White Tern Maldives

Haleem und Shifa sind unglaublich tolle Gastgeber, mit viel Liebe und Hingabe erfüllen sie einem jeden Wunsch. Das Essen ist fantastisch und auch die Ausflüge so individuell, wie man auf Resortinseln nur träumen kann. Am Bikini Beach waren wir die einzigen Touristen über die gesamte Dauer unseres Aufenthaltes. In den Zimmern ist alles was man braucht. Wir haben dank Haleem Mantas, Walhaie, Delphine gesehen und tolle Fische beim Angeln gefangen. Außerdem hat er uns auf andere Inseln gefahren, dass wir kein Speedboot buchen musste. Das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis ist unschlagbar. Es war eine wundervolle Zeit im White Tern Maledives.

Nichts, außer dass das Riff etwas weiter vom Strand entfernt ist und man eine Weile benötigt um dahin zu kommen.

Can't contact any person from the hotel.

No responsible person can be contacted during need.

Location was good and staff was friendly

Never seen so many ants in a room, they were coming out of the walls

Shifa prépare un petit déjeuner maldivien très bon et copieux, qui permet de passer une journée de mer en forme! Le soir il est possible de manger entre autres choses un délicieux curry de poisson. Toutes nos demandes ont toujours été accueillies avec le sourire, c’est un couple très sympathique avec un petit garçon très mignon et timide. Haleem fait tout son possible pour que nous puissions rencontrer les raies manta et les requins baleines ( car ce n’est pas automatique, il nous donne des conseils d’approche éthique). Après avoir passé de nombreuses heures et traversé l’atoll sans succès, nous avons donc eu la chance de voir un requin baleine juvénile dans de très bonnes conditions, merci beaucoup!!

On aurait aimé rester plus longtemps pour partager davantage de la vie de cette charmante famille.

Camere accoglienti, pulite ottima colazione.. Molto apprezzata la disponibilità del dispenser di acqua ,e la possibilità di tè e caffè 24/24h. Ogni giorno abbiamo avuto la possibilità di organizzare escursioni in mare con Haleem, che si è impegnato tantissimo per farci vedere le mante, delfini e squalo balena . É possibile pure noleggiare kayak per esplorare la costa. Grazie per la calorosa accoglienza e per la professionalità.

Nulla

Amazing little house on a very beautiful, quiet island. The owners were fantastic ensuring that we had everything we needed, sorting outings if we wanted (& saying when to avoid as conditions were unfavourable) and cooking amazing food. If you want to experience island life with very few tourists, perfect beaches, a few couple of cafes & corner shops this is it. The bikini beach isn’t far away with the locals beach just a few yards away…both were deserted half the time. The snorkelling isn’t as amazing as on some more touristy islands but there is still lots to see & it’s one of the few places for whale shark trips

Nothing.

The owner Halim was amazing.

Food choice.

I can only recommend this place. With Haleem and Shifa the owners you can't go wrong. It is a small family business they will take care of you. They offer cool programs like whaleshark and manta ray watching. Haleem will bring you in small group or alone and will do the best to see one. We have seen 2 times whalesharks and many manta rays. Shifa will prepare for you the food you like and she cooks very well. And their cute little boy will be the showman. You can feel like at home. Everything is clean, aircon and comfortable beds. The island is a hidden gem. White sand with an amazing sandbank. Lot of fishes, corals and babysharks. The local people also very friendly.

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The room is spacious and modern. The shower has hot water, and the air conditioner works perfectly. Tea and coffee are available 24/7, which is very convenient. There is a comfortable relaxation area. The hostess responded to all my requests with “no problem” and was always very helpful. The host takes guests on excursions with great care and passion. The breakfast is excellent.

Clean with comfy bed and good AC. Staff were lovely and the available trips were fantastic, seeing both Manta's and Whale Sharks. Good food (especially the fish) and tasty local breakfast.

From when we first looked at this property (and reviews we read) we were from their previous beachfront property on a different island. Whilst booking.com had updated photos to reflect this, other platforms we were initially chatting with them on did not - there was no mention of the change of location from Sep. Communication was great up until the week before we arrived which was a little stressful and from the day we checked in (and a couple of days during our stay), we asked about booking a flight back on checkout which was only looked into the night before we left and we were told the offices were closed at that point. Sadly the shower and tap water was very sulphurous in smell which was unpleasant however we're aware that many outer islands have the same issue. Sadly this new location isn't beachfront but is a short walk away.

