Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas
Baa Atoll · 80 pool villas · The Golden Wall
The house reef rings the whole island, so you get in wherever you like rather than queuing at one ladder. The trade is the meal plan: there is no all inclusive here and nothing to drink is ever included, so the bar is the line that moves your total. Everything operational, in one page.
- Getting there
- 35 minShared seaplane from Male
- Latest you can land
- 15:30After that, the Dharavandhoo route
- House reef
- 5 / 5It rings the island. Get in anywhere
- Villas
- 80258 to 412 m², every one with a pool
- Meal plans
- Food onlyNo all inclusive. Drinks are never in it
- Island time
- Male timeNo separate island clock here
Location and transfers
An evening landing does not take the island away from you here. That is unusual for Baa Atoll. After 15:30 the resort switches you to the Dharavandhoo route rather than leaving you overnight in the capital.
Luggage on the seaplane is tighter than your airline’s. The resort publishes 35 kg checked and 5 kg hand luggage per person. Anything over is weighed and charged at the terminal, and paid there.
Check-in is 14:00 and check-out 12:00, on Male time. The island keeps no clock of its own, which some Baa Atoll neighbours do.
The villas
| Villa | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|
| Beach Pool VillaOn the sand, with a private pool and direct beach access. | 258 m² | Up to 3 adults |
| Sunset Beach Pool VillaThe same villa, facing west. | 258 m² | Up to 3 adults |
| One Bedroom Family Beach Pool VillaSame footprint, laid out for children. | 258 m² | 2 adults and 3 children |
| Over Water Pool VillaOver the reef, with steps down to the water. | 267 m² | Up to 3 adults |
| Sunset Over Water Pool VillaThe same villa, facing west. | 267 m² | Up to 3 adults |
| One Bedroom Family Over Water Pool VillaOver the water and built for a family. | 267 m² | 3 adults, or 2 adults and 3 children |
| Two Bedroom Family Beach Pool VillaTwo bedrooms on the sand. The largest category inside the 80. | 412 m² | 4 adults and 1 child |
Every villa on this island has a pool, and the smallest is 258 m². There is no cheap-and-cheerful category here, which is a large part of what you are paying for.
There are 80 villas in total, and no count is given for each category, so we do not print one. If availability in a specific category matters to your dates, ask us and we will get the number before you commit.
The residences sit outside that 80. Two to four bedrooms, and the resort publishes them as a range of 786 to 2,994 m² rather than a size each. They are quoted by hand.
The Sunset categories are the same villa as the standard one, turned to face west. You are buying the direction of the evening light, not more room.
Meal plans
| Plan | What it covers | Still charged |
|---|---|---|
| Bed & breakfast | Breakfast at Plates. Breakfast at SEA is available by request. | Every other meal, every drink, in-villa dining, the speciality restaurants. |
| Half board | Breakfast, plus dinner at a limited set of restaurants. | Lunch, every drink, and the speciality restaurants beyond the included list. |
There is no all inclusive here. The resort does not sell one. If you want the number settled before you fly, say so and we will send two or three genuine all-inclusive islands beside this one without arguing for it.
Every plan is food only. Nothing to drink is included, not even with dinner. This island is not cheap to drink on, and it is the single most common surprise on the final bill.
Half board opens fewer doors than people expect. The included dinner list is narrow, and it is the complaint we hear most about this resort. Ask us which restaurants your plan covers on your dates before you book, because it is not the same list all year.
At the speciality restaurants you are usually given a credit towards the bill rather than an included meal, and premium items carry a supplement even inside a restaurant your plan covers.
Restaurants and bars
| Venue | What it is | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| SEAClosed Fridays. Dinner is adults only except Mondays and Thursdays. Breakfast 08:30 – 10:30 by request. | Underwater fine dining, with the wine cellar | Lunch 12:00 – 14:00, dinner from 19:00 |
| SKY | Overwater bar and observatory | 12:00 – 00:00 daily |
| FIRE | Peruvian and Japanese, teppanyaki | Dinner 18:30 – 22:00 |
| SPICE | Asian, overwater | Dinner only, 18:30 – 22:00 |
| PlatesLunch and dinner run here too. Ask us for the hours on your dates. | Maldivian and international, beachfront | Breakfast 07:30 – 11:00 |
| Manzaru | Mediterranean and Italian, by the pool | Pool bar 09:00 – 18:00, lunch 12:00 – 17:00, dinner 18:30 – 22:00 |
SEA is the one to plan around. It closes on Fridays and its dinner is adults only on every day except Monday and Thursday. On a three or four night stay that can remove it entirely, so book it on arrival rather than on the night you fancy it.
Private dining, in-villa dining and the chef’s table sit outside every plan and are arranged on request.
SALT appeared on older versions of this island’s dining list and no longer does. If you have read about it, it is not there.
