The Centara Collection, Machchafushi Island Resort & Spa Maldives — Hotel in South Ari Atoll

I’m going to start by saying this was almost the perfect holiday. This resort basicly offered everything we were hoping for when we decided to go to the Maldives again (our 4th time). There were multiple things that we loved, but i’s going to try mention the most important ones: The REEF!! This is paradise for snorkeling and marine life lovers! The island in surounded 360 degrees by an extraodinary colorful living coral reef. There is an abundance of marine life, beautiful fish, sharks, diffrent kinds of rays and turtles that you get to see on every single snorkeling session. The fact that there are no rip currents or waves in any area makes things even more incredible. You can take small kids snorkeling without having to worry. Also if you get lucky you can even see manta rays or dolphins while snorkeling. Simply amazing! The service and food and drinks. This guys are truly amazing. We had perfect and attendive service with a smile on every single ocasion, at the bars and restaurants. The food at the a la carte restaurants was excellent, but i have to especialy mention the italian Azuri Mare that was simply fantastic. The atmosphere and setting were perfect and the food was top class, even by italian fine dining standards. A big thank you to Chef Jithin! This guy is a real treasure, a top class chef and also a sweet and warm person. We couldn’t get enough of his delicious dishes and i have to say we are pretty picky. 👏👏👏 The main buffet restaurant Reef was decent, i would rate it at 3 out of 5. There is also the option to eat at the pool bar where they have a decent selection of finger food like burgers, wings and club sandwiches of good quality. Drinks are also of good quality and variery all around the island with very good cocktails and wines available especialy if you are on the GAI plan. the room. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 kids (9 and 11yo). The duplex beach villa was a perfect choice for us. The layout is ideal for a family, spacious enough, confy king bed upstairs, a sofa bed and an extra bed downstairs, nice and big main bathroom on the ground floor and a toilet upstairs. The A/C worked very well, the wifi was surprinsingly good, the terrace and sunbeds right on the superb beach were wonderful. Also our house keeper Samsul did an amazing job, always smiled and asked if we need anything. He made some amazing towel-sculptures and decorations that we all loved. Hats off for this hard-working and sweet guy. Other things to be mentioned: go for the GAI (gold/grand all inclusive plan)! It’s a bit more expensive but the inclusions are very very good: a la carte restaurants dining every day, 3 excursions (including whale shark one), premium drinks (including a bottle of good wine in the room every day), 200$/person spa credit (spa is of good quality too), a 15 min banana/inflatable ride that the kids will love. This is a great value package in my opinion. Go for the duplex beach villa. They are placed in the most beautiful side of the island and i think they offer the best value/money ratio. There were basicly no mosquitos around the island or in the room. They fumigate every evening around the island and it works very well. We were on the island during Halloween and they did a fantastic job celebrating this ocasion! They made realy amazing decorations, lights, moving skeletons, face painting for guests and even guys disguised in various creepy characters walking around the island. They realy went above and beyond with this ocasion. There are a few places that are in need of some updating, like the toilets in the common areas, but these are just small issues that don’t affect the overall excelent quality of the stay. Please don’t touch the wild life or stand on the corals! This island is a true gem and all guests shoud respect and protect this natural beauty. 😊 I would warmly recommend to anyone looking for the perfect exotic maldivian holiday to choose...

We currently staying here (April 2025) for a week.

We are having an amazing family and friend holiday at this magnificent resort, we would highly recommend it and love to come back ( money permitting) in the future.

We had a few problems trying to contact the hotel before our stay to arrange trips which was a little frustrating, but once this was sorted out and we were put in touch with Yoki the head of the excursions, dive centre and water sports, things couldn’t have been better.

Yoki has been so helpful organising our excisions, diving etc. fitting everything in around the weather. We have been so lucky, we were able to swim with a magnificent Whale shark, one of the most humbling and awe inspiring experiences of our lives that we will never forget. We were also able to snorkel with loads of large nurse sharks, a sting ray and a manta ray, dolphins and turtles. Every excision has been exciting and amazing, this was particularly due to Ali our tour guide and his team, Ali is so friendly he knows so much about all the sea life in and around the Maldives and Hussain the captain managed to position the boat so we were right in the path of the whale shark so we could easily swim along side the magnificent creature. Ali has also very kindly sent us the photos and videos of all our trips, his photography skills are outstanding, and my eldest son has been really inspired by Ali, he wants to keep practicing his free diving and underwater photography with the aim of one day being as good as Ali.

The whole family did the scuba dive introductory lesson with Yoki Yan and Joe. Yoki explained everything clearly and we felt in really safe hands with the three of them, Joe showed me how to swim right into the coral and find hiding creatures.

