NAKAI Maayafushi Resort, 60 beach bungalows and 8 over the water on an island in North Ari Atoll, 1 hour 30 minutes by speedboat or 25 minutes by seaplane from Malé
NAKAI Maayafushi suits couples and families on a first Maldives trip who want Italian cooking, an easy-going club and a reef a few strokes from the beach, all inclusive. A silent island, or luxury in the room, suits another resort.
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Maayafushi is an island in North Ari Atoll with nothing on it but the resort: 60 bungalows on the beach, 7 Garden Villas behind coral walls, Garden Rooms in a 2-storey house on the palm avenue and 8 Over Water bungalows on the lagoon, as the official site lists them. It is run by the NAKAI group, in the Maldives for more than 20 years with Alimathà and Dhiggiri too, and Alpitour sells it in Italy as the Bravo Premium Maayafushi.
People come for the water. The sandbank to the south-west is where everyone swims at sunset, the reef runs right round the island and the dive centre goes to Fish Head, Maaya Thila and the Halaveli wreck. Of the 96 Google reviews with text written since 2022, 93% of those that discuss the location are positive, and 85% of those about the staff.
The rest is an Italian 4-star club, with the Bravo entertainment team and a buffet. Rooms are simple and have been renovated in waves, there is no pool, Wi-Fi was long a paid extra, and espresso, bottled water and imported spirits sit outside the all-inclusive plan. Anyone after luxury in the room or a silent island will be happier elsewhere; anyone who wants a reef from the beach, an Italian table and company is in the right place.
Lumina Guide 2027
On Maayafushi the reef runs right round an island you walk barefoot in a quarter of an hour: 60 beach bungalows and 8 over the water, all inclusive with an Italian table, and a dive centre that goes to Maaya Thila.
How we choose the hotelsWhat we found reading the hotel’s own pages, one thing at a time.
An island with only the resort on it, a reef all round and a sandbank; 1 hour 30 minutes by boat from Malé.
Sand, timber and coral, bare feet even at dinner, and an entertainment team guests mostly call discreet.
30 to 40 m² on the official site, and plain; the renovated bungalows earn the best words.
An Italian buffet with a grill and show cooking, 3 bars; espresso and bottled water are extra.
A small massage spa at extra cost; no pool, sauna or steam room published.
€661 to €912 a night for 2 with the flight from Milan and all inclusive, in the package read on 7 October 2026.
What do Maayafushi’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 return to the sandbank, the reef off the beach with its turtles and sharks, and a small island walked round barefoot in a quarter of an hour.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests write of the renovated bungalows, large and a few steps from the sea, of cleaning several times a day and of the open-air bathroom.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The dive centre, Italian-speaking assistance from the airport onwards and an entertainment team that is present but discreet are what guests single out.
Breakfast is a buffet in the main restaurant, near the beach, like lunch and dinner, and is part of the all-inclusive plan.
All-inclusive covers buffet meals and an open bar by the glass from 10am to midnight; espresso, imported spirits and bottled drinks are extra.
| What | Score out of 10 | Guests who mention it | Happy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 8.9 | 54 | 93% |
| Room | 7.6 | 33 | 82% |
| Staff and service | 8.3 | 71 | 85% |
| Breakfast | 7.4 | 5 | 80% |
| Price | – | 10 | 10% |
The scores come from 96 Google reviews with text, left from 12 January 2022 to 25 August 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in North Ari Atoll: for each we read its latest 500 Google reviews with text, or all of them where there are fewer, as of 7 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 North Ari Atoll:
Price: for two on the night of 10 November 2026, from €661 (seen on Google Hotels on 7 October 2026).
An Italian table on the sand, a massage spa, a dark sky at night and a bar on the sea.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are buffets in the main restaurant, with a double grill, show cooking and theme nights, according to Alpitour. The main bar sits between reception and the restaurant, the beach bar beside the restaurant and the Ocean Bar on the sea where the sandbank begins.