Ich habe Haleem und Shiva zum dritten mal besucht,wenn es einen Ort gibt an dem man sich herzlich willkommen fühlt, dann ist es das White Tern. Man bekommt jeder Zeit Hilfe, Unterstützung, Tipps und fühlt sich als ein Teil der Familie.🥰 Ich komme definitiv wieder,ich liebe die Menschen auf Fenfushi. Es ist wie ein zweites Zuhause,danke euch es war der perfekte Urlaub.♥️

Nothing.......

La gentillesse de la gérante, et sa disponibilité, notamment pour le petit-dej à 6h du matin au départ! Le petit-dej maldivien, avec le plat typique (thon et coco plus oignons, mais un peu trop salé). La grande taille de la chambre et l'air conditionné, pas trop fort et efficace. La belle salle de douche. Le (petit) coin pour prendre le café dehors, avec tout ce qu'il faut pour le prendre.

Un petit tabouret inconfortable pour lire, et pour deux... la grande chambre permet de mettre deux fauteuils! Les murs de la chambre n'ont pas été repeints, ils s'écaillent même par endroits. Les moustiques, amenés par le "jardin, deux plate-bandes le long du mur d'enceinte... Le "un peu trop de sel" dans tous les plats...

La familia de White Tern són maravellosos, et fan sentir part de la seva família i et cuiden com un més. Es preocupen per cada detall que puguis necessitar i et recomanen les millors coses. Et porten amb la seva propia barca als punts on pots trobar-te taurons balena, mantes, tortugues, coral,... Té un petit cost que pagues al final de l'estada, però per la personalitat de les excurcions i la seva dedicació val la pena, qualitat preu són les millors excurcions que pots fer, a més a més són molt poc agresives per els animals, ja que si els trobes be si no doncs segueixen buscant. En cap moment et porten a punts turístics on els hi donen de menjar als animals hi hi ha centenars de persones sobre els animals. Tenen molta cura amb els horaris dels teus apats i estan pendents de si vols dinar o sopar, i venen avisarte quan ho tenen fet perque puguis estar fent coses mentres ho preparen, els esmorzars son els millors esmorzars que he provat mai, l'esmorzar tipic de Maldives que no podia haver probat en un lloc millor. També gestionen els ferrys que has d'agafar per anar desde l'aeroport i tornar.

You need to meet the kindest couple that is in Maldives - Shifa and Halim! I have never seen guest owners going so much out of their way to accommodate their guests! I will forever cherish my stay in the Maldives! They are both so talented and blessed!

My wife and me were exploring Maldives in Raa atoll and Fenfushi was one of the islands we wanted to visit. It was the first time we visited a local island. No problem with booking this guesthouse. Haleem kindly helped us with transfer to and from Fenfushi by his boat. Everything was smooth. Also he provided trips to whale shark and hand-line fishing. Amazing experience! Recommended! Guesthouse is very clean. Room and beach towels are provided. Water, coffee, tea. Breakfast is also included in two options (continental and Maldivian). And Shifa was so kind to prepare also lunch and dinner by our requests. Bikini beach and the sand bank is 5 minutes of walk from the guesthouse. The water in the ocean was clean and even cleaner than in some resorts we’ve visited. Recommended for stay!

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Location

The hosts were so very friendly, the room was very cozy and the food was very delicious! We felt very comfortable and can highly recommend this accommodation.

Shifa and Halim were fantastic hosts. They were very kind and made our stay memorable. We hoped to see Whale sharks during our stay, and when we were unlucky on the first attempts, they made the trips enjoyable with snorkeling a great plan B. They also put in extra effort to make sure we could go out and see the whale sharks again. They were always there to give us information we needed about the islands. We extended many times and enjoyed their food too! Good luck with your new venture! We highly recommend.

