Just back from a wonderful holiday at this resort, we stayed in a sunset beach villa which faced west of the island which the calmer beach side of the resort. Our villa was spacious and cleaned twice a day , you couldn’t fault the cleanliness throughout the resort.
We have visited the Maldives four times and this is by far the largest island we have been to, we enjoyed the use of the free bikes that came with each villa on all inclusive. Alternatively you can walk around or get a free electric buggy if the heat gets to you. We liked the idea of having your own table in the restaurant reserved for you with your own waiter for drinks although the food was buffet style with a really good selection each day. All of the staff are very eager to please and very helpful and friendly.

Canareef resort is one of the nicest places I've ever had the pleasure to stay in.
Let me provide some details to why I have this impression:
1. The resort is huge, about 4.5 km in lengthand the infrastructure is very well maintained, therefore is easy to get around using either bycicles or the buggy service(free of charge);
2. The Sunset Villas are the best, IMHO, because you have your own beach 10m away from the villa, the sea is calm and the water is like in the movies :)....on top of that, there were times when we were the only persons on the beach, or in the sea....the feeling of being by yourself in that majestic place is worth every penny;
3. The water is not deep at all....you can walk 4-5 hundred meters before water level goes beyond 2 meters...perfect place to learn how to swim, do snorkeling, etc( we've seen very small sharks in the water near the beach twice in 10 days);
4. The staff is ultra friendly, you can see it from the moment you checkin until you checkout ....they will fo everything in their power to make you welcomed and enjoy the experience;
5. The food and drinks are good, not the most diverse( the morning omlet was my favourite), personally, being an european, I would have wanted to taste mango, but they don't have it....the alcohol drinks are very,very expensive ( a bad wine from Spain, that you find in the supermarket at 3-4 $, in the resort it costs ~25 $); the resort wine,white or red, cost 7$/glass and is much better
6. You can do a lot of activities( water sports, scuba diving, they have tennis fields, gym, etc)...again the prices are not cheap
7. Wireless was available in our villa and the main facilities, free of charge.

The thing I enjoyed the most in this resort was the SILENCE and the calm of the area, it was not crowded with turists( according to the manager the resort can facilitate 516 turists, and they have 370 staff members) and we were able to disconnect from the noise and crowd of our daily life.

I would definitely like to go back one day,
Andrei

What a fantastic resort on the southern most Atol of the Maldives. Staff are wonderful and very friendly. We stayed for 2 weeks and thoroughly enjoyed it. The villa was quiet and tranquil and offered everything you need including a Jacuzzi. The beach was a few metres through some lovely bushes from the back patio. The snorkelling from the local beach is not great as only about a metre deep for about 2/3 kilometre. However I saw a small black-tip shark and a turtle as well as lots of fish and coral. We stayed in the 600 range of villas, which are a long walk from reception and even longer walk from the restaurant. However free buggies pick you up or you can cycle, Ensure you get the bicycles as the island is long and thin. The staff we all so friendly and helpful with a special shout out to Soli our restaurant waiter who went above and beyond to make our stay great.

The only exception to this was the guide on the snorkelling trip. The trip itself took us to a lovely reef with lots of fish, coral and a turtle. However the guide did not give any guidance on which reef we were going to, what we would see, how deep, how strong the currents were or rules on the coral and fish, ie no touching. There was only 1 guide for 8 people and he did not look after the 2 people who were weak swimmers, I had to keep an eye on them. The guide then went on to stand on the coral, touch the turtle and only look after the group of 4 that had 2 beautiful daughters. I confronted him on touching the turtle and he said ' I was cleaning its shell'. He and the group of 4 hassled and chased the turtle so the rest of us only got a glimpse. I fed this back to the reception staff and got feedback from other guests that they put 2 guides on future trips and did a basic briefing.

The dolphin trip was well worth it, seeing many small dolphins even though the weather wasn't great. Though we got the same snorkelling guide, who completely blanked us.

I did 5 days (15 dives) of diving across a multitude of dive sites. Saw many wonderful Manta Rays, White-tip/Black-tip/Grey Sharks, Turtles, Reefs, Fish and the HMS Royalty wreck. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

My partner had 2 spa sessions and said they were wonderful.

Overall a great relaxing trip, worth the long travel time.