Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa, 120 villas, half on the beach and half over the water, on its own island in Raa Atoll, 40 minutes by seaplane from Malé
A week here, month by monthEmerald Maldives suits families and couples who want meals and drinks settled in advance: 4 restaurants and the wine list on the Deluxe All-Inclusive and a free kids’ club of 1,500 m². For May and June 2027 Google showed nights from $797 for 2. Anyone whose trip is built on snorkelling from the shore will be happier elsewhere: guests’ accounts of the house reef differ.
Official websiteDoes it suit you?
5 pairs of hotels, and the guide tells you whether this one suits you.
With children I would ask for a Two Bedroom Family Beach Villa with Pool: 280 m², 2 bathrooms and a pool 8 metres long. For two, a Water Villa with Pool; the 3 returning guests who name their villa all stayed over the water.
In the calendar read on 12 October 2026, all 39 nights from 1 May to 8 June 2027 cost $797 for 2 adults; the lowest, 2 and 3 September, cost $764. The dearest it showed, 4 to 10 January, cost $1,830 to $1,933.
Add the seaplane: $590 per adult return on Booking.com, until 23 December 2026. There, a child of 2 to 13 adds $260 a night before discounts; diving and boat trips carry 10% service and 17% tax on the 2026 price list.
Between March 2020 and July 2026, 9 guests wrote of rocks or an awkward way into the sea at some beach villas, 3 by the seaplane jetty. Anyone set on sand underfoot says so when booking: one asked and was moved to another stretch.
Fasmendhoo is a private island of 20 hectares in Raa Atoll, in the north of the archipelago, with 1.5 km of white beach and a lagoon of 100 hectares, according to the official 2025 brochure. The Emerald Collection, whose company is based in Rome, opened its first Maldives resort here on 1 August 2019, and it belongs to The Leading Hotels of the World. Its 120 villas, in 12 types from 176 to 900 m², are 60 on the beach and 60 along the jetty; 73 have a private pool and 8 a hot tub.
What sets it apart is the plan. The Deluxe All-Inclusive covers all 3 meals at the Aqua buffet, the Beach Club Grill at lunch and dinner, Amazònico and Le Asiatique with its teppanyaki at dinner, a wine list from around the world and a minibar restocked daily, plus one boat trip from 7 nights and 2 from 10. Of the 384 Google reviews with text, 94% of those discussing the staff and services are positive, and many thank their villa host by name.
Accounts of the house reef vary: in 2025 and 2026 some guests snorkelled from the shore for hours, others preferred the boat trips, from $75 a head plus tax. In places the beach is thick with shells or rocks, the marina villas face the seaplane dock, and spa treatments, diving and motorised sports are paid for on top.
Lumina Guide 2027
Emerald Maldives is a 20-hectare private island in Raa Atoll where the all-inclusive covers 4 restaurants and the wine list, and where children have a 1,500 m² club.
How we choose the hotelsAmong the Emerald’s regulars, 9 of the 11 name a member of staff, 5 of them their butler: one family, writing in May 2026, had the same butler for a second year, and another, in July 2026, asked for one by name. The return held up, they say: 4 write that it matched the first stay, among them a couple, writing in August 2022, who never go back to a resort and were glad they did. 4 of them celebrated a birthday there, and 3 plan the next visit.
Of the 384 Google reviews with text, written up to September 2026, the 11 that state a second or later stay.
What we found reading the hotel’s own pages, one thing at a time.
40 minutes by seaplane, or a domestic flight and a speedboat; a long beach, with the house reef and boat trips for snorkelling.
A green, spacious island built for families, with a DJ every evening except Sunday and gala dinners on the beach.
12 types from 176 to 900 m², 73 with a pool; large marble bathrooms and bicycles for every villa.
4 restaurants and an extensive wine list on the plan; lobster and some cuts carry a supplement.
A sauna, steam room, hot tub and an Indonesian-style pool; treatments paid, prices unpublished.
Google, read on 12 October 2026: from $797 a night for 2 in May and June 2027 to $1,933 in early January 2027; transfer extra.
A badge is an experience travellers look for, that is really here and that few hotels in the guide have.
