Angsana Velavaru 

We have been back 10 days now from our 10 night stay in paradise. The captain on our Virgin flight got it right when we touched down. He simply said "Welcome to Paradise"! Everything was seamless. In the arrivals hall we were met by an Angsana rep who escorted us through the airport to the seaplane check in and to the mini bus for transfer to the seaplane lounge. The turn around was so quick in the lounge that we barely had time to avail ourselves of refreshments but it was still lovely to be greeted by refreshing cold towels and have facilities to get changed. Before getting on the seaplane we were informed that one of our bags would come on a later flight (which it did) and if we wanted to get anything from the bag then we could have done. We knew that this is commonplace and so did not bother. But it is good to know to pack a change of clothes and swimwear in your handluggage. This was actually the case for everyone on our 15-seater plane flight. The flight is beautiful and as it takes 35/40 minutes you get to see plenty of atolls and islands en route. On arrival at Velavaru we hopped onto the speedboat and were on the island in less than a minute. We were greeted with warm smiles and cold towels, plus snacks of cured tuna and coconut sweets and a refreshing drink, all beautifully presented. We stayed in an infinity pool villa for the first 7 nights and an inocean villa for the last 3 nights. We had requested sunset side for both and this is what we were allocated . Room 117 on the island and room 317 inocean villa. Everything was immaculate, the pool lovely and warm, as was the sea. We chose the sunset side because this is the side better for swimming, regardless of the tide. The sand is soft and smooth and there is no need for reef shoes. On the sunrise side, the snorkelling is better but you may need reef shoes whilst you try to navigate the dead coral at low tide. However, we did so many snorkelling trips, we decided that we preferred the sunset side - and the sunsets are stunning too! We enjoyed watching the hermit crabs scuttling around our pool, the water hen calling for her chicks, the bats flying between the islands at dusk and of course the lovebirds which came to feed from your hand. The inocean villas take your breath away - they are simply enormous and beautifully furnished. And because there is no light pollution, it is great to be able to see the stars and the constellations so clearly. When we were not snorkelling in the reef we were in our pool watching the sealife around us. There was so much to see - rays, turtles, sharks (friendly ones), flying fish displays and of course...fish! If you love snorkelling it is definitely worth staying in these even for a few nights. It is very easy to swim out to the edge of the reef and there are three clear paths indicated in the sea so that you can easily get out there at low tide too. There is a boat that regularly shuttles between the island the inocean villas, taking less than a minute so you are never cut off. Food - we were spoilt for choice. Breakfast was a wonderful selection catering to all tastes, and freshly made omelettes or eggs to order. We tended to have lunch at the Kuredi pool bar which had a huge a la carte menu including seafood and steak and gorgeous creative salads. All restaurants were very flexible with our picky requests - eg salad instead of fries, no chilli etc. Everything with a smile and nothing was too much trouble. And of course the delicious iced coffees and virgin mojitos! We would go back to the Kaani restaurant for dinner, except on a couple of occasions when it was mainly spicy food. They have a weekly rotation of theme nights and our favourite was the BBQ night. No sausages and burgers here - it was crab, squid, reef fish, steak - out of this world! When we were in the inocean villa, we ate at the Azurro restaurant, outside, overlooking the sea from the pontoon. The food was next level. We were on standard all inclusive and felt no need to pay extra for the premium all inclusive options - eg if you wanted lobster you would need to but the food was so divine (I loved the scallops!) we really did not feel that we missed out at all. The Dive Centre happily provide you with mask, snorkel and fins for your stay, which saves a lot of luggage. They also do a daily snorkelling trip at 11am every day which we went on as many times as we could. It is professionally led and caters to all standards of snorkellers. Most days we saw eagle rays, sharks, turtles and just thousands of gorgeous brightly coloured fish. Just like swimming in a warm tropical fish tank! The Dive Team are there to help you every step of the way and they helped us with underwater photos and videos too - thank you Fazeel, Ageel, Ahmed, Ahmed and Jai!! I am not a certified diver so I did the Discover Scuba trips a couple of times and was in completely safe hands with the two Ahmeds who took me out 1 on 1 on both occasions. Going down 12 metres gives a completely different slant to the sealife and we saw even more amazing sights including 2 small manta rays. Then there was the whale shark/manta ray trip - absolutely incredible! We were two atolls away from the site so it was a 1 hour+ speedboat trip (seeing dolphins en route). Plenty of time to admire other islands as we sped past. We were also educated about the whale sharks and manta rays and told how to behave around them. We were lucky enough to be able to snorkel with both whale shark and the manta ray before leaving for lunch and snorkelling on a tiny deserted island on the way back - thank you Ageel! One evening we did the night fishing trip when my husband caught a huge reef fish (last year he had landed red snapper, shark and barracuda too!). On arrival back on the island the fish is tagged with your room number and instructions as to how it is to be cooked for you (sashimi/grilled etc) for lunch the next day. It was presented and cooked beautifully. Thank you to Sharan (fishing) and to the chef (sorry we didn't get his name)! As we were celebrating my husband's birthday, Amjad kindly arranged for us to go on the sunset cruise. We were not really that far away from the island before we were surrounded by spinner dolphins playing and following the boat. Sparkling drinks, canapes, dolphins and beautiful sunset - it is really something not to be missed - thank you Amjad! We visited this resort a year ago and we never return to the same place twice - but now we have. And we will again! We could not fault anything at Angsana Velavaru. Everything was just perfect. I have saved the best to last. The staff. We tried to get as many names as possible to say thank you here (and in person in resort) but apologies if we have misspelt any names or have had to describe people instead! Thank you to: Dive Centre - Fazeel, Ahmed, Ahmed, Ageel, Robata, Jai - for the wonderful photography, snorkelling and diving. Super professional and so friendly. Wonderful people. Thank you for the photos Fazeel and Ageel! Marine Biologist - Adlan. So knowledgeable and is doing a fantastic job with the coral planting. Kaani restaurant - Fayaz, Laila and Buddy. Always remembered our orders, from day 1 and so friendly. Kuredi Pool Bar - Litu, Shehan and Shibin - thank you for remembering our drinks orders too and for getting my husband's iced coffee just right! Azurro restaurant - Daisy. Such friendly service and again, the ability to remember every slightest variation to our orders. Boat operator - Sharan and his colleague - we saw you literally every time we stepped on a boat. Always so welcoming and friendly. Sunset cruise host and reception floor decorator - amazing daily designs and the friendliest host. General Manager (hope that's the right description) - Amjad - we cannot thank you enough for everything that you did for us. Inocean housekeeping - Abdullah - you looked after us and our room so well. Everyone in reception - you are all so charming and helpful. Thank you. We really hope to see you again soon Anne and Anthony