The water
Why we rate the reef 5 out of 5
The reef rings the whole island, so you enter where you like instead of walking to one designated point. The resort calls the wall the Golden Wall. It drops to about 25 metres, with most of the life visible at snorkelling depth.
A survey the resort commissioned across 2022 and 2023 recorded 300 species of fish and more than 130 coral varieties, and was published as a reef book, Wonders of Kihavah. No other resort in the country has done that.
Guests report turtles and reef sharks on most snorkels, plus eels, octopus and rays off the water villas.
The trade is the sand. It is grittier underfoot than the photographs suggest, which is what a reef sitting this close to the beach does. We would rather you knew before you arrived.
What runs in the water
There is a resident marine biologist. Sessions run weekly, and the coral adoption programme is arranged on request: a short talk, then you plant coral in the nursery, the dive team transplants it, and photographs follow you home.
Hanifaru Bay is about twenty minutes away by speedboat, inside the UNESCO biosphere, and it holds the largest manta congregation in the world. It is a season rather than a facility: roughly June to October.
Diving and water sports run from the Elements Dive and Watersports Centre, with PADI courses from Discover Scuba upwards, and there is a marine biology programme for children from eight.
The dive team cleans the reef every two weeks, which is maintenance on the thing you came for rather than marketing.
Who it suits
✓Yes
- The reef is the point of the trip.It rings the island, it has been surveyed and published, and you swim to it from anywhere.
- You want mantas.Hanifaru Bay is twenty minutes by boat, in the same biosphere, roughly June to October.
- You are landing in the evening.After 15:30 the resort routes you via Dharavandhoo rather than leaving you in the capital.
✕No
- You want the bill settled before you fly.There is no all inclusive and no plan includes a drink. The bar is the variable.
- You are travelling with teenagers.There is a kids’ club to twelve and nothing programmed above it.
- You want soft sand and an evening scene.The sand is gritty, which is the price of the reef, and the nights are quiet by design.
Children and safety
- Thiththi Boli Kids’ Club takes four to twelve. Open 10:00 to 18:00 every day. Children under four are welcome on the island but need an adult with them rather than the club.
- There is no teen club. Nothing is programmed for thirteen and over. Older teenagers do well here if they dive or snorkel, and are short of things to do if they do not.
- Babysitting is available from three months. Arranged through the resort. We book it before you travel rather than on arrival, because it depends on who is rostered.
- No minimum age is set for the overwater villas. Several Baa Atoll resorts do impose one, and it is often assumed to apply here. It does not. Tell us the ages of anyone travelling and we will have the position and any disclaimer confirmed before you book.
- Children from eight can join the marine biology programme. It runs with the resident biologist and the dive team, and it is the thing children remember from this island.
- SEA is not a family dinner. The underwater room is adults only in the evening except on Mondays and Thursdays, and closed on Fridays. Lunch there has no age restriction, so plan the celebration around lunch.
On the island
- Island time
- Male timeGMT+5. The island keeps no clock of its own
- Dive centre
- ElementsPADI courses from Discover Scuba upwards
- Spa
- Six roomsAnantara Spa, overwater, 10:00 to 20:00
- Observatory
- SKYOverwater, with a resident astronomer
- Check in and out
- 14:00 / 12:00Male time
- Medical
- Ask usWe confirm what is on the island for your dates
Things we would rather you heard from us
- There is no all inclusive, and no plan includes a drink. Not even with dinner. On an island at this level the bar is the line that surprises people, and it is why the weakest thing guests say about the place is value for money. Ask us and we will put two or three genuine all-inclusive islands beside it so you can see the difference in the total rather than the headline.
- Half board opens fewer restaurants than people assume. The included dinner list is narrow, and premium items carry a supplement even inside a restaurant your plan covers. This is the most common complaint about the resort and it is entirely avoidable if you ask us for the covered list first.
- The sand is gritty. That is the direct consequence of a reef sitting this close to the beach, and it is the complaint that recurs. You cannot have both. We would take the reef.
- SEA is harder to get into than it looks. Closed Fridays, adults only at dinner except Mondays and Thursdays, and it fills. On a short stay those rules can close it off altogether unless you book on the day you arrive.
- There is nothing for teenagers. The kids’ club stops at twelve and no teen programme replaces it. If your thirteen-year-old dives, this island is excellent. If not, tell us and we will name islands that do this better.
- There is no nightlife, and that is deliberate. A cocktail under the stars at the observatory is the top of the evening here. Most of what makes this island worth the money happens underwater, in daylight.
Shall we price it for you?
Tell us your dates, your villa and who is travelling. We will put the villa, the transfer and every Maldivian tax inside one figure, confirm which restaurants your meal plan actually covers, give you an honest estimate of what the drinks will add across the stay, and check your flight against the seaplane window. We reply within 24 hours.