Here: from $797 a night for 2 in May and June 2027 to $1,933 in early January 2027; the resort is all-inclusive, with 4 restaurants and a minibar restocked daily.
24 of the 39 guests who write about the price are happy with it. 19 hotels of 335 hold it.
Every hotel with this badgeHere: 4 restaurants, all included: Brazilian spit-roasts at Amazònico, teppanyaki at Le Asiatique, in the forest at the island’s centre, and fish and meat cooked on the stone at the Beach Club Grill.
From the hotel’s restaurant pages. 30 hotels of 335 hold it.
Every hotel with this badgeWhat do Emerald Maldives’s guests say? They write it in their reviews, even those who only came for a drink or dinner: we read every one and tell the 5 things that matter, from the location to the bill.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests write about a green, spacious island, the long beach, the quiet and the bicycles for getting about its paths.
Nearly every guest who mentions it is happy with it. Of the villas guests describe the space, the large marble bathrooms, the private pool and housekeeping twice a day, with the minibar restocked on each visit.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The host who looks after each villa, books the restaurants and arranges surprises recurs: many guests thank theirs by name, along with the sommeliers and the teppanyaki chefs.
7 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. At Aqua the favourites are the freshly cut fruit, the eggs Benedict and the croissants.
6 in 10 guests who mention the price find it fair. When guests talk about the bill, they describe an all-inclusive that covers almost everything, from the 4 restaurants to the wine list and the minibar.
| What | Score out of 10 | Guests who mention it | Happy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 8.6 | 139 | 87% |
| Room | 8.8 | 157 | 95% |
| Staff and service | 9.1 | 329 | 94% |
| Breakfast | 7.0 | 24 | 71% |
| Price | – | 39 | 62% |
The scores come from 384 Google reviews with text, left from 28 March 2018 to 29 September 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in Raa Atoll: for each we read its latest 500 Google reviews with text, or all of them where there are fewer, as of 6 October 2026. The score is the average of what they say, from 0 if they speak of it very badly to 10 if they speak of it very well. Where only a few mention something, the score stays close to the guide’s average: a handful of voices does not make a reputation.
The hotels we weigh it against in Raa Atoll:
Price: for two on the night of 1 May 2027, from $797 (seen on Google Hotels on 12 October 2026).
On 12 October 2026 Google showed nights for 2 at $797 from 1 May to 11 July 2027, with one exception, and at $1,214 to $1,398 from 11 January to 11 April; the dearest, $1,830 to $1,933, fell between 4 and 10 January, and no price appeared from 27 December to 3 January. On 4 October, 86 of the 91 nights from 12 April to 11 July stood at $889; 8 days later 85 of them cost less, 69 at $797: for those months I would book while the calendar shows that figure.
| Period | Dollars a night |
|---|---|
| 13 October to 23 December 2026 | 789–1,342 |
| 24–26 December, 4–10 January | 1,647–1,933 |
| 11 January to 11 April 2027 | 1,214–1,398 |
| 12 April to 11 July 2027 | 797–889 |
| 12 July to 31 August 2027 | 901 every night |
| 1 to 7 September 2027 | 764–852 |
The lowest price Google Hotels showed for the hotel for that night in a search for 2 adults, read on 12 October 2026; the calendar ran to 7 September 2027 and gave no price from 27 December to 3 January. Booked as 7 nights from 16 November 2026, the lowest seller Google listed that day asked $1,188 a night; the resort’s own listing, $1,189.
Emerald Maldives for 4 restaurants and the wine list on its one plan; RAAYA for an all-inclusive that from 4 nights includes the seaplane, a massage and a sunset cruise; Furaveri for a reef a few metres from the shore and 4 meal plans, from breakfast only. At RAAYA the reef is a boat trip; Furaveri’s evenings gather round the bar.
A night: the lowest price in the week of 16 November 2026, in a search for 2 adults, read on Google on 12 October 2026; it names neither the villa nor the meal plan. On 4 October the same week started at $998 at Emerald Maldives, $1,158 at RAAYA and $352 at Furaveri.
Teppanyaki at Le Asiatique, a spa round a lily pond and a kids' club of 1,500 m².
