Malahini Kuda Bandos

Stayed in a beach villa with its own pool.

Malahini Kuda Bandos is twelve minutes from Velana by resort speedboat, and the boats run day and night. A late landing still reaches the island the same evening, and a dawn flight home costs nothing.

There are no water villas. Every room and villa sits on the beach or in the garden, and on an island this small you will see other guests.

The house reef is the honest caveat. The fish are reliable, and guests regularly meet blacktip reef sharks, stingrays and turtles, but much of the coral has died, and North Malé was among the areas hardest hit by bleaching. The easy way in is the cut through the reef near the beach bar. Elsewhere the lagoon is shallow and the drop-off is a long swim out.

Who it suits: couples and families on a short trip who want a private island without a seaplane, and anyone landing late. Not for anyone set on an overwater villa or a reef in good condition.