Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas
A house reef that rings the whole island and is good enough to have been surveyed and published as a book, inside the UNESCO biosphere that holds Hanifaru Bay. The trade is that this is half board on an expensive island, so the drinks bill is the part people underestimate.
- Getting there
- 35 minSeaplane, or a flight and a boat
- Latest you can land
- 15:30After that, the Dharavandhoo route
- House reef
- 5 / 5It rings the island. Get in anywhere
- Villas
- 80258 to 2,000 sqm, every one with a pool
- Meals
- Half boardFood only. Drinks are on you
- From
- ₹535,100Two adults, three nights, seaplane and taxes in
Getting there
An evening landing does not take the island away from you here. That is unusual for Baa Atoll, and it is worth knowing before you buy flights: after 15:30 the resort puts you on the Dharavandhoo route rather than leaving you in the capital.
Send us your flight numbers and we will confirm which of the two routes you are on before you book. The resort wants the details at least four days before you travel.
The villas
| Villa | Size | Pool | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beach Pool VillaOn the sand, private pool. | 258 m² | Yes | Up to 3 adults |
| Sunset Beach Pool VillaThe same villa, facing the sunset. | 258 m² | Yes | Up to 3 adults |
| One Bedroom Family Beach Pool VillaSame footprint, laid out for children. | 258 m² | Yes | 2 adults + 3 children |
| Over Water Pool VillaOver the reef, private pool. | 267 m² | Yes | Up to 3 adults |
| Sunset Over Water Pool VillaThe same villa, facing the sunset. | 267 m² | Yes | Up to 3 adults |
| One Bedroom Family Over Water Pool VillaOver the water and built for a family. | 267 m² | Yes | 3 adults, or 2 + 3 children |
| Two Bedroom Family Beach Pool VillaNot in this offer. Quoted by hand. | 412 m² | Yes | 4 adults + 1 child |
| Two Bedroom Beach Pool ResidenceQuoted by hand. | 1,330 m² | Yes | 6 adults |
| Two Bedroom Sunset Over Water Pool ResidenceQuoted by hand. | 1,500 m² | Yes | 6 adults |
| Three Bedroom Beach Pool ResidenceQuoted by hand. | 1,770 m² | Yes | 6 adults + 6 children |
| Four Bedroom Beach Pool ResidenceThe largest on the island. Quoted by hand. | 2,000 m² | Yes | 8 adults + 6 children |
Every villa on this island has its own pool, and the smallest of them is 258 sqm. There is no entry-level compromise category here, which is part of what you are paying for.
Six of these eleven are in the offer on our product page. The Two Bedroom villa and all four Residences sit outside it and are quoted by hand.
The Over Water Pool Villa and the One Bedroom Family Beach Pool Villa price identically on this rate. A couple who wants the water and a family who wants the space pay the same, so pick on what you actually want.
Eating
Half board covers
- Breakfast and dinner for two
- One four-course lunch for two at SEA, on this rate
- The return seaplane for two
- Every Maldivian tax
Charged on top
- All drinks, including with dinner
- Lunch, apart from the one at SEA
- The spa, diving and every excursion
- In-villa dining
Six places to eat
SEA is the underwater room, and it holds what the resort calls the world’s first underwater wine cellar, more than 450 bottles from two dozen countries. Lunch 12:00 to 14:00, dinner from 19:00. It closes on Fridays, and dinner is adults only except on Mondays and Thursdays. Your included lunch is unaffected by that.
SKY is the overwater observatory and bar, noon to midnight. FIRE is Peruvian and Japanese, dinner 18:30 to 22:00. SPICE is Asian, dinner only.
Plates does breakfast 07:30 to 11:00. Manzaru is Mediterranean and Italian: pool bar from 09:00, lunch to 17:00, dinner 18:30 to 22:00.
The drinks are the honest part
Meal plans here are food only. Nothing to drink is included, not even with dinner, and this is not a cheap island to drink on.
At FIRE, or at SEA beyond the lunch inside your rate, you get a credit towards the bill rather than a free meal.
This resort’s lowest TripAdvisor sub-score is value, and in our reading that is exactly why. Budget for the bar before you book rather than discovering it on day three.
The water
Why we rate it 5 out of 5
The reef rings the whole island, which means you get in where you like rather than queuing at one ladder. The resort calls the wall the Golden Wall, and it drops to about 25 metres with most of the life visible at snorkelling depth.
A survey the resort commissioned in 2022 and 2023 recorded 300 species of fish and more than 130 coral varieties, and it 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, which is grittier underfoot than the brochure photographs suggest. That is what a reef this close to the beach does, and we would rather you knew.
What runs in the water
There is a resident marine biologist, with weekly sessions and a coral adoption programme on request: a short talk, then you plant coral in the nursery and transplant it with the dive team, and you get photographs of it after you have gone home.
Hanifaru Bay is twenty minutes away by speedboat, inside the UNESCO biosphere, and it holds the largest manta congregation in the world.
Diving and water sports run from the Elements Dive and Watersports Centre, with PADI courses from Discover Scuba upwards. There is a marine biology programme for children from eight.
The dive team cleans the reef every two weeks, which is not marketing so much as maintenance on the thing you came for.
Who it suits
What you pay
What the price is built on
Two adults, the length you pick, the villa, half board, the return seaplane, one four-course lunch for two at SEA, and every Maldivian tax. Indian TCS is the one thing outside the figure.
The minimum stay is three nights. Two nights or fewer drops back to the standard rate with breakfast only.
Ways to pay less
Take the Over Water Pool Villa or the One Bedroom Family Beach Pool Villa rather than stepping up a tier. They price identically to one another on this rate.
Do not buy length expecting a discount. The step from three nights to four is about the same as the step from five to six, so pick the length you actually want.
Watch the drinks rather than the villa. On an island priced like this, the bar moves the total more than a category upgrade does.
Priced by hand
The Two Bedroom Family Beach Pool Villa and all four Residences.
Anything beyond two people in the villa: children 0 to 11 pay no accommodation supplement, only the green tax, and an extra adult of 12 and over carries a daily rate including the bed. Seaplane seats are charged from two years old.
A date that closes
Bookings close on 30 September 2026, for stays between 1 August and 10 October 2026.
The offer does not combine with any other.
Things we would rather you heard from us
- Half board here means food and nothing to drink. Not even with dinner. On an island at this price the bar is the line that surprises people, and it is why the resort’s weakest TripAdvisor sub-score is value. If you want the number settled before you fly, ask us for two or three genuine all-inclusives instead and we will send them without argument.
- The sand is gritty. That is the direct consequence of a reef sitting this close to the beach, and it is the one complaint that recurs. You cannot have both. We would take the reef.
- SEA is not a family dinner. The underwater room is adults only in the evening except on Mondays and Thursdays, and it closes on Fridays altogether. The four-course lunch inside your rate is unaffected, so plan the celebration around lunch rather than dinner.
- The booking window is short. Bookings close on 30 September 2026 for stays to 10 October. This is a narrow offer rather than a standing rate, and when it closes the price goes back to something considerably less interesting.
- 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 is happening underwater, in daylight.
Shall we price it for you?
Tell us your dates, your villa and who is travelling. We will come back with a transfer-inclusive costing, an honest estimate of what the drinks will add over the stay, and confirmation of which transfer route your flight puts you on.