Pullman Maldives Maamutaa
The best coral we sell, on an island 370 km south of Malé where almost everything is already paid for. The catch is that the reef sits well off the sunset side, so it rewards confident swimmers and frustrates everyone else.
- Getting there
- 70 minDomestic flight, then a speedboat
- Latest you can land
- Ask usThe Kooddoo timetable decides it
- House reef
- 4 / 5Outstanding coral, a long swim out
- Villas
- 122Twelve types, 160 to 1,474 sqm
- Meals
- Premium AIFood and drink, almost entirely
- From
- ₹462,700Two adults, three nights, flight and boat in
Getting there
Send your flight numbers at least fourteen days before you travel. We check your specific flight against the Kooddoo schedule before quoting, because the difference between connecting and not connecting is a night.
One charge is collected at the resort rather than by us. Maldivian Airline levies a fuel surcharge on the domestic flight, taken at check-in. It was USD 39 per person each way when the resort last confirmed it, and we check it on your dates.
Baggage on the domestic leg is 20 kg checked and 5 kg hand. Both transfers for two adults already sit inside every figure on this page.
We are still waiting on one answer. We hold a latest Velana arrival of 22:00, and the resort’s own material warns that a late international arrival can mean a night in the capital. Both cannot be true, so we have asked, and we are not printing a cut-off on this page until they reply.
The villas
| Villa | Size | Pool | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean VillaOver water, no pool. | 160 m² | No | 2 adults + 1 child |
| Ocean Pool VillaOver water with a private pool. | 165 m² | Yes | 2 adults + 1 child |
| Sunset Ocean Pool VillaSame villa, sunset side. | 165 m² | Yes | 2 adults + 1 child |
| Ocean Pool SuitePool and jacuzzi. | 184 m² | Yes | 2 adults + 1 child |
| Beach VillaOn the sand, no pool. The entry price. | 200 m² | No | 2 adults + 1 child |
| The Aqua VillaTwo underwater bedrooms, the only ones of their kind here. | 209 m² | Yes | 4 adults |
| Beach Pool VillaOn the sand with a private pool. | 240 m² | Yes | 2 adults + 1 child |
| Family Beach VillaTwo of these exist. No pool. | 270 m² | No | Family |
| Two Bedroom Ocean Pool VillaPool and jacuzzi, over water. | 270 m² | Yes | 4 adults |
| Family Beach Pool VillaTwo of these exist. | 300 m² | Yes | Family |
| Two Bedroom Beach Pool VillaPool and jacuzzi. | 580 m² | Yes | 4 adults |
| Four Bedroom Ocean Pool RetreatOne unit, eight adults. Quoted by hand. | 1,474 m² | Yes | 8 adults |
The standard villas take two adults and one child. A family of four steps up to a Family category or a two-bedroom, and there are only two of each Family villa on the island. Ask early.
The Beach Villa and the Ocean Villa have no pool. Neither does the Family Beach Villa. Everything else on this list does.
The two Family categories are the ones that disappear first over school holidays, because of how few there are.
Eating
Premium All-Inclusive covers
- Every meal across Mélange, Souq Oven, Phat Chameleon and Sol Rising
- Premium spirits, cocktails, house wine and beer
- A minibar restocked daily
- An hour a day of non-motorised water sports
Charged on top
- Excursions, including the guided house reef snorkel
- Diving and motorised water sports
- The spa and babysitting
- Anything ordered before check-in or after check-out
Six places to eat and drink
Mélange is all-day dining with six live stations: Maldivian, French, Arabic, Italian, Chinese and Indian. Breakfast 07:00 to 10:00, lunch 12:30 to 14:30, dinner 19:00 to 22:00.
Souq Oven is Mediterranean and Levantine cooked over open fire, overwater. Lunch 12:00 to 14:00, dinner 19:00 to 22:00.
Phat Chameleon is plant-forward, dinner only, 19:00 to 22:00, and closed on Fridays.