Aqua serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as a buffet on the beach, with Mediterranean, Japanese, Italian, Chinese and vegetarian stations; the Beach Club Grill cooks fish and meat on stone, with pizza and pasta. At dinner there are also Amazònico, with Brazilian skewers and cooking from Mexico to Peru, and Le Asiatique, in the forest at the island's centre, with its teppanyaki. Once a week Aqua lays on a gala dinner on the beach.
10 air-conditioned treatment bungalows, an Indonesian-style pool and a relaxation area with a hot tub, sauna and steam room, according to the spa page; a guest in July 2026 describes the fishpond around the hot tub. The menu lists Balinese, Thai and Ayurvedic massages and Elemis facials, from 9am to 9pm, with durations but no prices.
A 1,500 m² complex with an outdoor playground, a children's pool, a restaurant of their own and activities indoors and out, free of charge and run by trained staff. The club's page takes children from 3 to 12, the 2025 brochure from 4 to 14.
The transfer is paid on top and the website prints no price: Booking.com, read on 3 October 2026, gives the shared seaplane at $590 per adult and $360 per child aged 2 to 11 return, and the domestic flight with the speedboat at $610 and $380, until 23 December 2026.
On the house reef the Google reviews disagree: between April 2025 and July 2026, 8 describe a living reef and rich snorkelling round the island; between June and September 2026, 4 describe it as poor, or write that the island does not sit on a reef. Boat trips start at $75 a head plus service and tax on the 2026 price list.
Children aged 2 to 13 join the all-inclusive at $260 a night each, 2 at most in their parents' villa, and from 14 they count as adults, according to Booking.com's fine print. The Dolphin Kids Club is free.
The plan leaves out in-villa dining, spa treatments, diving, motorised water sports and excursions beyond one per stay from 7 nights and 2 from 10; the 2026 price list adds 10% service and 17% tax.
The shore changes from villa to villa: guests report rocks in front of some beach villas, shells on the sand and, at the marina villas, a ladder into the water and the seaplanes coming and going.
By seaplane from Malé airport in 40 minutes, or by domestic flight to Ifuru and speedboat
| Seaplane | 40 minutes from Malé International Airport, according to the official website; same-day transfers for flights landing by 3.30pm and leaving from 9am |
|---|---|
| Domestic flight | 30 minutes to Ifuru airport according to the website, 35 according to Booking.com, then the speedboat: 30 minutes in the brochure, 15 on the «How to get here» page, 25 on Booking.com |
| Price | $590 per adult and $360 per child aged 2 to 11 return by seaplane, $610 and $380 by flight and speedboat, until 23 December 2026, according to Booking.com |
| Before you fly | Flight details to the resort at least 72 hours before arrival, or risk a night in Malé at your own expense, according to Booking.com |
| Sister resort | Emerald Faarufushi Resort & Spa is 20 minutes away by speedboat, according to the official brochure |
From the official «How to get here» page and the 2025 brochure, read on 6 October 2026, and Booking.com's fine print on 3 October 2026. The official website publishes no transfer prices.
Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa · Raa Atoll
Loading map…
Recommended for you
Between February 2022 and July 2026, 7 guests wrote of keeping in touch on WhatsApp with the member of staff who looked after them, a butler for 5; the check-in formalities are done before the flight, in the seaplane lounge at Malé.
Aqua, on the beach, keeps its buffet going until 10.30am, with a cooking station for each cuisine, Japanese to Italian.
2 guests, writing in December 2021 and July 2026, name the beach in front of Aqua as the place to snorkel from the shore; masks, snorkels and fins come with the plan.
The Beach Club Grill, on the main beach, cooks fish, meat and vegetables on stone and has a pizza and pasta station; lunch runs until 3pm.
Kayaks, Hobie Cats and windsurfers come with the plan at the water sports centre, on the main beach; the spa is open from 9am to 9pm.
Le Asiatique, with its teppanyaki among the trees at the island’s centre, and Amazònico serve from 7.30pm by reservation; afterwards a DJ plays at the main bar, every evening except Sunday.
The platforms' scores, read on 3 October 2026, and what guests write about the villa hosts, the reef and the beach.