No complaints 😊

Very clean and nice location

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The cooking was amazing. Shifa did a great job, it was so amazing love the little boy who is always there to greet us will miss him a lot. Love the location of the hotel and peacefullness in the whole island.

I wish there were more watersports, other than that it was amazing.

Room is essential and clean. Breakfast is good and could be mal divina or continental style. Bikini beach in right i front of the guest house. Is small bar well organized with sunbeds and an hammoc, there is a lot of shadow and is a really chilly place. Anim brought us 3 Times to snorkeling, see manta and whalesharks and he was kind and patient . I had a really good time.

*Halim and Shifa are excellent hosts, very patient , understanding , helpful and extremely friendly. * A paid transfer was arranged from the airport and Halim picked us up from Dhigurah. *The island itself is an untouched paradise, can be explored in 2 hours but you will never get bored of it. *The beach and coral reef to the hotel is amazing. *The food is excellent. *The excursions to watch the mantas, whale sharks a?sand bank tour and loads of other tours are worth every penny. *Halim is an excellent guide will be there for you every moment.

*Can’t think of any negatives.

It’s a very homely property Halym and Shifa are so welcoming and nothing is too much trouble, they work very hard to give their guests a great experience. The rooms are comfortable, bathrooms are huge, bath towels and beach towels are supplied. There is tea and coffee and water all freely available in the communal guest area, and there are mugs which we love!!! There is a little beach screened off for guests across the way with a couple of sunbeds and so,enswing sests and a hammock. There is snorkelling equipment available for use in the guest area. We had breakfast included, we love the Maldivian breakfast, it is absolutely delicious. You can also have lunch and dinner. We had dinner there each night- reef fish curry, again delicious, freshly cooked. Nothing is too much trouble for Halym and Shifa, they certainly go the extra mile to make your experience the best. We look forward to returning soon

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Shifa and Haleem made me feel very much at home and catered to my every need. My room was comfortable and clean and the food was well prepared. II enjoyed the island very much.

Not much I didn’t like. I was a little unlucky with the tides being low for most of the day during my stay. Not much anyone could do about that.

Halim and his wife are absolutely amazing people. If you would like to spend time somewhere, where you get warm, helpful and friendly welcome, you have to visit White term Maldives. Thanks for all

The property was in an awesome location - it’s right on a beach. The island itself is completely natural, so you can walk through unedited beach, reef, jungle. It’s really special. Many times in the week we were the only tourists on the island and the only people in sight! Breakfast every morning was really tasty and varied (it’s pre-set) and lunch and dinner options were a good range too. Haleem facilitated some incredible excursions for us, we got to swim with a Whale Shark alone, we swam with Manta Rays and went hand line fishing. He knew the waters very well!

To get to the island you need to get a 2 hour boat to Digurah and then the property owners will pick you up for a 15min boat trip to the actual island. It’s not bad, but the timings are only twice a day so you need to account for this. There is also a 3 hour boat from Mamagili to Male for the way back - we would strongly recommend you don’t do this as the waves on return are so strong and the journey is really uncomfortable. The room and facilities are really simple and basic, it worked well for us as we wanted an escape from the normal and digital detox.

Its not often i give such a low score, but this is because of the very poor quality of the rooms. Out of 5 local islands / guesthouse we stayed in Maldives Below, the rooms in White Tern were far below the standard. Below the score for the different aspects of our stay in White Tern. Friendliness: 10 Haleem is superfriendly and helpful. He is a very good boatsman and we went on whaleshark and manta excursion with him. We only saw 1 manta and no whaleshark but he did everything to find them. 1 day we were snorkeling out on the reef and he came by boat to warn us that bad weather was coming and we had to return to the beach. Island / bikinibeach: 9 We liked the deserted feeling on the island. As there is only 1 guesthouse its not many tourists. The bikinibeach is around the corner of the guesthouse and there are some sunbeds and hammocks. We spent lots of time there, also at night watching movies on our ipad (as we had no urge to come to our room) Housereef / snorkeling: 8 The reef near the sandbank at the nortwest side of the island is quite good and we saw lots of fish. First you have to swim ca. 300 meters through sea grass. Food / dinner: 8 curries are very good. Grilled fish is very dry. Prices are very reasonable

Breakfast: 3 very limited, no fruits (even though we asked and the shop around the corner sells fruits, so we bought ourselves). Inflexible timings, we woke up late after a long travel from europe and were 15 minutes too late for breakfast. Haleems wife simply refused to make it and there are no other places in the island you can go to. Rooms: 1 humid, mold, extremely worn out and uncomfortable mattresses, no ventilation possibility, no small soap to wash your hands. In 5 days the rooms were never cleaned and we never got new towels. I write this review after staying in 5 local guesthouses in 5 different islands. Luckily the quality of rooms and cleaning was much much higher in all other places and in my opinion the price we paid was far too high for the quality we got.