A massage centre at extra cost, working with Eastern techniques and Frella’s natural oils: the couples’ massage ends with a juice in the tub, the hot-stone massage uses 14 stones. The site gives neither its size nor its hours.
The group employs an astronomer who has spent 2 years photographing the sky over its resorts, and on Maayafushi it runs astronomy nights far from any lights. Its Pandora Project shows the island’s plants in ultraviolet, as insects see them.
The bar on the sea at the start of the sandbank, which the site suggests for warm mornings and for sunset. From 10am to midnight the all-inclusive plan pours soft drinks, tea and filter coffee, and from noon wine, draught beer and local spirits.
The speedboat from Malé takes about 1 hour 30 minutes and does not run with flights landing after 4pm or leaving before 9am; the seaplane, about 25 minutes, carries a supplement. Source: riuvacanze.it
The Over Water bungalows take guests only from age 12, and the children’s club starts at 4. Source: alpitour.it
There is no swimming pool on the island today: Alpitour’s and Riu Vacanze’s descriptions mention none. Google Hotels, however, lists one.
The official booking engine turns away residents of Italy and Switzerland under a commercial exclusivity; in Italy Alpitour sells it as a package with a Neos flight from Milan Malpensa. On 7 October 2026 the same engine found no room in any week searched, and Agoda showed the resort sold out.
Wi-Fi has been a paid extra: $45 for 7 days in 2022 and $20 for 5 days in August 2026, guests write. Alpitour lists it as free from 19 December 2026, and the official site’s Early Bird offer includes it.
Outside the all-inclusive plan, according to Alpitour: espresso, imported spirits, bottled water, bottled and canned soft drinks and beers, ice creams, smoothies and the minibar. A Green Tax of $12 per person per night, from age 2, is paid on the island.
There is coral close to the shore, so several guests recommend reef shoes, and snorkelling gear is for hire.
By speedboat from Malé airport, or by seaplane at extra cost
| Speedboat | About 1 hour 30 minutes depending on the sea, according to Alpitour; it does not run with flights leaving Malé before 9am or landing after 4pm |
|---|---|
| Seaplane | About 25 minutes, for a supplement Alpitour does not publish; it does not fly with flights leaving before 9.15am or landing after 3.30pm |
| Distance | About 80 km from Malé airport in the resort’s description, about 70 in the summary on the same Alpitour page |
| Flight from Italy | In Alpitour’s package the Neos flight leaves Milan Malpensa in the evening and lands in Malé the next morning |
From Alpitour’s and Riu Vacanze’s pages, read on 7 October 2026. The official site publishes no transfer times or fares; a guest in February 2026 timed 90 minutes by boat and 22 by seaplane, and a guest in 2022 recommends the seaplane after a rough crossing by boat.
NAKAI Maayafushi Resort · North Ari Atoll
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From 10am, as Alpitour lists the all-inclusive plan, the bars pour soft drinks, tea and filter coffee.
From midday the open bar adds wine, draught beer and local spirits, and lunch is a buffet with the grill.
The dive centre goes to Fish Head, Maaya Thila and the Halaveli wreck.
The Ocean Bar, on the sea where the sandbank begins, is where the resort suggests watching the colours of the sunset.
Evenings bring the Bravo team’s shows, and during the week a Maldivian dinner and a farewell dinner.
On Maayafushi the group’s astronomer runs astronomy nights far from any lights.
The platforms’ scores, read on 3 and 6 October 2026, and what guests say about the reef, the rooms and the entertainment.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 447 ratings, 79% of them 5 stars. The figures by topic come from the 96 reviews with text written since 2022, nearly all by Italian guests on a package; many thank the entertainment team or the dive centre by name. They are accounts of stays we have not checked.
6 stays described on Google between September 2025 and February 2026.
GoogleIn October 2025 a couple describe one side of the island that is always breezy and another almost without wind, so you pick your side by the weather. There are 3 entry points to the reef, with coral, blacktip and whitetip sharks, turtles, eagle rays and stingrays.