On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.9/5 from 526 ratings. The figures by theme come from the 384 reviews with text, from 28 March 2018 to 29 September 2026: many are from families and honeymooners, and many thank their villa host by name. They are accounts of stays we have not verified.
6 stays described on Google between April 2025 and September 2026.
GoogleIn September 2026 a family of keen snorkellers found the house reef poor and modest, yet already plan to come back: the à la carte restaurants, the chefs who asked after dinner what they thought, tables found even at the last minute.
GoogleIn September 2026 an Italian couple in a beach villa with a pool looked out from the room on the greenery, the pool and the beach sloping to the sea, ate well in all 4 restaurants and booked another stay straight away.
GoogleIn July 2026 a family who had stayed before celebrated the children's birthday on the day they arrived, by the sea by candlelight, with a cake baked for them; the children spent their days at the club.
GoogleIn June 2026 an American couple, 7 nights in a water villa, found an all-inclusive with no hidden caveats and the Beach Club Grill the best restaurant; but a beach covered in shells, an island that does not sit on a reef, and a resort better suited to families than to honeymoons.
GoogleIn August 2026 a family with a 5-year-old, who had asked for a quiet villa, was first put near the seaplane traffic; they found the à la carte restaurants disappointing and noticed shared pools with no lifeguard in sight.
GoogleIn April 2025 a couple who wanted a reef they could reach without a boat spent hours snorkelling from the shore, and found the best food on the island at Le Asiatique, after a few days in a water villa and a few more in a beach pool villa.
What people ask before booking Emerald Maldives, with answers from sources read between 3 and 12 October 2026.
A 5-star resort sold on a Deluxe All-Inclusive plan, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, on Fasmendhoo, a private island of 20 hectares in Raa Atoll, according to the official website. It is the Emerald Collection's first resort, the company is based in Rome, and it has 120 villas, 60 on the beach and 60 over the water.
It opened on 1 August 2019, according to the general manager’s interview on the official blog, with about 320 staff. Its sister resort, Emerald Faarufushi, is 20 minutes away by speedboat in the same atoll. One family-holiday page on Emerald Maldives' website, «Reconnect in Paradise», in fact describes Faarufushi, with its restaurants and its villas.
12 types, according to the villas page and the 2025 brochure. On the beach: Beach Villas, 176 m², 14 villas; Jacuzzi Beach Villas, 176 m², 4; Marina Garden Villa with Pool, 187 m², 3; Beach Villas with Pool, 187 m², 16; Two Bedroom Family Beach Villas with Pool, 280 m², 20; Superior Beach Villas with Pool, 280 m², 2; Three Bedroom Royal Beach Villa, 900 m², 1. Over the water: Water Villas, 176 m², 25; Jacuzzi Water Villas, 176 m², 4; Water Villas with Pool, 187 m², 28; Superior Water Villas with Pool, 310 m², 2; Two Bedroom Presidential Ocean Villa, 640 m², 1.
Every villa has a king-size bed or an interconnecting room, 2 televisions, a bath for 2, indoor and outdoor showers, a walk-in wardrobe, a minibar restocked daily and housekeeping twice a day, according to the brochure. The 39 Beach Villas and Water Villas are the only ones with neither a pool nor a hot tub; every villa has its own bicycles.
On Fasmendhoo Island in Raa Atoll, in the north of the archipelago, according to the official website; Booking.com places it in the southern part of the atoll and Google Hotels 162 km from Velana airport. It is 40 minutes by seaplane from Malé and 20 minutes by speedboat from Emerald Faarufushi.
Guests describe a green, spacious island, with shaded paths, fruit bats and bicycles to get about, and little sense of a crowd. The noise comes from the seaplanes near the marina, the evening DJ and, in February 2025, the cinema on the beach.
By seaplane, 40 minutes from Malé airport, or by domestic flight to Ifuru airport and speedboat, according to the «How to get here» page, which suggests the flight for anyone leaving on an evening international flight. The speedboat from Ifuru takes 30 minutes, according to the opening paragraph of the «How to get here» page and the brochure uploaded in February 2026, both read on 15 October 2026.
