Havodda suits people who come to the Maldives to swim, with a reef all the way round the island, from $490 a night in April 2027: the lowest price any seller showed on Google for one night, 2 adults. Anyone short of time will be happier nearer Malé: the only way in is a domestic flight and a speedboat.
Co-founder & CEOMarco Di CesareHe spent weeks comparing hotels and kept finding that the detail deciding the trip was missing from the hotel website. 10 years in marketing technology, 2 of them building with AI.About MarcoHow we write the guideLinkedIn
I would ask for a Sunrise Beach Pool Villa: 121 m², with its plunge pool on the beach rather than in a courtyard. The resort places its sundeck and pool to take in the horizon, and describes a sky painted pink at sunrise.
The weeks that cost less
The calendar read on 12 October 2026 shows 7 nights at $551 from 2 to 8 November 2026, and $490 for 5 nights from 5 to 9 April 2027. From 1 to 7 January 2027 a night costs $996 or $997.
The flight on top
On the resort’s site the transfer by domestic flight from Malé to Kaadedhdhoo costs $570 per adult and $460 per child aged 2 to 11 return, or $285 and $230 one way; the 15-minute speedboat that follows is complimentary.
The lounge in Malé
3 guests who wrote between February 2025 and January 2026 describe a resort representative meeting them at the airport in Malé and taking them to a lounge to wait for the domestic flight.
What Havodda is
NH Collection Maldives Havodda has a seashell-shaped island to itself in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, close to the equator: 60 beach villas and 60 over the water, from 77 to 153 m². It used to be Amari Havodda; Minor Hotels reopened it on 14 November 2023 as the first NH Collection resort in the Maldives.
People come for the sea. The reef circles the island, and one guest in November 2025 swam all the way round with hardly any current, among clownfish, turtles and sharks. Of the 79 Google reviews with text written since the reopening, 90% of those discussing staff and services are positive; children have a club and a programme run by marine biologists.
Getting there takes time. Domestic flights run 2 or 3 times a day and the resort books them, and in Malé the wait between flights can run to several hours. On the sunset side the sea has eaten into the beach, leaving sandbags and a walk round the island that no longer works, and outside the all-inclusive plan drinks and most of the minibar are charged separately.
In the Lumina Guide
Lumina Guide 2027
Havodda is an island in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, 400 km south of Malé, with a reef all the way round: you swim out to it from the beach or down your villa’s steps, among turtles, sharks and rays.
Here: the reef goes all the way round the island: a November 2025 guest swam the full circuit with almost no current, among clownfish, turtles and sharks.
265 of the 281 guests who write about the reef are pleased. 17 hotels of 335 hold it.
What do Havodda’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.
Location
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The reef starts a few fin strokes from the beach and runs right round the island: guests write about the clear water, the turtles and the quiet.
Room
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests write about big villas cleaned twice a day, the open-air bathroom and the steps that lead from the water villas down to the reef.
Staff and service
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The host who answers on WhatsApp, the welcome in Malé before the domestic flight and the kids’ club all recur; many guests thank by name the people who looked after them.
Breakfast
Breakfast is the Reef buffet, from 7am to 10am: guests write of a wide choice and of eggs cooked to order.
Price
The all-inclusive plan gives the 3 meals at Reef and unlimited drinks from a set list; outside the plan, drinks and most of the minibar are charged separately.
The numbers, and how we count them
Havodda in numbers
What
Score out of 10
Guests who mention it
Happy
Location
8.6
46
87%
Room
7.9
41
85%
Staff and service
8.5
67
90%
Breakfast
8.0
10
100%
Price
–
15
47%
The scores come from 79 Google reviews with text, left from 15 November 2023 to 18 September 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in the southern Maldives: 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 the southern Maldives:
Price: for two on the night of 5 April 2027, from $490 (seen on Google Hotels on 12 October 2026).