GoogleIn November 2025, on their first Maldives trip, a couple slept on the east side, the warmest and least breezy but the quietest: huge new rooms, a private patio and the beach in front. At the buffet, the ingredients are written beside every dish.
GoogleIn February 2026 a guest timed 90 minutes by boat or 22 by seaplane, dearer but more comfortable and with the view. The Over Water bungalows, he writes, are quieter and airier, with an outdoor shower at the top of the ladder and a sandy sea about 1 metre deep below.
GoogleIn January 2026 a guest gives 4 stars: the reef in front of the resort is stunning, the food good and varied, the entertainment draws in every age. The one flaw, she writes, is the rooms not yet refurbished, which need it.
GoogleIn September 2025 a honeymoon couple had a beach bungalow in the shade of the palms, a few metres from the sea, and never put their shoes back on all week.
GoogleAlso in September 2025, a guest who came for silence gives 2 stars: a bright, renovated room and smiling staff, but an entertainment team too present for the quiet holiday she had asked her agent for.
The questions people ask before booking Maayafushi, answered from sources read between 3 and 7 October 2026.
A 4-star resort, as Google Hotels and Agoda rate it, on Maayafushi, an island in North Ari Atoll with nothing else on it. It belongs to the NAKAI group, in the Maldives for more than 20 years with Alimathà, Dhiggiri and Velifushi, as the official site says; in Italy Alpitour sells it as the Bravo Premium Maayafushi, with the entertainment and cooking of its Bravo clubs.
Trip.com lists it as the former Maayafushi Tourist Resort, and ZenHotels and TravelAsk still use the name VOI Maayafushi Resort. Alpitour counts 8 Over Water bungalows, 60 beach bungalows, 7 Junior Suites and 8 Standard Garden rooms, 83 in all; a guest in February 2026 writes of 75 bungalows on land and 8 over the water.
The official site lists 4 types: 8 Over Water bungalows of 40 m² with a deck, 60 Beach Bungalows of 30 m² on the sand, Garden Rooms of 30 m² on the palm avenue, for 4 guests, and 7 Garden Villas of 30 m² with a garden behind coral walls. All have air conditioning, a ceiling fan, a safe, a paid minibar and a veranda.
The sizes vary by source. The official booking engine gives 28 m² for the Garden Room and 35 for the Garden Villa; Alpitour gives about 45 m² for the Over Water and 35 to 55 m² for the bungalows, which it splits into 4 versions, 27 for 2 guests, 18 for 4 and 15 on the sandbank, and it calls the Garden Villas Junior Suites.
In the north of Ari Atoll, Alifu Alifu, about 80 km from Malé airport according to Alpitour, which gives about 70 elsewhere on the same page. The resort is alone on the island, a walk round it takes 10 to 15 minutes, guests say, and Halaveli and Maaya Thila are 3.3 km away, according to Agoda.
It is calm, but it has the Bravo entertainment team: games and sport by day, shows and parties at night. Most guests find it discreet and some find it too much; those after silence pick the east side, the most sheltered and the quietest.
By speedboat, about 1 hour 30 minutes according to Alpitour, or by seaplane, about 25 minutes, for a supplement. Riu Vacanze adds that the boat does not run with flights leaving Malé before 9am or landing after 4pm, and the seaplane not with flights leaving before 9.15am or landing after 3.30pm.
Alpitour’s package includes the shared transfer; no source read publishes the seaplane supplement. The official site gives no times or fares, and its Early Bird offer includes a dedicated airport service. In a choppy sea the crossing by boat can be hard going, several guests warned between 2019 and 2023.
No. Maayafushi is an island without roads, reached from Malé by speedboat or seaplane. The Google Hotels listing shows free parking, but no official source or seller mentions any, and on the island everyone walks, barefoot on the sand.
From the beach that runs round the whole island, from the bungalows, which stand on the sand, and from the Over Water ladders, above a sandy lagoon about 1 metre deep, a guest reports. To the south-west the sandbank, which Alpitour says changes shape with the currents, is the place for a sunset swim.