The website prints no prices. Booking.com, on 3 October 2026, gives the shared seaplane at $590 per adult from 12 and $360 per child aged 2 to 11 return, the flight and speedboat at $610 and $380, until 23 December 2026, and asks for flight details at least 72 hours ahead. The all-inclusive plan includes the airport greeting and the seaplane lounge, where check-in is done. Google Hotels says transfers are included: for Booking.com and a guest in 2024 they are paid separately, while a guest in 2023 had them in the price of a package.
No: Fasmendhoo is an island reached by seaplane or by flight and speedboat, and no official page mentions parking, though Google Hotels lists it as free. On the island you walk, cycle on the villa's bicycles or take the electric buggy, which guests call through the app or the villa host.
From the beach that rings the island, 1.5 km according to the 2025 brochure and 1.7 km according to the 2021 health page, or by the ladder from the water villas' patios. Guests single out 2 good beaches, the main one by the water sports centre and the one near the water villas.
In front of some beach villas the way in is over rocks: between March 2020 and July 2026, 9 guests wrote of rocks or an awkward way in there, 3 of them by the marina. The marina villas have walkways with ladders to get past the stony shore, according to a guest in July 2026; in June 2026 another describes stretches of sand with many shells.
In part, and guests disagree. The official website speaks of a coral reef running all round the resort and, in the general manager’s interview, of a reef «just a few steps from the villas». In April 2025 a couple spent hours snorkelling from the shore, in May 2026 a guest saw sharks, eagle rays and turtles, and in December 2025 another rated the reef good for the northern atolls.
In June, July and September 2026 others wrote that the island does not sit on a reef, and recommended the boat trips to anyone travelling for the snorkelling; one reached the reef by swimming from the water villas without a pool, not from those with one. Masks, snorkels and fins come with the plan, with a 20-minute guided group snorkel twice a week; the 2026 price list sells the Coral Garden trip at $75, the manta quest at $125 and the turtles at $118, plus service and tax.
73 villas have a private pool: 5 × 3 m in the Beach Villas with Pool, the Marina villas and the Water Villas with Pool, 8 × 3 m in the Family, Superior and Royal villas, 10 × 4 m in the Presidential, according to the villa pages; 8 have a 2 × 2 m hot tub. The main pool, an infinity pool, is the Sunset Pool Café's on the beach, and the Beach Club Grill has its own pool bar.
The Dolphin Kids Club has a children's pool and the spa an Indonesian-style pool. Booking.com counts 2 pools; Google Hotels and the 2021 health page say every villa has a pool, while the 39 Beach Villas and Water Villas have none.
The website says nothing about heating or temperature. The Sunset Pool Café bar serves from 10am to midnight, according to the all-inclusive brochure; no page gives the pools’ hours.
According to the all-inclusive page and its brochure: Aqua, the buffet on the beach, from 7.30 to 10.30am, 12.30 to 3pm and 7.30 to 10.30pm; the Beach Club Grill, fish, meat and vegetables on stone, pizza and pasta, at lunch and dinner; Amazònico, cooking from Brazil to Mexico with skewered beef, and Le Asiatique, Japanese, Chinese and Thai with a teppanyaki, at dinner from 7.30 to 10.30pm by reservation. The bars are the Sunset Pool Café and the Sunrise Café.
The brochure dates from 2019, and Google Hotels counts 6 restaurants: the website lists 4, plus the 2 bars. Guests describe a weekly gala dinner at Aqua, with lobster and prawns, and of the à la carte kitchens they write most about the teppanyaki at Le Asiatique, often thanking the chef by name.
The resort sells one plan, the Deluxe All-Inclusive, which according to its brochure starts when you step on the island and ends when you board: every meal in the restaurants, the à la carte restaurants' set menus for every villa category, premium branded spirits and beers, an international wine list, unlimited cocktails, a minibar with wine, beer and soft drinks restocked once a day, Wi-Fi, non-motorised water sports, snorkelling gear, the gym, the DJ, a Bodu Beru dance evening each week and one boat trip from 7 nights, 2 from 10.
In-villa dining and choices off the set menus are paid for; in 2023 a guest paid extra for lobster and Angus beef, while in June 2026, 2 guests found everything included with no supplements. The plan is non-refundable, and on Booking.com children aged 2 to 13 pay $260 a night for it.