What a night costs, season by season
From 1 November to 22 December 2026 every night shows $551; from 17 January to 28 February 2027 it shows $632, and from 1 March to 5 September 2027 nights run from $490 to $700. I would look at April 2027, where 5 nights in a row show $490.
Period
Dollars a night
13–31 Oct. 2026
463–490
1 Nov.–22 Dec. 2026
551 every night
23 Dec. 2026–9 Jan. 2027
996–997
10–16 Jan. 2027
794–835
17 Jan.–28 Feb. 2027
632 every night
1 Mar.–5 Sep. 2027
490–700
The lowest price any seller showed on Google Hotels for one night searched alone, for 2 adults, read 12 October 2026; no room or meal plan is specified. The calendar stops on 5 September 2027; 30 and 31 December 2026 have no price. Booked as 7 nights from 16 November 2026, the lowest seller Google listed that day asked $471 a night, and the resort’s own listing the same.
Havodda, Ayada or The Residence at Falhumaafushi
Choose Havodda for a reef that runs all the way round the island, 15 minutes by speedboat from Kaadedhdhoo airport. Choose Ayada for the atoll’s other 5-star island, reached the same way, or The Residence at Falhumaafushi for a smaller island 7 minutes by boat from Kooddoo.
The lowest single-night seller price in the week of 16–22 November 2026, for 2 adults, read on Google on 12 October 2026; no room or meal plan is specified.
What to expect
A reef round the island, 3 places to eat between beach and pool, a spa among lotus ponds.
It starts a few steps from the shore, the resort says, and guests swim its length among turtles, octopus, small sharks and eagle rays. You can adopt a coral and follow it in the lagoon nursery, and children have Reef Ranger sessions with the marine biologists.
Reef serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as a buffet under a beach pavilion, with a different theme each night; Surf lights its charcoal grill on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Pizza Kaage bakes pizza by the pool from 12 to 6pm.
In the middle of the island, among palms and lotus ponds: 4 treatment villas, 2 suites with their own gardens, a nail salon and a jacuzzi. It opens from 10am to 8pm, and the multi-day programmes run from $295 to $770.
The main pool sits at the tip of the island, its edge running out to the sea, with Thari Bar, tables in the shallows and afternoon tea. The 2023 opening release mentions an adults’ pool and a family pool.
Good to know before you book
The only way in is a domestic flight from Malé to Kaadedhdhoo and a speedboat. Booking.com puts the return trip at $570 per adult and $460 per child aged 2 to 11; the resort’s contact page gives the same fares, and the official site takes 20% off for direct bookings.
Domestic flights leave 2 or 3 times a day, and the resort books them. In Malé the wait between the international and the domestic flight can run to several hours, and on the way home the domestic flight may leave before dawn. 3 Google reviews between April 2025 and March 2026 write of waits in Malé, of 6 and of 14 hours in 2 cases.
On the sunset side the sea has eroded the beach: 4 Google reviews write of the erosion between October 2023 and February 2026. 2, in September 2025 and February 2026, say the walk round the island along the beach is no longer possible, and the later one describes sandbags along the shore. The official site does not mention it.
Sunrise or sunset. The sunrise side has the reef in front; sunsets are seen from the west-facing villas.
Outside the all-inclusive plan, drinks and most of the minibar are charged separately. Official rates are quoted before taxes, service charge and Green Tax.
By domestic flight from Malé to Kaadedhdhoo, then by speedboat
Domestic flight
Under an hour from Malé to Kaadedhdhoo by the resort’s account, 70 minutes by Booking.com’s, 2 or 3 flights a day
Speedboat
15 minutes from the airport to the resort by the resort’s account, 15 to 20 by Booking.com’s
Fare
$570 per adult and $460 per child aged 2 to 11, return, free under 2, according to Booking.com
Times
Transfers from 6am to 6pm and flight details 96 hours ahead for Booking.com; the official offers ask for 3 days
From the official site’s questions and answers and the terms of its offers, read on 3 October 2026, and from Booking.com’s conditions the same day, with fares that apply from 7 August 2026. The resort’s contact page gives the same fares as Booking.com; direct bookings get 20% off the shared transfer. A private charter for up to 46 passengers costs $15,000, according to Booking.com.
