Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas Review: The Reef, SEA and the Observatory

Updated October 2026

Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas sits on a house reef that rings the whole island, so the snorkelling starts wherever you step into the water. Every villa has its own pool, the underwater restaurant sits six metres down on the edge of that reef, and the island lies in Baa Atoll, a short boat ride from Hanifaru Bay, where mantas gather in season. The sand, gritty from all that coral, is the one thing the photographs flatter.

What stands out

Three things set Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas apart. The reef, first: it circles the island, and a survey the resort commissioned recorded more than 300 fish species and over 130 types of coral. The food, second: five restaurants, an underwater dining room and wine cellar, and SKY, an overwater observatory where sunset drinks are served. And the setting: Baa Atoll is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and Hanifaru Bay, where mantas gather in their hundreds in season, is close by.

The compromise is equally clear. This is a quiet island built around the water and the table, not around nightlife.

What the island is like

An atoll is a ring of coral reef with islands scattered around it, and Baa, north-west of Malé, is one of the richest in the country for marine life. Kihavah Huravalhi, the resort's island, is roughly round and thickly green inside, with tall palms over sandy paths and a beach running right round the edge. Every villa comes with bicycles, and the island is small enough that nowhere is far.

There are around 80 villas and residences, split between the beach and the water. It feels spacious rather than busy, and the food and the reef set the rhythm of the day more than any timetable does.

Arriving

The seaplane from Velana International Airport in Malé takes about 35 minutes, and the resort aims to have guests in the air within two hours of reaching the seaplane lounge. Seaplanes in the Maldives fly in daylight only, so they cannot help with an evening landing from Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru.

This island has a good answer to that. Guests landing too late for the seaplane fly on a small propeller plane to Dharavandhoo, the domestic airport in Baa, and finish with a 30-minute speedboat that runs day or night. A late flight from India still reaches the island the same evening. Current cut-off times are kept on the Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas page.

The villas

Every villa has a private pool. The question is simply sand or water.

The Beach Pool Villas, redesigned in July 2025, run to 258 square metres, with large glass doors, timber finishes, an outdoor bathroom and a sala for eating outside. The Over Water Pool Villas are slightly larger at 267 square metres, with an infinity-edge pool, an overwater hammock and steps from the deck straight into the sea. Both come in sunset-facing versions.

Families have one-bedroom villas with a separate children's sleeping area, and a two-bedroom Family Beach Pool Villa of 412 square metres. Children can stay over the water only once a parent signs a disclaimer, so most families choose the beach. Above that sit the residences, with two to four bedrooms and pools to match, for groups who want a house of their own.

Eating and drinking

Five restaurants, an overwater observatory bar and an underwater dining room give an island this size an unusual range.

SEA is the one people come for. It sits six metres below the surface, on the edge of the house reef, in a room glazed on every side, with turtles and reef fish working the coral outside. On the way down you pass a wine cellar of more than 450 bottles, kept below the waterline. Lunch and dinner are fine dining built around caviar; dinner is for adults only, except on Mondays and Thursdays, and SEA closes on Fridays. Some champagnes here are aged on the reef for a year before they are poured.

FIRE, raised above the island, cooks Peruvian and Japanese food on an open grill. SPICE is the Asian room, also with an open kitchen. Manzaru, beside the pool, serves Mediterranean food at lunch and Italian at dinner, and Plates, on the beach, is where breakfast happens. For something hands-on, the Spice Spoons cooking class teaches Maldivian, Thai, Indian or Japanese dishes, and breakfast or high tea can be laid out in the Nala Orchid Garden, among more than a thousand orchids.

The observatory, the spa and the children

SKY is the resort's overwater observatory, and the place for sunset cocktails and champagne. Its telescope is one Anantara describes as the most powerful in the Indian Ocean. Trained SKY Gurus guide guests around the night sky, and with so little light over Baa, the sky does most of the work.

The Anantara Spa has six treatment rooms over the water, warm and cold plunge pools, infrared and Finnish saunas, a steam room and a space for Ayurveda and Shirodhara, the warm-oil treatment. Detox and longevity programmes run over three, five or seven days, alongside yoga and private aerial yoga.

The Thiththi Boli kids' club takes ages four to twelve, every day from ten to six, with babysitting available from three months. Children from eight can join the marine biology programme. Padel and tennis courts round it off.

The water

A house reef is the coral reef you can swim to from the resort itself. Here it circles the whole island, so you get in wherever you like rather than queuing at one ladder. Guests report turtles and reef sharks on most snorkels, with eels, octopus and rays around the water villas. The reef drops away as a wall to around 25 metres.

A resident marine biologist runs weekly sessions, and guests can adopt a coral fragment that is grown in the nursery and replanted on the reef. The dive centre takes divers to Baa's thilas, the underwater pinnacles where reef life gathers.

Then there is Hanifaru Bay. Between roughly May and November, plankton gathers in the bay and draws mantas, sometimes in their hundreds. The bay is a protected area: snorkelling only, no diving, limited boats and rangers on site, so a guided trip from the resort is the way in.

Where the compromises are

The sand is the first. A reef this close in leaves the beach grittier than the brochures suggest.

The second is the water itself. Most of what makes the island special happens in it, so hesitant swimmers will get less out of a stay here.

The third is pace. There is no nightlife to speak of. Evenings are dinner, the observatory and an early night.

Who will love it, and who won't

Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas suits couples and families who want a reef they can swim from anywhere, food worth planning a day around, and a pool of their own on the sand or over the water. It suits mantas-and-snorkelling holidays especially well between May and November. It suits anyone after nightlife, or anyone wary of the water, considerably less.

Common questions

How do you get to Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas?

By seaplane from Malé, about 35 minutes, in daylight only. Guests landing too late for the seaplane take a domestic flight to Dharavandhoo in Baa Atoll, then a 30-minute speedboat that runs day or night, so a late arrival still reaches the island the same evening.

Is the snorkelling good at Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas?

Very. The house reef rings the whole island, with access from almost anywhere, and guests regularly report turtles and reef sharks. A survey the resort commissioned recorded more than 300 fish species, and a resident marine biologist runs weekly sessions and a coral adoption programme.

What is SEA at Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas?

The underwater restaurant, six metres down on the edge of the house reef, with a wine cellar of more than 450 bottles below the waterline. It serves lunch and dinner, closes on Fridays, and dinner is for adults only except on Mondays and Thursdays.

Can you see manta rays from Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas?

Yes, in season. Hanifaru Bay, a protected area in Baa Atoll, draws mantas in large numbers between roughly May and November. It is snorkelling only, with limited boats and rangers on site, and the resort runs guided trips there.

Is Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas good for families?

Yes. Thiththi Boli kids' club takes ages four to twelve, babysitting starts from three months, and there are family villas with separate children's sleeping areas. Children can stay over the water only once a parent signs a disclaimer, so beach villas usually suit families better.