Canareef Resort Maldives
The southernmost resort in the country, four and a half kilometres long, next door to Gan airport and joined by a bridge to an inhabited island. It has no house reef, the resort says so itself, and the diving is the reason to come.
- Getting there
- 10 minSpeedboat from Gan, after the flight
- Latest you can land
- 22:00At Velana, for the Gan connection
- House reef
- 2 / 5None. The resort says so itself
- Villas
- 27176 to 97 sqm, three types, all on sand
- Meals
- Three plansHalf board up to all inclusive
- From
- ₹132,000Two adults, three nights, transfers and taxes in
Getting there
The complimentary Gan speedboat belongs to a specific offer and carries its own conditions. Canareef has told us plainly that it is not free on every booking. Tell us your dates and we will confirm in writing whether yours qualifies, before you buy a flight into Gan.
Send your flight details at least fourteen days before you travel, and any change at least ten days ahead. Rebooking the domestic leg inside 96 hours is charged.
Baggage on the domestic flight is 20 kg checked and 5 kg hand.
The villas
| Villa | Size | Pool | Sleeps | How many |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise VillaEastern side of the island, where swimming is not permitted. | 76 m² | No | 3 adults, or 2 + 1 child | 80 |
| Sunset Beach VillaWestern side, where swimming is allowed. | 76 m² | No | 3 adults, or 2 + 1 child | 71 |
| Premium Beach Villa with WhirlpoolWestern side. Enclosed outdoor area with a whirlpool for two, and Keymaa restaurant included. | 97 m² | Whirlpool | 4 adults, or 2 + 2 children | 120 |
Which side you are on matters more here than which category you take. Swimming is permitted on the western, sunset side. The eastern, sunrise side faces the atoll’s outer barrier and swimming there is prohibited, so the cheapest room in the resort is on the side you cannot swim from.
No villa has a private pool. The Premium Beach Villa has a whirlpool in an enclosed outdoor area, which is a different thing and worth seeing a photograph of before you decide.
The island is 4.5 km long across 42 hectares. Electric buggies run around the clock free of charge and bicycles are free as well. If walking matters to you, say so and we will ask for a villa near the middle.
Eating
Your plan covers
- Buffet meals at Kilhi on the plan you pick
- One dolphin watching excursion per person per stay
- The two pools, the gym, tennis, volleyball, billiards and table tennis
- Buggies, bicycles, wifi and drinking water
Charged on top
- Drinks, unless you take all inclusive
- Keymaa, unless you are in a Premium Beach Villa
- Diving and the snorkelling trips
- The spa, and water sports
Where you eat
Kilhi is the main restaurant and the only one your meal plan covers: international, French, Maldivian and Sri Lankan buffets. Breakfast 07:30 to 10:00, lunch 12:30 to 14:30, dinner 19:00 to 21:30. No swimwear inside.
Keymaa is the second buffet, and this is the rule people miss. It is dedicated to guests in a Premium Beach Villa with Whirlpool. Everyone else gets one meal there free and pays a supplement after that.
Meera Bar is à la carte and open around the clock. Dhoni Bar runs 10:00 to 23:00 with a crab race, Boduberu and a DJ. The Beach Bar at the southern tip opens 09:00 to 18:00.
What all inclusive covers
Beer, house red, white and rosé, house gin, vodka, rum, whisky, tequila and brandy, and a selected list of cocktails and mocktails.
Drinks are served one at a time. That is the resort’s own rule, and it catches out anyone used to carrying two back to a sunlounger.
All inclusive also carries 15 per cent off à la carte at Meera Bar, complimentary snacks at Dhoni Bar from 16:30 to 17:30, and 10 per cent off water sports. On an island you are not going to leave, it is usually money well spent.
The water
Why we rate it 2 out of 5
We could not put it better than the resort does, so we have quoted it. There are coral patches near the Beach Bar at the southern tip, and how good they are depends on the sea that day.
Swimming is permitted on the western, sunset side only. The eastern, sunrise side is the atoll’s outer barrier and swimming there is prohibited.
The sunset side is sandy and no more than a couple of metres deep a long way out. Anything better than that is a boat trip, and the boat trips here are worth taking.
Canareef does not have a house reef, however, if you wish to experience marine life up close we suggest snorkeling in the lagoon at the southern end of the island where the water is clear and you can spot various fishes and even turtles.Canareef Resort Maldives, on its own website
The diving is the reason to come
Addu holds more than twenty-five dive sites, five to forty minutes out by boat, and the coral down here is among the healthiest in the country.
The British Loyalty is a 140-metre WWII oil tanker lying between 16 and 33 metres with visible torpedo damage, and you can swim inside it.
Maa Kandu is a manta cleaning station where mantas come in on an incoming current all year round. Tiger Shark Point and a large underwater cave at Bodu Hoholha are on the same list.
The dive centre is Diverland, run with Werner Lau, and it is an SSI centre rather than PADI. Bring your certification accordingly.
Who it suits
What you pay
What the price is built on
Two adults, three nights, the villa, your meal plan as buffet dining at Kilhi, return transfers from Malé, one dolphin watching excursion, and every Maldivian tax. Indian TCS is the one thing outside the figure.
Board basis and travel dates move together on this rate, so the dropdown carries both in one choice.
Ways to pay less
Travel in September, which is the cheapest month on the whole list.
Fly into Gan if you can. It takes out the Malé transfer, which is the largest single line inside each figure.
Move up a category rather than up a meal plan. The three villa types sit unusually close together on this rate.
Priced by hand
Stays of fewer than three nights, and anything above the occupancy shown in the villa table.
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, where compulsory gala supplements apply on top of whichever plan you are on.
Dates that close
September and October stays have to be booked by 31 October 2026. Everything from November has to be booked by 30 September 2026.
Cancellation is free to fourteen days before arrival, half between fourteen and seven days, and the full stay inside seven. Leaving early is charged in full, and the resort surcharges card payments at its own end.
Things we would rather you heard from us
- There is no house reef, and the resort says so itself. We have quoted its own words above rather than soften them. If snorkelling from the beach is why you are going to the Maldives, this is the wrong island and we will name you better ones. If you dive, almost nothing in the country beats Addu for the money.
- The cheapest villa is on the side you cannot swim from. Sunrise Villas sit on the eastern, barrier side of the island, where swimming is prohibited. Sunset Beach Villas and Premium Beach Villas are on the western side. The step between them is small on this rate, and it is the first thing we would spend money on.
- The second restaurant is not yours by default. Keymaa is dedicated to guests in a Premium Beach Villa with Whirlpool. Everyone else gets one meal there free and pays a supplement afterwards. On a three-night half board stay, that means most of your dinners at one buffet.
- It is a very long island. Four and a half kilometres. The electric buggies run around the clock and they are free, and so are the bicycles, but the scale is real. Tell us if walking matters and we will ask for a villa near the middle of the island.
- The Gan speedboat is not free to everyone. It belongs to a specific offer with its own conditions, and Canareef has told us so directly. We will confirm it in writing against your dates before you buy a flight into Gan, because the routing decision turns on it.
Shall we price it for you?
Tell us your dates, your villa and which airport you can fly into. We will price it both ways, Gan and Malé, so you can see what the routing is worth, and confirm the Gan transfer in writing before you commit to anything.