The Emerald Spa is built in Balinese style: air-conditioned treatment bungalows, an Indonesian-style pool and a relaxation area with a hot tub, sauna and steam room. The menu adds a couples' room, an Ayurvedic room, a beauty room and a shop, and uses Elemis products for facials.
The newest official document, the 2025 brochure, read on 15 October 2026, counts 9 air-conditioned treatment rooms and a beauty salon. The website gives no floor area. In July 2026 a guest described the rooms set in a garden with a fishpond and the hot tub at its centre.
Treatments are paid for and charged to the villa; the all-inclusive plan does not list the spa among its inclusions. Members of the free Friends of Emerald club get 20% off treatments, and the honeymoon offer includes a 60-minute couples' massage.
No page publishes a day pass for non-residents, and the island is reached only by seaplane or boat. According to the menu, children come in only for a treatment and with an adult.
From 9am to 9pm every day, according to the spa menu, which advises booking before arrival and arriving 15 minutes early. It asks for 6 hours' notice to cancel and charges the full price for a late cancellation or a no-show.
From the spa menu: the 90-minute Emerald Signature Massage and bamboo cane massage, Thai-shiatsu, hot stone, tension release and aromatherapy, Ayurvedic treatments such as Abhyanga, Shirodhara and Marma, scrubs and wraps, 120-minute rituals, Elemis facials, manicures, pedicures, waxing and treatments for children.
The menu prints durations but no prices. In July 2023 a couple paid $530 for the Signature couples' massage, tax and service included; the summer 2026 programme priced yoga classes at $20 per person, plus 10% service and 17% tax.
Yes, and families are its main guests: the Dolphin Kids Club is a 1,500 m² complex with a playground, a children's pool and a children's restaurant, free of charge, for ages 3 to 12 according to its page and 4 to 14 according to the 2025 brochure. The 20 Family Beach Villas have a children's bedroom and bathroom, and a guest in 2023 chose it partly for its babysitting.
According to Booking.com's fine print, 2 children under 14 can stay in their parents' villa on the all-inclusive at $260 a night each, on the daybed and a rollaway bed, and from 14 they count as adults; the same listing's house rules say 18. The resort is not adults-only and welcomes children of all ages. The dive centre runs Bubblemaker for ages 8 to 9 and a first dive from 10; under-16s may not drive a jet ski.
According to the experiences page and the brochure: the Emerald Spa with its yoga pavilion, the Gym & Sports Center with Technogym equipment, 2 tennis courts, one of which converts to a football pitch, and 2 padel courts, the water sports centre with Hobie cats, kayaks and windsurfers, the PADI dive centre, the Dolphin Kids Club and the boutiques. Wi-Fi is free everywhere; Booking.com guests rate it 9.1.
The 2026 price list gives a dive from $105, 15 minutes on a jet ski in the lagoon at $110 and the dolphin cruise at $115 a head, plus 10% service and 17% tax. Drones are banned, according to Booking.com, and the 2021 health page announced a doctor on the island.
Read on 6 October 2026: the Early Bird, 20% off with the all-inclusive, refundable until 31 days before arrival, or 61 for stays between 24 December and 10 January; and the Honeymoon offer, 20% off the best rate from 4 nights within a year of the wedding, with a 60-minute couples' massage, champagne, a romantic beach dinner and an upgrade if available.
The Winter Special Offer still on the site closed its booking window on 30 April 2026. The free Friends of Emerald club promises 10% off the best rate, 20% off the spa, an upgrade if available, early check-in and late check-out; its discounts do not combine with other offers.
The official website publishes no wedding or vow-renewal packages, prices or capacities. The blog describes an «Engagement Concierge» who arranges proposals, with flowers, a photographer or a drone, and the resort sells the Honeymoon offer, from 4 nights within 12 months of the wedding, with the certificate shown at check-in.
The official website publishes no menu, programme or price for New Year 2026, and Booking.com's fine print, read on 3 October 2026, lists no compulsory gala dinners. The Early Bird offer treats 24 December to 10 January apart, with 61 days' notice to cancel.