We absolutely loved our stay. The host family are amazing, kind, helpful and knowledgeable. The rooms are clean, comfortable and modern with great hot water showers. The wifi was also reasonably good. The in-house restaurant is very reasonably priced and the food was absolutely delicious with most dinner meals being around 10US dollar or less. The free breakfast was huge and delicious. Their boat excursions were also reasonably priced 60US each to go and hunt for whale sharks is pretty good! The walk to the bikini beach was less than 20m. We borrowed snorkels and fins for free from the property for the duration of our stay. The house reef is a 300m swim from the shore and one of the best reefs to swim on. Sooo many schools of fish, hawksbills turtles, eagle rays, we even saw a leopard shark nearby. The property also helped us organise our transport to and from the island. We caught the government ferry to the island which left from Male and arrived after 7 hours after a quick stopover at Maamingili. It was a great experience for us and cost us 5US dollars each. We caught the speedboat back 60US dollars each (2hours) directly to Male as the government ferry doesn’t run on all days. It was also a good experience.

White tern is amazing place to stay, it feel like home and comfortable, only guest house on Ireland, it’s relaxing, beautiful, and next to beach, beach has sub beds swing and beautiful walkway along the beach. Our stay was made very comfortable by hosts, food was AmZing cocked by host, there is variety of food options and small shop around the corner, our transfer was arranged by the host, highly recommended place.

Haleem and Sifa are very kind and helpful owner of White tern Maldives. They always make me stay comfortable. Also, their little boy is so cute and friendly. He made me smile all the time. Haleem is wonderful guide for whale sharks and Mantas. He always tried to drop me in front of whale sharks. He made one of my dream come true.!! Staying there and spending a time with them were unforgettable memories. Thank you so much!!

Little heaven for 2 of us :) It was hard to get there because it's located 2 and half hour from Male airport. But after getting didhdhoo island, everything was perfect! Private beach just in front of the accommodation was the best part. And Didhdhoo is just near the whale shark habitat, I could meet a whale shark just in 30 min after departing! Also thank you for packing breakfast when I take a ferry in early morning :)

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Great hosts. A great offer to spend time and explore the atoll. A quiet place without the tourist crowd. Thank you for a fantastic time spent on the island.

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Very good. Perfect.

Our time in white tern was absolutely incredible! We had the time of our lives and made so many memories that we will never forget. Everything was more than perfect. We felt so welcome when we first arrived and throughout our entire stay. Sheefa and Haleem are wonderful hosts and nothing is too much trouble. We booked our speedboats to and from the resort with them and all of our excursions. Seeing Manta rays and whale sharks was our goal of the trip and WOW! It was so much better than we could have imagined. We had amazing encounters with the whale sharks and manta rays. Haleem has a boat that he takes you out on, the price is very reasonable and the tours are personal. Haleem cares a lot for the ocean and wildlife and is very respectful and knowledgeable. There are a few sorkeling spots on the island and the bikini beach is a nice place to relax with sunbeds and a hammock. The room was comfortable and Sheefa is an AMAZING cook. There's a nice variety of fresh food available, big portions and really delicious. We will miss you alot but we will be back soon. Thank you ❤️

Leaving 😭

White tern Maldives is a wonderful place, with wonderfull people! We stayed as long as possible and nearly 2 weeks weren't even long enough. We were are able to relax right away on our arrival. You can't escape the friendly and relaxed atmosphere at the guesthouse, because it's spread all over the island. The bikinibeach with it's hammocks and platforms is quite unique for the maldives. Even though it doesn't have a blue lagoon it was our most favorite bikinibeach. We had it for ourselves most of the time. Haleem and Sheefa were very helpful and they really made us feel at home. Thanks for a lovely stay!