The spa, among palms and lotus ponds in the middle of the island, opens from 10am to 8pm.
12.30pm
Lunch at Reef or pizza
Reef serves lunch until 2.30pm, or you can have a wood-fired pizza at Pizza Kaage, which bakes them from noon to 6pm.
5pm
Drinks at Iru Bar
The beach bar that follows the sunset is open from 5pm to 7pm, with canapés passed round.
7pm
Dinner at Reef or Surf
Dinner is at Reef until 10pm, or at Surf on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
NH Collection Maldives Havodda reviews
The platforms’ ratings, read on 3 and 6 October 2026, and what guests say about the reef, the villas and the journey.
On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.9/5 from 1,108 ratings, 95% of them 5 stars according to Google Hotels on 6 October. The figures by topic come from the 79 reviews with text written since the reopening as NH Collection on 14 November 2023; before that the resort was Amari Havodda. These are accounts of stays we have not checked.
6 stays told on Google between September 2025 and May 2026.
Google
Swimming round the island
In November 2025, on a fourth trip to the Maldives, a guest describes 8 days of snorkelling and diving on the house reef: you can swim round the whole island with almost no current, among turtles, clownfish and sharks. On full board, lunch came from the menu.
In March 2026 a couple on their first Maldives trip chose a sunrise-side villa and found the reef right in front, with sharks, octopus and turtles. On the snorkelling trip they booked they saw dolphins, rays and barracuda, and their host answered every request on WhatsApp.
In March 2026 a family spent a night in a sunset beach pool villa with their baby daughter: a spacious villa, a private pool, plenty of child-friendly food in the restaurant, and a sunset to watch while she played in the sand.
In November 2025 a couple had a flight home from Malé at 8:45pm, but the resort could only find seats on the 4am domestic flight: 14 hours at the airport. Until then, they write, the holiday had gone well.
In September 2025 a guest chose Havodda for its reef, close and easy, and found the beach villas roomy and hidden in greenery, the water villas plain with little shade. The sunset side, he writes, is eroded and currently uninhabitable, and the food is plentiful but samey.
In May 2026 a couple married on the island with more than 50 guests flying in from all over the world on different flights. The resort moved their departure to a flight from another airport, sparing them a 2:30am alarm, and on the reef they saw octopus, sharks and turtles.
The questions people ask before booking Havodda, answered from sources read between 3 and 7 October 2026.
What kind of resort is NH Collection Maldives Havodda?
A 5-star resort, as Google Hotels and Tripadvisor class it, with 120 villas on an island of its own in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, one of the Maldivian islands closest to the equator. Minor Hotels runs it under its NH Collection brand, which opened its first Maldives resort here: the opening release is dated 14 November 2023.
It used to be Amari Havodda, as guests who knew it under both names recall; one in March 2025 wrote that a renovation was planned for 2025, which the official pages read do not announce. In 2024 the Travel Trade Maldives Awards named it best beach resort, according to Minor Hotels, and Booking.com lists its Green Growth 2050 certification.
Which villas are there, and how big are they?
The villas page lists 7 types. On the beach, two 95 m² villas, on the sunrise or the sunset side, and three 121 m² pool villas: one with its plunge pool in a sheltered courtyard, 2 with the pool on the sand. Over the water, the 77 m² villa and the 153 m² pool suite, with a separate living room.
All have a king bed, an open-air bathroom with a tub, indoor and outdoor showers and a Nespresso machine. The resort counts 60 beach and 60 water villas, yet the same villas page also says there are only 60 villas on the island. On 7 October 2026, on Google Hotels, the official site asked 2 adults $490 for the sunrise villa, $531 for the sunset villa, $571 for the water villa, $652 for the courtyard pool villa, $774 for the sunset pool villa and $977 for the suite.