2 guests in January 2026 describe the festive gala dinners, and the blog sells the resort for Christmas and New Year. On Google Hotels, read on 12 October 2026, the nights from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 had no price.
No: the island has no golf course and the website no golf packages. The sports centre has 2 tennis courts, 2 padel courts and a football pitch.
Confirm operation for your dates: the official website announces no seasonal closures, and on Google Hotels, read on 12 October 2026, every night from 13 October 2026 to 7 September 2027 had a price except those from 27 December to 3 January.
The official blog gives November to April as the driest months with the best visibility underwater. In July 2026 a couple had sun almost every day, and in October 2023 another a stormy week; the nights of 4 to 10 January 2027 cost more than twice those of May and June.
On Google Hotels, read on 12 October 2026, for 2 adults and one night: $853 on 17 October 2026, $887 on 29 October, $1,189 on 16 November, $1,089 on 8 December, $1,647 on 24 December, $1,933 on 4 January 2027, $1,237 on 12 January and $1,391 on 31 January; from 1 May to 11 July 2027 every night but one cost $797. The calendar ran to 7 September 2027.
The calendar shows the lowest price among sellers and names neither the villa nor the plan; on 6 October 2026 the official website asked $950 for the night of 7 October, and on 12 October the nights from 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 had no amount. The transfer and the children's supplement are extra.
On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.9/5 from 526 ratings, Tripadvisor 5/5 from 4,855, with the Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best 2026 award, and Booking.com 9.9/10 from 575, with value for money at 9.6 and Wi-Fi at 9.1.
In the 384 Google reviews with text, 94% of those discussing the staff and services are positive, as are 95% of those discussing the villas and 87% of those discussing the location; of the 39 discussing value, 62% are happy. For the snorkelling some guests choose the boat trips, the shore changes from villa to villa, and the extras sit outside the plan, from the seaplane to spa treatments.
The official offers do not break down tax, and neither the website nor Booking.com's fine print, read on 3 October 2026, prints a green tax. The dive centre and water sports price list for 2026 adds 10% service and 17% T-GST, and so does the summer 2026 programme. The transfer and the children's supplement are extra; on Booking.com an extra bed costs $420 per person per night.
Google Hotels' prices for the Maldives market, on the other hand, include taxes and fees: on 6 October 2026 the official website's link for the night of 7 October carried $950.40, of which $239.91 was tax.
Check-in from 2pm and check-out by noon, according to Booking.com; the all-inclusive plan handles the formalities in the airport lounge before the flight. Members of the Friends of Emerald club are promised early check-in and late check-out, and in January 2025 a couple checked in through the resort's app without going to reception.
Villas with private pools, more than 350 murals by Maldivian artists and an all-inclusive plan with the speedboat, 45 minutes from the airport
A one-hectare island with 30 beach and water villas, a reef you can swim to and whale sharks half an hour away, without a pool
69 all-inclusive beach and water villas with Italian-accented food, the reef off the beach and South Ari’s whale sharks
70 villas on a small South Ari island, the house reef a few metres off the beach and an all-inclusive with an Italian kitchen, about 25 minutes by seaplane
118 villas on Faafu’s only resort island, with a house reef from the beach and an all-inclusive plan, 35 minutes by seaplane from Malé
150 rooms and pool villas on the club’s all-inclusive plan, food guests rave about and a house reef 150 metres out, in Noonu Atoll
70 rooms on a small all-inclusive North Ari island, with a house reef from the beach, 15 minutes by seaplane from Malé
50 villas of 175 to 400 m² on a quiet Noonu Atoll island, in IHG’s Vignette Collection, 45 minutes by seaplane from Malé
128 villas with their own pool on Huruelhi, overwater and on the beach, with whale shark trips all year
98 thatched villas on the beach and over the lagoon, on an island in the Baa reserve with a house reef and a turtle rescue centre, 30 minutes by seaplane from Malé
8 villa types on a small South Ari island, an all-inclusive that covers every restaurant and Lonubo, an uninhabited island for guests
112 villas on a South Ari island, with a house reef all round, a wreck offshore and an all-inclusive plan, 25 minutes by seaplane from Malé
This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