The property is located minutes from both harbor and bikini beach with a cozy shared space. Mattress was divine and room spacious and clean.

The family go out of their way to help you . the food is amazing and I saw whale sharks and manta rays with them ! brilliant I highly recommend this guest house

nothing at all !

White Tern: Located on a cozy little island with appr. 80 inhabitants. 6 basic clean rooms with private WC and hot shower. Everything worked well (AC, private fridge, shower,free WIFI,...). 24 h free water/coffee/tea. Breakfast included (try the local Mas Huni - Tuna/Onions/Coconut/Chili - with Roshi-bread). Tasty home-made dinner by Shifa (Host) for a fair price - starting from 5 USD/March 2023. we enjoyed a delicious fresh Red Snapper(super-fresh!!! 2 hrs before the Snapper had been alive) Beautiful area (belonging to the White Tern/20 m distance) at the Bikini Beach. Transfer (Example): By speedboat from/to Male Airport (Stopover on the neighboring island Dhigurah) perfectly organized by the White Tern. 60 USD per person (March 2023). You'll pay it to the White Tern. Hosts: Shifa and Haleem are perfect! The wishes of the guests are their desire! At the birthday of my wife, they organized a free beach-barbeque for us (together with other friendly open-hearded guests). Marine Life: The island has a nice and long housereef (access from the shore) with lots of corals and fishes e.g. Rays or Reef-sharks,... . Moreover... Haleem offers different tours with his own boat (max.6 persons) for reasonable prices. He didn't promise anything - but fulfilled everything. E.g., Whaleshark-Tour - 1st attempt - WOW ... a Whaleshark! If you like relaxing days in a family-like environment, the White Tern is a good choice.

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we liked very much the nice family who owns the guesthouse. They were so friendly and wanted to fulfill our wishes. The housereef is fantastic. Every day we saw sharks, turtles, lots of fish, some days we saw eagle rays, octopus etc. we enjoyed the trip to see whaleshark and another trip where we saw mantas, it was a big experience. Its a funny experience to be on an local Island with only one little shop, and a little cafe.

it would have been nice with a refrigiator in the room. the beaches a not so easy to swim in because of low tide, but we were snorkeling the whole day so it was not a problem for us.

We didn't feel like tourists here. Family-run place, the owners are so helpful and sweet. There are only a few rooms and everyone is made to feel comfortable. Home cooked food. Haleem has his own boats and takes the guests on customized excursions to see whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins. We had so much fun. Dhidhoo island is a small local island with friendly people. This guesthouse is the only one there! We loved that quietude. The beach is not great for swimming, but we could still snorkel in even the shallow water at the southern part of the island. And the nearby house reef had lots of fish for snorkeling. There we saw reef sharks and manta rays. And yes, we went out in the boat and swam with the whale sharks!

The family that hosted us in their guest house is very warm, kind and helpful. They were smiling all the time and made our stay a huge pleasure. It was very hard to leave this calm and charming place

Haleem and his family made our stay extremely enjoyable, they are such lovely people.They put on a dinner for New Year's Eve on the beach, which was special. We got to see a Whale Shark as well as Mantarays, Dolphins, Turtles and numerous fish. The accommodation is eco and not luxurious, but clean and comfortable. There are only 60 people on the island and we had the beach to ourselves. If you are not wanting to pay thousands for luxury, I thoroughly recommend White Tern

The hosts (Halim & Shifa) are amazing! If you are looking for a place to stay in the Maldives with a warm, informal vibe, this is it! Make sure to bring your mosquito repellent, especially for the night time. The room AC helps, but it is surely not enough to minimize the bites. From the local reef to the island's beaches (practically private), the whole experience is very much worth it for a very reasonable price. We enjoyed the meals homemade daily by Shifa (only 5$/meal!), whether it was fish or chicken... the curry is amazing! For underwater exploration, one can use the snorkel gear available (for free) and check the rift around the island or ask Halim for the Whale Shark and Manta dives/snorkelling - he is very well connected around the atoll and always does his best to make sure the guests get the chance to swim with these great ocean giants. We really appreciate all your support and direction, Halim!