Where is it, and is the island quiet?
In Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, in the south of the Maldives, 400 km south of Malé according to Minor Hotels; Kaadedhdhoo airport is about 12 km away, according to Tripadvisor. The resort is the only thing on the island, and its excursions go to the inhabited islands of Thinadhoo, Hoandedhdhoo and Haodigalaa.
It is quiet: a guest in December 2025 found it peaceful although it is not adults-only, and several reviews from 2025 and 2026 mention little entertainment. Booking.com places the resort in Thinadhoo, which the official site lists instead among the nearby islands to visit by boat.
How do you get there from Malé, and what does the transfer cost?
By domestic flight from Malé to Kaadedhdhoo airport, under an hour according to the resort’s questions and answers, then 15 minutes by speedboat, which the resort sends to the airport if it has your flight details in advance. Booking.com gives a 70-minute flight and 15 to 20 minutes by boat, and from 7 August 2026 charges $570 per adult for the return trip, $460 per child aged 2 to 11 and nothing under 2.
The official site publishes no fare, and the offers page takes 20% off for direct bookings. In Malé a member of staff meets guests and takes them to a lounge for the domestic flights; with 2 or 3 flights a day, the wait can run to several hours. Booking.com asks for flight details 96 hours ahead and gives transfer times from 6am to 6pm, while the official offers ask for 3 days.
Can you drive there or park?
No: the resort is an island with no roads, reached only by the domestic flight and the speedboat. The Google Hotels listing names «Parking» among its amenities, but no source describes any; on the island you walk or call a buggy, guests say.
How do you get into the sea?
From the beach, which every land villa opens onto, and down the steps of the water villas into the lagoon, according to the villas page. In 2024 the Travel Trade Maldives Awards recognised the resort for its white sand and good swimming, Minor Hotels writes.
The beach is not the same everywhere, though: on the sunset side erosion has brought sandbags and cut the walk round the island, 2 guests reported, in September 2025 and February 2026.
Is there a house reef you can swim to?
Yes, and it rings the island: the house reef page puts it a few steps from the shore, with coral gardens and schools of tropical fish, for beginners and experienced snorkellers alike. The resort lets guests adopt a coral and grows it in the lagoon nursery, and the 2023 release counts 30 dive sites.
Guests name it as the reason to come: from a water villa the reef is a 2-minute swim, one guest wrote in November 2023, and one in December 2025 watched eagle rays cruise past the beach. Mask and fins come with the most complete all-inclusive offer, and Google Hotels lists them among the free extras.
What pools are there?
The main pool sits at the tip of the island, with an infinity edge towards the sea in the official photographs, Thari Bar and its tables in the shallows, and Pizza Kaage’s pizzas served poolside. The 2023 opening release mentions an adults’ pool and a family pool, Booking.com and a guest in April 2026 a children’s pool.
Private pools come with 4 of the 7 villa types: the three 121 m² beach villas and the 153 m² water suite. The resort does not publish their size.
Is the pool heated, and when is it open?
The resort publishes neither the hours nor the temperature of the main pool, and no source read mentions heating. Thari Bar, beside it, is open from 10am to midnight, according to the bar’s page; the villa pools have no hours.
Where do you eat, and until when?
According to the restaurants page: Reef, an international buffet under a beach pavilion, with breakfast from 7 to 10am, lunch from 12:30 to 2:30pm and dinner from 6:30 to 10pm; Surf, the meat and seafood grill, on Tuesdays and Saturdays only, from 7 to 10pm; and Pizza Kaage by the pool, with pizzas from noon to 6pm and the menu until 10pm.
Thari Bar runs from 10am to midnight, Iru Bar on the beach from 5 to 7pm, and in-villa dining round the clock. Booking.com describes Reef as Asian, the resort as international, and none of the outlets listed is underwater. Guests describe a different theme each night.
What meal plans are there, and what do they include?