We have also been jet skiing, on glass bottom kayaks, fun boats, there is so many great activities to do

The House reef is amazing, this is our 2nd holiday to the Maldives, the 1st one was to the four seasons resort near Male, where the house reef was ok, but we really wanted a better house reef for our second trip. The house coral reef at Machchafushi does not disappoint, it is full of millions of colourful fish of all varieties, but also loads of reef sharks, nurse sharks, and also we have seen two turtles so far.

The rooms are better than in the photos on the website. Our friends our staying in a sunset club water villa with pool which is beautifully decorated, very luxurious. We are staying in a club large beach villa with pool, it is lovely and has been perfect for us. Very spacious fits all three teenagers and my husband and very comfortably. It is not as well decorated as our friends water villa, it could do with more clothes storage and black out curtains in the living area where one child needed to sleep, and if I was being really fussy I would say the windows and doors could be changed for more modern darker framed large sliding ones. However these are minor things the suite is still very beautiful, comfortable and spacious, and we all really want to come back.

There is also a lovely shop selling snacks, clothes, souvenirs, essential etc. the lady working there is lovely.

The food has been great, the buffet break fasts are amazing and the room service very good. We have really enjoyed the club bar and the bar by the reception, and had a very tasty meal at the Italian.

There is a great looking kids club for younger kids where you can go with you kids to do activities if you wish and use the play equipment. There is also a games room for the over 10s as well so something for everyone.

Everyone in the family agrees that if we can come back to the Maldives in the future then we will come back to this resort, it has everything, you would want, great staff, great reef, great excursions and activities, lovely spacious rooms, beautiful beaches,...

My husband, myself, and my brother-in-law (BIL) recently visited Centara Grand Maldives in early July. This is the second time my husband and I have visited this resort and the first for my BIL, and we had an absolutely wonderful time. We stayed in one of the two bedroom beach villas with a private pool, and it was one of the highlights of the trip for me. There was plenty of space, and the views of the ocean were gorgeous. Every morning we had small black tipped sharks and many kinds of fish swimming right at our beach front. Our first trip in 2019, we stayed in an overwater villa, but we loved the 2 bedroom beach villa even more. There was more space and it was closer to all of the restaurants and activity areas. And again, having the private pool was so fun - we even did a floating breakfast in our pool one day.

Upon arrival we were greeted by all of the new employees and it made us feel so special. We also connected with Pat who became our go-to contact for all of our happenings through WhatsApp and on the resort. She helped schedule all of our excursions and also made sure we could get our PCR test before our return flight. Pat was wonderful. After we were carted to our room, we were surprised with a wonderful display of snacks and our bed was decorated with a welcome back message from Rajib. It was the perfect way to start off our vacation and the employees really went the extra mile to make us feel welcomed and comfortable.

There are a few free excursions you can go on and a ton of nightly activities, but our favorites were some of the additional paid excursions that Centara Grand has to offer. We went snorkeling with sea turtles, and manta rays. My husband and BIL tried to see the whale shark twice but it was hiding. There is a better chance of seeing the whale shark during the high season, so if this is really important to you, I recommend going around December. We also went parasailing which was the most amazing experience. It is so relaxing and seeing the resort and the ocean from that vantage point is stunning. My BIL went on a guided dive and got to see the sunken ship on the resort - this is a must see if you are comfortable scuba diving! Everyone on the Best Dives crew was fantastic, and we definitely want to shout out Shiyam and Aslam.

During our stay this time, only one to two restaurants were open at a time so we didn't have to schedule reservations so far in advance. Teppanyaki was very fun, and Azzuri Mare and Suan Bua were also out-of-this-world delicious. The Reef meals got a little repetitive as we just ordered from a menu compared to the daily changing buffets from our trip in 2019, but the food was still wonderful and service was so personable. We regularly had Mohammad and Sherry taking care of us at each restaurant, but I really loved Neng. I complimented her perfume one night and she gave me a bottle on my last day. This gift meant a lot to me and it was so sweet and totally unexpected of her to do that. Staff at Centara Grand really just make you feel like friends.

Throughout our stay Susitha checked on us to make sure that everything was to our liking, so we had so many opportunities to provide feedback. We didn’t have any issues during our stay, but I know he would be the guy to solve them if you did. Also throughout our stay Rajib cleaned our room every day, and on our last day decorated our bed again with a message wishing us safe travels home.

Our trip this time was different, but Centara Grand made sure to give us a place to relax and unwind. We had so much fun, and many things were even better than our experience in 2019. I couldn't recommend this resort enough. Every step of the way we felt cared for. Staff is so wonderful, other guests are friendly and want to connect, and I already can’t wait...