Nobody swims on the north side, where the boats and seaplanes arrive. There is coral near the shore, and several guests recommend reef shoes; beach towels and loungers are free, according to Riu Vacanze.
Yes. The official site describes a house reef full of fish, and Alpitour writes that you can swim out to it, among stingrays and turtles, with whale sharks at some of the best-known dive sites at certain times of year. A guest in October 2025 counts 3 entry points, with blacktip and whitetip sharks, eagle rays and stingrays, and one in 2022 saw bright fish just 20 metres off the east shore.
The NAKAI dive centre, a PADI school, goes to Fish Head, Maaya Thila and the nearby Halaveli wreck, and Alpitour counts more than 30 dive sites. Masks and fins are for hire, and a guest in August 2026 suggests bringing your own.
None for now. Alpitour’s and Riu Vacanze’s descriptions mention no pool. A guest returning in August 2026 writes on Tripadvisor that a new pool with a sea bar opens in December; Google Hotels already lists a pool among the amenities, as though it existed.
The island has no pool yet. The one a guest announces for December 2026 has no hours, size or temperature published, either on the official site or in Alpitour’s descriptions.
According to Alpitour, in the main restaurant near the beach, a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a double grill, a show-cooking station, theme nights and Italian and international dishes; private dinners on the beach can be arranged at extra cost. There are 3 bars: the main bar, the beach bar and the Ocean Bar on the sea.
The official site speaks of 2 restaurants instead, with Italian and Maldivian food on all-inclusive and à la carte plans, and the Early Bird offer takes 10% off the à la carte restaurant. Guests praise the pasta and the grilled fish; a guest in August 2026 tells Tripadvisor about ingredients shipped from Italy and a vegetable garden behind the kitchen.
Alpitour’s package is always all inclusive: a welcome cocktail, buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, pasta courses signed by GialloZafferano at the show cooking, snacks at the beach bar, aperitifs, a Maldivian dinner and a farewell dinner, water in the room every day and an open bar by the glass from 10am to midnight, with wine, draught beer and local spirits from noon, according to Alpitour.
Espresso, imported spirits, bottled water, bottled and canned soft drinks and beers, ice creams, smoothies and the minibar are extra; for one guest in August 2026 the plan covered everything but espresso and red wine. The official site also mentions à la carte plans, with no prices.
The Maadhiga Spa is a massage centre: the official site describes a small, peaceful place using Eastern techniques and Frella’s natural oils of coconut, jasmine, frangipani, citrus and lemongrass. Its photographs show the treatment rooms, one with a bathtub, and the entrance with its arched doors.
No source gives its size, and none mentions a sauna, steam room or hot tub.
Treatments are paid for: Alpitour lists the Maadhiga Spa among the extras, and the official site’s Early Bird offer takes 10% off. No source publishes a day pass for anyone not staying on the island, which holds only the resort and is reached only by boat or seaplane.
The official site and Alpitour’s and Riu Vacanze’s pages publish no spa hours and no price list. The only hours published are the all-inclusive ones: the open bar from 10am to midnight.
On the official site: a couples’ massage that ends with a juice in the tub, Thai shiatsu, a traditional Balinese massage, a hot-stone massage with 14 stones and Ayurvedic Kizhi, with bags of rice soaked in warm oil. Prices are not published.
Yes. Alpitour lists the Bravo Bimbo club for children aged 4 to 11, and 4 to 13 elsewhere on the same page, the B.Free club from 12, reductions for 2 children aged 2 to 12 and a children’s area. Garden Rooms and some bungalows sleep 4; the Over Water bungalows take guests only from age 12.
The Bravo Bimbo club starts at age 4 and does not take younger children. On Tripadvisor in September 2026 one family praises the team who looked after their children. The Green Tax applies from age 2.
According to the official site and Alpitour: windsurfing, canoes, paddleboards, aqua aerobics, a gym, beach volleyball, five-a-side football, 2 padel courts, mini golf, table tennis and bocce; at extra cost, catamaran sailing, fishing, boat trips and the dive centre. There is also a shop, a meeting room, a first-aid point with a doctor, at a charge, and the Bravo entertainment team.