The resort sells breakfast, half board, full board and all-inclusive. The all-inclusive plan covers breakfast, lunch and dinner at Reef, a lunch credit of $30 per adult and $15 per child at Pizza Kaage, a dinner credit of $40 and $20 at Surf, and unlimited alcoholic and soft drinks from a set menu.
The fullest version adds a sunset cruise, a guided reef outing and snorkelling gear, with a 4-night minimum. The terms of the 10.10 offer exclude meal plans from 24 December to 8 January. Booking.com presents the resort as all-inclusive for everyone, and Google Hotels says meals and drinks are free: that holds only on that plan.
What is the spa like?
It sits in the middle of the island among palms, lotus ponds and sand underfoot, with 4 treatment villas, 2 suites with their own gardens, a nail salon, a beauty salon and a covered garden, according to the spa page. The resort gives no floor area.
No official source mentions a sauna or steam room; the official gallery shows a hot tub, and the opening release a jacuzzi. There is also early yoga in a clearing on the island, Ayurveda programmes with a consultation, and the gym.
Is the spa included, does it cost extra, and can non-residents use it?
Treatments are paid for, and the spa page books them on request, with no price list. Direct bookings of the simpler villas come with a $50 spa credit; the half-board and family offers give a second treatment free, and the romance offer a 60-minute couples’ massage. No page publishes a day pass for non-residents, and the island is reached only by plane and speedboat.
What are the spa’s hours?
From 10am to 8pm, according to the spa page, which gives a phone number and an email address for bookings. Yoga is early in the morning. The resort does not say how far ahead to book treatments.
Which treatments does it offer, and at what prices?
The spa page has 2 signature treatments, the Maldivian Delight, a coconut scrub and a 60-minute massage with virgin coconut oil, and a massage with warm bamboo sticks. Then jade stones, abhyanga, a Thai herbal compress, deep tissue, foot reflexology, an Ayurvedic massage with shirodhara and a couples’ ritual with a milk and coconut bath.
It prices only the multi-day programmes, each with a consultation and 3 to 5 treatments: $295 for the 3-day wellness and Ayurveda ones, $520 for those of 5 days and $770 for the 7-day one.
Is it good for children?
Yes: the resort says every villa sleeps a family of 4, and the island has a kids’ club, with painting, weaving and Maldivian tales, babysitting, and Reef Ranger, a programme on the reef run by the marine biologists. The resort gives no ages for the club, which families in 2025 and 2026 praise.
According to Booking.com children of all ages are welcome, from 12 they pay as adults, a cot up to 2 is free and an extra bed from 12 costs $134 a night; meals are free under 12, for 2 children at most, on their parents’ plan. Google Hotels says instead that children from 7 are welcome in «select villas», and the water villa pages mention only 3 adults. The family offer, from 6 nights, gives free stays and meals under 12.
What is there on the island besides the villas?
According to the official site: 3 restaurants and 2 bars, the main pool, a gym, a court for tennis, five-a-side and basketball, the kids’ club, the dive centre and water sports centre, the spa and a boutique. Google Hotels adds a clinic, Booking.com a herb garden.
Boat trips go out to see dolphins, to the inhabited islands nearby, sailing at sunset or to a sandbank for a picnic, and the water sports centre has see-through kayaks. In the evening, say guests and the 2023 release, there is cinema on the beach, Maldivian nights with bodu beru drums and cooking classes. Wi-Fi is free, and scores 10 out of 10 on Booking.com.
What offers are there?
The offers page, read on 3 October 2026, listed 8: the 10.10 offer, to be booked between 6 and 12 October 2026 for stays by 31 March 2027, with up to 20% off, 3 meals and drinks; the stay-longer offer, from 3 nights, up to 35% off; 2 all-inclusive offers; half board with a second spa treatment free; the romance and family offers; and the festive season.
The starting prices are per villa per night, before taxes, service charge and Green Tax: $420 for the 10.10 offer, $443 for the stay-longer offer, $573 for all-inclusive and $630 for half board. Booked direct, the pool villas get a $100 credit and a sunset cruise, and the suite a floating breakfast, private yoga and a $200 credit.
