a short drive with a minibus to the terminal of the seaplanes that are used to fly guests to the different resorts and atolls in the Maldives. Should you choose to stay at resorts closer to the main island, the water taxis are just outside the arrival’s hall at the airport.

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The Republic of Maldives is a small archipelago state in South Asia, situated in the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka. The Maldives is one of the worlds most geographically dispersed states and it is also the smallest Asian country. It consists of a chain of 26 atolls stretching across the equator. The best time to visit the Maldives is from November to April. The island nation is warm and sunny year-round, but consists of a dry season and a wet, rainy season.

Komandoo Island is a small island resort with a 5* rating with an award-winning spa. There are two bars, the main bar Kandu with evening entertainment and excellent inside and outside seating. There is an infinity pool next to the bar. There is also a beach bar at the south side of the island where the sunset can be enjoyed with a glass of goodness. Komandoo has its own Prodiver diving operator were gear can be rented and diving trips can be organized.

Komandoo has 3 different kinds of accommodation, beach villas that are hexagonal wooden pine huts with four-poster beds and front veranda that steps directly onto a pure white beach. And to be fair the whole island is a pure white beach so wherever you are and go, there will be pure white sand. The jacuzzi beach villas are the same but with a jacuzzi. There are 15 water villas, and they are suitably impressive with solid teak furniture and a fantastic private terrace with steps directly into the lagoon. On our first visit in 2004 we stayed at a beach villa, and on our last visit we had the privilege of staying in a water villa, a long-time dream of ours. Our villa had a big four poster bed, a cool big lounge chair, a big bathroom with jacuzzi bath, shower and toilet. The outside private terrace was grand with sunbeds, parasol, and a big lounge bed in the shade. The stairs went down into the lukewarm water of the lagoon and of course instant snorkelling possibilities. All around our water villa there were stingrays, big parrotfish, and other assorted fish with dazzling colours.

Even for a small island (its about 500×100 meters) Komandoo boasts 2 restaurants, Falhu is the main sand floored buffet restaurant where you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner either inside or outside on the deck jutting out over the crystal-clear water. The food in simply to die for, you tend to spend the day waiting for the meals that are simply divine. Every evening has a new theme, everything from Indian to seafood to beef and BBQ. They have a tandoor oven where the chef makes the most delish freshly baked naan bread to order. Everything is served fresh, made to order omelette at breakfast or fish in the evening. There is also fine dining at the Aqua restaurant, newly opened and they serve a la carte in the evenings only. It seats 18 people, so for that super romantic meal this is the place to go.

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For us Komandoo epitomizes total relaxation, no stress, no worries holiday. We have not been anywhere else that gives us such a feeling of pampering and being well looked after by the fantastic team of people at the Komandoo resort. For our honeymoon this was the perfect place 16 years ago, we asked our travel agent for something different and he suggested Komandoo. It was then a newly opened resort, no Wi-Fi back then (there is now) and the water villas had not yet been built. When we wanted to return many years later, we found the same romantic island that we had left with heavy hearts in 2004. There was a “welcome home” rose petal message from the management on our bed and we got t shirts commemorating our return to the island – a nice and touching gesture. Komandoo enjoys fierce and loyal guests who return year after year and it’s not hard to see why. To walk on powder white sand barefoot for a week is a privilege, no shoes are needed at Komandoo.

The house reef surrounding Komandoo is teeming with fish, sharks, moreen eels and turtles. The occasional stingrays, eagle rays and other assorted sea creatures visit the lagoon frequently. It is hard to explain just how fantastic the snorkelling around the island is. Donning our snorkelling gear at our own private terrace and just walk down the stairs to underwater paradise is our absolute favourite activity anywhere in the world but we have not seen so many fish on such a short distance of reef anywhere else in the world. Just a few metres outside the wave breakers there is a magical world of the sea.

Thousands of fish in all the colours of the rainbow. On one of our outings on the reef we encountered a large black tip reef shark, it startled Tanja a bit but it just swam past us and on into the deep blue. Floating above one of the cleaning stations where small cleaner wrasse offer their service to bigger fish is awesome. Large parrotfish swim up to the large rock that is the cleaning area and do a peculiar sideways swim to say, “I’m ready for my spa appointment now” and the wrasse schooling around the fish to clean it for small parasites. You can also go on excursions to diving and snorkelling sites around other islands and shipwrecks, but we have found if snorkelling is your thing, there is no need to leave the house reef around Komandoo. Around the wave breakers there were several turtles swimming around to feed on the algae living on the breakers. We had daily dates with 3 turtles lounging in the waters, snacking just in front of our masks. It is so cool to float and watch those turtles just being total Keanu Reeves surfer dudes and doing not much more than they must. On one occasion there was a bit of a traffic jam between the breakers, Tanja and I were swimming in, and two turtles were adamant on swimming out the narrow gap. There was a pileup of turtles and humans and we are sure that one of the turtles flipped us the bird. Close encounter for sure.

The days on Komandoo are used to enjoy the company of your love, frolicking in the crystal-clear waters, snorkelling, lounging under a parasol on the beach or on your own private deck of a water villa and of course eating all those amazing meals. And that is maybe the biggest selling point for us, the lack of shopping, no need to decide where to eat, and you know that the beer will be drunk in a magic bar with epic views of the stars and the ocean. The staff are the friendliest people we have ever met, and they will do all they can to make your stay as good as possible. Komandoo is for us the most romantic and magical place we have ever visited. A dream location and somewhere we will always hope to return to, our spiritual relaxing home away from home. We love Komandoo!