Maafushivaru — Local services in South Ari Atoll

Most importantly, this resort got completely rebuilt/remodeled and just opened in Sept, so if you are confused for the gap in reviews or why some are bad from years ago, just don't pay attention to any old reviews! FYI we went for our honeymoon in Sept.

Food/Drinks/Staff: This place is truly paradise. The food is next level. Every meal was delicious and served beautifully. They have special glasses for basically every cocktail and the cocktails are unique and individually crafted. I wish I could remember everyone's names, but the food and beverage crew takes such passion in everything they make. The head chef is a women and truly soo talented. So just for food and drinks alone I would book.

Excursions/Marine: Make sure you get your snorkel and fins day one, so you can keep them in your room and enjoy the ocean in the morning. Pippa leads the team here and she is a marine biologist. This is super cool because not many resorts are willing to pay for a marine biologist on staff but it means that there excursions are focused on conservation and respect not just hopping in and disturbing the sealife. When we went there was free 30 minute snorkeling everyday which was insane! It was so fun and we saw a lot of things. We also did a whale shark trip but did not see a whale shark, this is a risk you must understand when you book. FYI: Sadly, Lily Beach, popular resorts in the area, does not have this same mindset and their staff does not require the tourist to respect the sealife which is heartbreaking and means that we won't be able to enjoy these beautiful species forever....so don't go to Lily Beach.

Rooms/Island: Obviously, they rooms are all amazing and large. We stayed in a overwater bungalow with a pool and it is definitely worth it. We saw so many fish and went into the ocean every morning. All the rooms looked amazing though so you can't go wrong. The infinity pool is beautiful. The restaurants are all amazingly done.

Spa: You must go if only for the insane infinity pool! But really, the massage was the best of my whole life.

Summary: You are not going to find another resort that is this new, modern and beautiful at this time. All the staff is so excited to have guests and are going above and beyond to make everyone happy. Honestly, stop stressing over all the options and just lock this in.

Only issue: We thought our all inclusive would last until we left but it ended at 12pm. I get it, but I wish we would have been better informed. We called and asked around 10am but didn't get a response until 11:45am. The food is insanely expensive if you are not on all inclusive, so I wish they would have given us warning or just made an exception for something small. I thought it was poorly managed by the hospitality manager, but small issue compared to how amazing everything was. I am sure if Pierre was there, resort manager, it would have been...

Maafushivaru by Outrigger was the PERFECT honeymoon! Outstanding & lux from all aspects:

VILLA: Book the overwater villa with a pool - sunset side (north). Try to avoid the villa's at the very end of the pier as everyone goes there to snorkel, so it's not as private from your pool. We found that those without a pool would grab a day bed next to the main pool and be there most of the day. If privacy is your thing go for the private pool. The villa is much more grand as well. There is no room service in terms of food, but you can order top ups from the mini bar and take back bottles of wine that you buy at the bar or at dinner. We stayed for 9 nights which was perfect.

FOOD: Food is top quality with so much variation at the buffet. Koto the Japanese would be the best restaurant. The buffet does have everything though with more variety to choose from. I particularly loved the sushi bar they had at breakfast & dinner every day. Plenty of salad, fruit, cheese and surprisingly the pastries were pretty good too. Great asian dishes as well, made on the spot. If you are not a big eater or drinker and are staying for a week or more, it would be more economical to buy as you go and do half board. You barely eat lunch after having buffet breakfast and dinner. Cocktails in the afternoon are also a must and with half board you get 50% off, so $4 USD PP (+26% tax) for the cocktail of the day (note other cocktails $14 pre tax & 50% discount). You can always upgrade your package when you arrive anyway.

HIGHLIGHTS: Spa/massage was amazing. My masseuse had a magic touch and the setting is so luxurious. They also have a sauna and steam room and overwater pool you can use before/after. The gym was beautiful! Overlooking the water where there were dozens of baby sharks (reef sharks) chasing fish. Snorkeling all of the tropical fish were stunning to look at. Coral isn't too alive however.

SERVICE: It's the Maldives for a reason. The staff are so friendly and welcoming. You can message them on Whatsapp for anything you need and they always drop by at breakfast & dinner to check in on how you are going. Special shout out to Chandana & Moosa! The resort when full doesn't feel busy at all as people are spread out across restaurants, villas, day activities etc.

TIPS: Bring lots of sunscreen, hat & a long sleeve rash shirt if you...

One and only recommendation for a memorable stay at Maldives

One can access the resort by a 40 min sea plane ride from Male International Airport. We were greeted by the hotel staff at Male airport who guided us to the sea plane. The hospitality of the resort is just amazing - right from the special welcome at the landing Jetti to the special farewell by the resort manager himself. In fact, each and every staff member greeted us when we passed each time. It is a great place to stay during Covid times as there weren't many people and staff wore masks at all times (we were asked to remove our masks and room freely).

The resort is located on a small island and water around the resort is absolutely clear - just perfect for snorkelling. The resort had provided us with free snorkelling equipment for the entire duration of our stay and we snorkelled around the island and saw lots of fish, sting rays and couple of baby sharks and a big shark (totally harmless). We even enjoyed our snorkelling excursion - the staff was very experienced and were the perfect host on the tour.

We stayed at the water villa with the private pool and I have no words to explain just how beautiful the villa was: absolutely clean, well sanitised and well equipped luxurious villa. The villa had speakers and a big tv (we could connect to Netflix via our own account). The bathroom was extravagant and large - suitable for couples :P

The resort also organised a beautiful private dinner under the stars for us on the beach on our anniversary and served us with food from their best restaurant - Modhu Grill. The food is just to die for - they have three restaurants and the food was very fresh and just amazing. We had the all inclusive package and enjoyed the cocktails as well. The breakfast was a-la-carte as they wanted to maintain distance and everything was served to us at the table. We were required to undergo a PCR test before returning to India and the resort doctor was just so gentle while conducting the test. Overall - this was our second time to Maldives and we are pretty sure that we would only go back to Maafushivaru if we planned to travel again.

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