Can you get married at NH Collection Maldives Havodda?
Yes: the weddings page offers a ceremony on the beach under an arch of fronds, sunset cocktails and a banquet by the pool, with a dedicated events team. It publishes no prices or capacities.
2 couples in 2026 describe their wedding on the island on Google, one with more than 50 guests on different flights, and another a proposal in February 2025; the resort, they write, arranged the ceremony, the dinner and the domestic flights.
Is there a New Year’s Eve dinner?
Yes. The festive programme has a gala buffet at Reef on 31 December 2026 from 7pm until late, with live cooking stations, seafood, grills and desserts, music and a countdown under the stars; a Christmas Eve dinner on 24 December from 7 to 10pm; and a brunch on 1 January from 7am to 2:30pm.
The season opens with the tree lighting on 6 December. The page does not price the dinners or say whether they are compulsory, and points to a brochure. On Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, 30 and 31 December had no price.
Can you play golf?
No: no official page mentions golf. For sport there are the tennis, five-a-side and basketball court, the gym, the dive centre and water sports, and according to the activities page there are good surf waves nearby.
When is it open, and when is the best season?
All year: the resort sells its all-inclusive plan «all year round» and announces no closures. On Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, 115 of the 117 nights from 7 October 2026 to 31 January 2027 had a price; 30 and 31 December did not, which does not mean the resort was closed.
The resort names no best season. Near the equator, the opening release says, there are almost 12 hours of daylight all year; a guest in December 2025 had sunshine when the forecasts were uncertain, and one in March 2025 had heavy rain in the dry season.
How much does a night cost?
Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, for 2 adults and one night, taxes and fees included: $490 on 7 October 2026, $551 on 10 November, $551 on 15 December, $997 on 24 December, $794 on 11 January 2027 and $632 on 20 January 2027.
The calendar moves in steps: $490 for most of October, $551 from 1 November to 22 December, $997 from 23 December to 9 January, then $794 and, from 17 January, $632. It shows the lowest price without naming the villa or the meal plan; for 7 October the official site asked $490 for the sunrise villa, as did Vio.com and goseek.com. The domestic flight and speedboat are extra.
What do the reviews say?
On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.9/5 from 1,108 ratings, Tripadvisor 4.9/5 from 4,011, with a Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best award, and Booking.com 8.8/10 from 23, with cleanliness at 9.9, staff at 9.5 and value for money at 9.
The 79 Google reviews with text written since the reopening average 4.7 stars: 90% of those discussing staff and services and 87% of those discussing the location are positive; guests satisfied with the value find the all-inclusive plan good value. The praise goes to the reef a few fin strokes from the beach, the host who answers on WhatsApp, the welcome in Malé and the kids’ club. The waits between domestic flights and the erosion on the sunset side also recur in the reviews; outside the all-inclusive plan drinks are charged separately.
What taxes and charges are added?
The official site’s rates and offers are quoted before taxes, service charge and Green Tax, as the terms of every offer say; Google Hotels’ prices for the Maldives include them. For 7 October 2026 the official site’s link on the Google card carried a total of $490.22, of which $127.97 was taxes and fees.
The domestic flight and speedboat, drinks outside the all-inclusive plan, the minibar, the spa, diving and excursions are all extra; one guest in April 2026 paid $85 for a photo shoot with 10 pictures. The resort publishes neither the tax rate nor the Green Tax amount.
What are the check-in and check-out times?
Check-in from 2pm and check-out by noon, according to the official site. On arrival you show an ID and the credit card used to book, and you let the resort know your arrival time beforehand, Booking.com says; the time you leave depends on the domestic flight the resort manages to book.
Reef at the doorHeld by a resort whose reef you can swim to from the beach and which, among such resorts, is in the top 15% for what guests write about it: at least 30 of them must mention it.17 hotels of 335 hold it.