The bed is not the most comfortable.

I can truly say that this was one of the best stays of my life. This has to be one of my favourite Islands in the world. Shifa and Haleem are simply the best hosts around; it was like staying with family. They fed us so well! The food is natural and not processed. My favourite thing about this island was the Reef. It's a bit of a swim to get out to the drop and is scary for some people, but I absolutely loved it and spend everyday swimming up and down it with the sharks and rays. I miss it! I love the simplicity of White Tern Maldives, nothing fancy, but everything perfect.

Having to leave

The hosts are beautiful souls, I felt I was part of their family, It IS better than any 4 or 5 star hotel I have ever been at, if you decide to stay, please respect the people, the locals, this is not a place to get a good tan, It IS a place to get e feel of real Maldivian culture, sea life, local flora and fauna, so lets keep It like this out of respect to These amazing hosts and their country

Very hospital and friendly hosts, a lot of marine activities, and the local vibes only found in this small inhabited island. The local family hosts are very friendly to us. Even though we only had 4 days stay there, they helped arranging all the marine activities into the limited schedule, so that we succeeded in watching Dolphins, Turtles and swimming with Mantas and Whalesharks! Located in the South Ari Atoll where those sea animals are always around, this hotel is definitely a hidden gem for the marine life lovers. Although the facility is not so fancy as upscale resort hotels, the guest house and our room was full of hospitality with their hand made decorations. White Tern is an only hotel in Dhidhdhoo island which has probably only 100-200 population and is tiny island that 30 mins walk is enough to browse all the islands. The island itself has very local atmosphere and we enjoyed having coffee, local snacks and the local chewing tobacco with local residents at one of the only two tea shops in Dhidhdhoo (In fact, as there are only two small tea shops in the island, if you want something more proper dinner, eating at White Tern is the best option). Communication is very easy and very responsive on WhatsApp. Before the stay and even during the stay, you can always talk to them on WhatsApp.

Shower water didn't get warm very well but it was fine for us. The fresh coconut water of the day has to be reserved in advance. This time we did not have opportunity to taste it so definitely try it again at next trip :)

One more thing to add: Although the Dhidhdhoo island is not well known, the hosts help booking the transport to/from Male or other ports. You will pay the speedboat transfer fees at the end of the stay. Kindly be advised in advance which jetty port and what time you should be at when you ask them for speedboat transfers. By the way the way to Dhidhdhoo island is also very adventurous and enjoyable :)

Shifa and her husband Haleem are amazing! Also Hassan is. We felt very welcomed! ☺️ The homemade food was also amazing! And the island is beautiful, very authentic. They have a beautiful beach just a few meters from the Guesthouse. All was great!

nothing, all was good!

Haleem is super host, I have been in touch with him since I did my booking, he helped me out of the way to arrange a surprise proposal for girlfriend(Now Fiancée). He did Amazing barbeque on the beach and superb decoration with live music. Full moon(beyond our expectations) just worked as cherry on the top. we stayed for 2 days, He Picked us and from Dhigurah island and dropped to Amaya Kuda Rah and then from Kuda Rah to Dhigurah, in nutshell Haleem did all to make us feel comfortable. we also did Manta and Whale shark excursions. Price of activities, food, excursions, transport was reasonable, I agreed with him about all along with prices. He gave snorkelling equipment for free. Anya and I were very content with the host family’s attitude of hospitality towards us and in general towards all the guests. This place will always remind us of our special day.

cleaning and the room appearance could be better. but we understand it as there are very less tourist to this island.

Haleem and Shifa are amazing and wonderfully hospitable. When the airlines lost me luggage, they provided me a set of clothes. Haleem arranged to find my luggage. And when I needed tea and toiletries, he ordered it through his sister for me. Also, he custom made my sashimi and ceviche dishes from fresh fish. Haleem also removed a sea urchin spine that pricked my fingers, several times. Totally, peaceful and rejuvenating experience.

Some people don't like that there's a pure sand beach nearby, but there are two on the two ends of the island. Also, locals don't like you taking fallen coconuts.