Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru
The best marine research operation in the Maldives, a kilometre of sand and a manta programme nobody else matches. The house reef is the weakest of the big Baa islands, and the resort itself puts snorkellers on a boat. Everything worth knowing before you decide, in one page.
- Getting there
- 35-40 minSeaplane from Male
- Latest you can land
- 15:00Daylight flying only
- House reef
- 3 of 5Modest. The excursions are the draw.
- Villas
- 103Beach, oceanfront and over water
- Meals
- Breakfast & dinnerHalf board is inside our price
- From
- ₹710,3003 nights, two adults, all in
Getting there
Send us your inbound flight time before you book it. The seaplane is shared and flies in daylight only. The last flight out of the island is usually 15:00, and an evening arrival at Male means a night somewhere before you get here.
Four Seasons has its own lounge at the seaplane terminal, so the wait is a comfortable one rather than a hall.
The villas
| Villa | Size | Pool | Sleeps | How many |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier Oceanfront Bungalow with PoolThe entry villa and the lowest price on the island. | 77 m² in, 91 m² out | Private | 3 | — |
| Water Villa with Pool, Partial Sea ViewOver water, on the jetty, with a partial rather than open outlook. | 90 m² in, 183 m² out | Private | 3 | — |
| Family Oceanfront Bungalow with PoolThe cheapest way to put four people in one villa here. | 99 m² in, 91 m² out | Private | 4 | — |
| Sunrise Water Villa with PoolMorning light. The sunrise side is where the sea wall shows at low tide. | 90 m² in, 183 m² out | Private | 3 | — |
| Beach Villa with PoolSouth side, private beach access, and a proper lap pool rather than a plunge. | 137 m² in, 260 m² out | 12 m lap pool | 3 adults, or 2 adults and 2 children | — |
| Sunset Water Villa with PoolEvening light, and the side we would pick of the two. | 90 m² in, 183 m² out | Private | 3 | — |
| Sunrise Family Water Villa with PoolOver water with room for four, which is rare. | 112 m² in, 183 m² out | Private | 4 | — |
| Family Beach Villa with PoolThe most room for a family of five on the dropdown. | 164 m² in, 260 m² out | 12 m lap pool | 3 adults, or 2 adults and 3 children | — |
| Sunset Family Water Villa with PoolAs the sunrise family villa, on the better side. | 112 m² in, 183 m² out | Private | 4 | — |
Four Seasons publishes the island total but not the split. There are 103 villas. How many of each category exist is not something the resort states publicly, so we have left that column blank rather than guess at it. Ask us and we will put the question to the hotel for your dates.
Every villa on the island has its own pool. The two beach categories get a 12-metre lap pool, which is a different thing from the plunge pools elsewhere.
Four Seasons counts a child as twelve and under. Cribs are available for infants up to three.
Nine categories sit on our booking dropdown. The two- and three-bedroom suites, the Royal Beach Villa and the four-bedroom Landaa Estate are all priced by hand.
Eating
Half board covers
- Breakfast, buffet at Café Landaa or à la carte at Blu
- Dinner
- Every Maldivian tax and the service charge
- Return seaplane for two
Charged on top
- Lunch
- All drinks, with meals or without
- The spa, diving and every excursion
- Green tax, which is charged per person per night
Four restaurants, four bars
Blu Beach Club is Italian, with Neapolitan pizza and gelato. Al Barakat sits over the water and cooks Eastern Mediterranean. Café Landaa is Asian and Maldivian across three pavilions, with a tandoor, a curry kitchen and teppanyaki. Fuego Grill is beachfront steak and seafood at dinner.
Drinking is at Seabar over the water, Blu Bar on the beach, the Shisha Bar and the poolside bar. In-villa dining runs day and night.
The curry kitchen matters here
Café Landaa runs a tandoor and a dedicated curry kitchen as standing features, not as a themed night. For Indian guests who have been disappointed elsewhere in the Maldives, that is worth knowing before you compare islands.
Tell us about dietary requirements when you enquire and we will put them to the resort in writing before you travel.
The water
Why we rate it 3 out of 5
This is the weakest reef of the big Baa islands, and the neighbours are the reason: Anantara Kihavah and Milaidhoo both beat it in the water.
What is here is modest and largely the product of the resort’s own coral regeneration frames, which have pulled real fish life in close to the shore. The sunrise side is stomach-deep, good for small children and not much else, and visibility drops when the wind gets up.
The resort’s own snorkelling session takes you out by dhoni to a nearby reef rather than off the beach. That tells you most of what you need to know.
What you actually come for
The Marine Discovery Centre is the best of its kind in the country. Marine biologists on staff, a turtle rehabilitation programme, a fish lab, evening talks five nights a week, and the Reefscapers coral frames you can sponsor and then track online after you go home.
Manta-on-call: the centre phones your villa when mantas are sighted and takes you out by speedboat, charged only if they are actually there. It is not a guarantee, and guests do stay five nights without the call coming.
Hanifaru Bay is the manta and whale shark aggregation site, roughly June to October. It is a protected area: snorkelling only, diving prohibited, numbers capped daily and a guide compulsory.
Who it suits
What you pay
What the price is built on
Two adults, three nights, half board, return shared seaplane for two, and every Maldivian tax. Green tax and Indian TCS are added.
Nine villas across two travel windows, starting at ₹710,300.
The fifth night is free
Four Seasons runs a stay-longer offer where the fifth night comes free. On a seven-night trip that is a real number, not a token.
Ask us to price five nights beside four and you will see it.
Ask us for these
The two- and three-bedroom water suites, the Two-Bedroom Royal Beach Villa and the four-bedroom Landaa Estate, none of which sit on the dropdown.
The manta safari, the dolphin cruise and the diving, all of which we can price into your quote rather than leave to reception.
One date to watch
The rates above run to 20 December 2026. Christmas and New Year are priced separately, and the seaplane is dearer across those dates too.
Hanifaru Bay runs roughly June to October. If mantas are the reason you are going, the date matters more than the villa.
Things we would rather you heard from us
- There is no swim-out house reef worth the name. The resort’s own snorkelling trip goes out by boat. If you are picturing finning off your deck onto live coral, this is the wrong island in Baa Atoll and we would rather tell you now.
- The sea wall shows at low tide. There is a rock revetment protecting the island, most visible from the sunrise-facing villas. It is why the lagoon swims year round, but it is not pretty at low water.
- Manta-on-call is conditional. You are only charged if mantas are sighted, which is fair. But some guests stay five nights and the call never comes. Treat it as a chance, not an itinerary item.
- It is a big, busy island. 103 villas, four restaurants and a lot of children in the school holidays. That is a strength if you have your own and a drawback if you do not.
- The extras are where the budget goes. Half board is inside our price. Lunch, every drink, the spa, the diving and the excursions are not, and at this resort they are priced accordingly. Ask us to build them into your quote before you go.
Shall we price it for you?
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and which airport you fly from. We will price two or three villas with the seaplane and the taxes inside the number, check your dates against the Hanifaru season, and show you what the free fifth night does to the total. We reply within 24 hours.