Sol Rising is the overwater café, breakfast 07:00 to 09:30 and the bar until 23:00. The Hub is the beach bar, 10:00 to 23:00. Saffron Affair is the overwater bar, 16:00 to 01:00.
Two limits worth knowing
The all-inclusive lunch at The Hub is capped at three dishes each, between 11:00 and 14:00. Anything past that comes off the menu at menu prices.
Anything ordered before check-in or after check-out is charged, whatever your plan says. It catches people on the last morning more than any other rule here.
Check-in is from 14:00 and check-out is by noon.
The water
Why we rate it 4 out of 5
The coral here is in better condition than almost anywhere we see. Guests who have snorkelled a dozen islands come back and tell us it was the best of them.
The mark is four rather than five because of access, not because of the reef. It sits well off the sunset side, a twenty-minute walk-and-swim on a calm day. The sunrise side faces open ocean and holds mostly fish nurseries.
Do not jump in from a water villa deck. The water there is shallow and the current runs.
Getting to it
Strong swimmers should go early, on a calm morning, from the sunset side. That is the best house reef we know of and it is worth building a day around.
Anyone hesitant in open water should take the guided snorkel rather than attempt the swim. It runs on two afternoons a week, Monday and Thursday at 14:30, and it is charged at USD 85 per person plus taxes and service. On an island where the food and drink are already settled, the boat trips are the part to budget for.
The rest of the water rota is fixed by day: turtle snorkelling on Saturday and Tuesday mornings, adventure snorkelling on Sunday and Thursday, a dolphin cruise on Wednesday, night snorkelling on Friday and Wednesday evenings, and sunset fishing four days a week.
Diving is with Suvadiva, a PADI five-star centre, with courses from beginner to divemaster. A valid licence and insurance are required, and short-term cover is sold on the island.
Who it suits
What you pay
What the price is built on
Two adults, the length you pick, Premium All-Inclusive, the domestic flight and the speedboat both ways, and every Maldivian tax. Indian TCS is the one thing outside it.
The transfer does not move with the length of your stay. That single fact is the whole argument for going long here.
Ways to pay less
Book early. Twenty per cent off at 60 days before arrival, twenty-five at 90, neither over the festive fortnight. It turns on the day you book rather than the day you travel, so it is not on the dropdown. Ask and we will apply it.
Go longer. The fourth night and the ones after it each add less than the first three.
Travel before 1 October, when the shoulder band steps up.
Priced by hand
Festive, 24 December to 5 January: a five-night minimum, no departures on 31 December, and compulsory gala dinners on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
The Four Bedroom Ocean Pool Retreat, a single villa for eight adults.
Anything outside the villa and length combinations on the dropdown. Ask and we will build it.
One charge you settle at the resort
The domestic flight carries an airline fuel surcharge collected at check-in, not by us. It was USD 39 per person each way when the resort last confirmed it. We reconfirm it on your dates before you commit to anything.
Things we would rather you heard from us
- The reef is a long way out. This is the island’s one real catch and the reason we score the reef four rather than five. Twenty minutes of walking and swimming on a calm day, off the sunset side. The guided alternative runs on two afternoons a week and is charged, on an island otherwise sold as everything-included.
- The island has energy, and that cuts both ways. A resident DJ, a live band most evenings, eighteen hectares and 122 villas. A great many guests choose it for exactly that. Some should not.
- Three nights is the wrong length here. The domestic flight takes real hours in each direction. On three nights you lose most of two days to travelling, and you pay the same transfer as someone staying a week.
- A charge lands at check-in. The domestic flight fuel surcharge is collected by the resort rather than by us, so it appears on your folio however completely we price the rest of the holiday. We would rather you heard it here than at the desk.
- There is a published rainy-day programme. Cooking classes, spa sessions, indoor games and a cocktail class, running alongside the normal schedule rather than replacing it. No other island in our catalogue publishes one, and in the green season that is worth something real.
Shall we price it for you?
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and how confident you are in open water. We will check your flight against the Kooddoo timetable, apply the early bird if you qualify, and tell you honestly whether the length you have in mind is worth the journey.