The excursions go to an inhabited island, an uninhabited one, a sunset aperitif on a dhoni, Maldivian fishing and a night under the stars; guests describe trips with manta rays and a night outing with nurse sharks.
The official booking engine has the Early Bird rate, Early30, for bookings at least 30 days ahead, with all inclusive, fast Wi-Fi, 10% off the spa and the à la carte restaurant, and an airport service; on 7 October 2026, though, the engine found no room on the dates searched.
Alpitour offers reductions for children and for teenagers aged 12 to 16, a single room with no supplement from 1 May to 31 July and from 10 September to 9 October and, for honeymooners, a vow-renewal ceremony.
The official site says nothing about weddings. Alpitour lists a wedding ceremony among its services and offers honeymooners staying at least 7 nights «a piedi nudi in paradiso», a symbolic renewal of vows on the beach at sunset. No source publishes prices, capacities or a legally binding wedding.
Romantic dinners on the beach are arranged at extra cost.
Yes, and it is included: Alpitour writes that the main restaurant serves the Christmas, New Year and Ferragosto dinners as part of the all-inclusive plan. No source publishes the menu or the programme.
On Riu Vacanze’s calendar, read on 7 October 2026, the 21 December departure had no package available.
Only mini golf: the official site describes a course on the island. No source mentions real golf or golf packages; for sport there are padel, five-a-side football and the water sports.
The sources read announce no closures, and Riu Vacanze’s calendar, read on 7 October 2026, has weekly departures through February 2027. In March 2026 a guest wrote that the resort would close from 1 May to 1 September for a full renovation; other guests, though, describe stays in July and August 2026, with bungalows renovated in July.
The site names no best season. A guest in July 2026 describes the low season with almost no rain, while guests in October and November describe changeable weather, with quick downpours and wind.
On Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, no night up to 31 January 2027 had a price, and the resort is sold almost only as a package. On Riu Vacanze’s calendar, read on 7 October 2026, Alpitour’s package for 2 adults and 7 nights, divided by the nights, cost €661 a night from 10 November 2026, €753 from 24 November, €866 from 1 December, €912 from 15 December and €893 from 19 January 2027.
Each figure includes the Neos return flight from Milan Malpensa, the shared transfer, the cheapest room available that week and the all-inclusive plan; the Green Tax of $12 per person per night is paid on the island. On 27 October only an Over Water bungalow was left, at €786 a night. The official booking engine found no room in any week searched, and Agoda showed the resort sold out.
On the official booking engine, yes, but not if you live in Italy or Switzerland, because of a commercial exclusivity, and the resort may ask for proof of residence abroad; on 7 October 2026 it found no room in any week between November 2026 and March 2027. From Italy the resort is bought as Alpitour’s Bravo Premium, through an agent or online.
On Riu Vacanze a week for 2, flight included, cost €4,626 leaving on 9 November, €5,268 on 23 November, €6,060 on 30 November, €6,382 on 14 December and €6,248 on 18 January; for 2 and 16 November and 7 and 21 December there was no online offer.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 447 ratings; on 3 October Tripadvisor gave 4.6/5 from 444, with a Travellers’ Choice 2026 award, location at 4.9, cleanliness at 4.7, service at 4.6 and rooms and value at 4.5.
In the 96 Google reviews with text since 2022 the sea, the sand underfoot everywhere, the staff and the dive centre keep returning. Bungalows renovated in waves, an entertainment team at work by day and by night, Wi-Fi that was a paid extra until 2026 and a club that speaks Italian, from the signs to the shows, recur too.
On the island you pay the Green Tax, $12 per person per night from age 2, as Alpitour and Riu Vacanze state. The package includes airport taxes, fuel charges and basic insurance; the EU emissions surcharge (ETS), tips and extras are not included.
The seaplane supplement, the spa, excursions, diving, the doctor and anything outside the all-inclusive plan are paid separately; a guest in August 2026 advises paying in dollars, because the exchange rate charged on the island is higher.
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This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
