Riu Atoll, 264 rooms and a 24-hour all-inclusive, on Maafushi island in Dhaalu Atoll, a 45-minute flight and a 15-minute boat ride from Malé
Riu Atoll suits families and couples who want the Maldives all-inclusive, with a reef 10 metres off the beach and music every night: on the resort’s own booking engine, read on 7 October 2026, a Double Standard for 2 on the 24-hour all-inclusive came to $459 a night on a 3-night stay from 10 November 2026. Anyone after a villa with its own pool should look elsewhere.
Official websiteWould you go?
Keep it among your hotels and see it on the budget globe, month by month.
RIU, the Spanish chain, came to the Maldives in May 2019 with 2 hotels on neighbouring islands in Dhaalu Atoll, joined by an 800-metre walkway over the water: the 5-star Riu Palace Maldivas on Kedhigandu and, on Maafushi, the 4-star Riu Atoll. Its 264 rooms sit in white blocks among the palms, with a balcony or a patio on the sand, plus a line of suites on stilts along the jetty.
You come for the sea on the doorstep and a bill that never grows: 3 restaurants, 3 bars including a sports bar open round the clock, kayaks, pedal boats and snorkelling gear all included. Guests put the house reef 10 metres off the beach, with turtles, rays and small sharks. Of the latest 500 Google reviews with text, 86% of those discussing the location are positive, and 88% of those discussing the staff.
Anyone after a villa with its own pool should look elsewhere: the largest room is 41 m², the island is long with no buggies, and the evenings are for dancing. Riu Atoll guests wear a different wristband from the Palace’s and cannot cross freely to the other side, guests between 2022 and 2026 report.
Lumina Guide 2027
Riu Atoll brings a 24-hour all-inclusive to the Maldives: 264 rooms on an island ringed by beach, with the reef 10 metres off the shore, a buffet, 2 à la carte restaurants and music every night.
How we choose the hotelsWhat we found reading the hotel’s own pages, one thing at a time.
A Dhaalu Atoll island ringed by beach, with the reef off the shore, an hour from Malé.
A 264-room RIU resort with shows, DJs and an entertainment team every night.
31 to 41 m², modern and clean, with a balcony or patio; no private pools.
A buffet and 2 à la carte restaurants, no booking needed, all in the all-inclusive.
The Renova Spa for massages and hairdressing, and a sea-view gym from 18.
Official site: $432 to $705 a night for 2, all-inclusive, taxes included.
What do Riu Atoll’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 the white beach all the way round the island, the reef a few metres off the shore, with turtles and small sharks, and the sandbank at the tip.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests write about rooms cleaned every day, a minibar kept stocked and, in the beach rooms, a patio that opens on to the sand.
9 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. The reviews keep returning to the waiters, the bartenders and the room attendants, remembered one by one by name.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Breakfast is the buffet at Dhoni, from 7 to 10.30am, with plenty of fruit and hot dishes.
5 in 10 guests who mention the price find it fair. The all-inclusive takes in buffet and à la carte meals, drinks at any hour, the minibar, mask and fins, kayaks and pedalos; the spa, diving, motorised sports and excursions are outside it.
| What | Score out of 10 | Guests who mention it | Happy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 8.7 | 209 | 86% |
| Room | 7.8 | 181 | 85% |
| Staff and service | 8.6 | 382 | 88% |
| Breakfast | 7.2 | 24 | 75% |
| Price | – | 44 | 52% |
The scores come from 500 Google reviews with text, left from 19 December 2023 to 2 October 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in Dhaalu 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 Dhaalu Atoll:
Price: for two on the night of 8 December 2026, from $432 (seen on Google Hotels on 7 October 2026).
The Beef Steak House at night, spa pavilions in the open air and a lagoon made for a mask and snorkel.
Dhoni, the buffet restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with live cooking and 2 themed nights a week; Sofia is the à la carte Italian, dinner only, 6.30 to 9.30pm; the Beef Steak House grills the meat. Dinner asks for smart dress.
The resort describes the Renova Spa’s massages, facials, hairdressing and beauty treatments, beside a gym that looks out over the sea. Treatments sit outside the all-inclusive.
Mask and fins are included, and guests describe a reef very close to the shore, with turtles, eagle rays and blacktip sharks. Kayaks, paddleboards, pedal boats and a try-dive in the pool are part of the all-inclusive.
Spa treatments, diving, motorised sports and excursions are outside the all-inclusive. Source: riu.com
The transfer is extra. By domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo and boat, from 1 November to 30 April, Expedia gives $395 a person per stay; the seaplane costs $816 an adult and $450 a child until 31 October 2027, according to the resort’s notes on Booking.com.
The rooms are hotel rooms: 31 m² on the beach or with a balcony, 37 and 41 m² for the suites on the water, none with a pool. Beds are a 2-metre king or two 125 cm doubles, and there are no extra beds.
The island is long and there are no buggies: from the far blocks, guests in 2026 say, it is a walk of about 10 minutes to the centre, and the same goes for the overwater suites.
The walkway leads to the Riu Palace Maldivas, but on a different wristband: Palace guests may use Riu Atoll as well, while those staying at Riu Atoll, guests between 2022 and 2026 report, cannot cross freely to the other side.
RIU’s own site sells with taxes included and the local tax of $12 a person a night on top. Booking.com shows lower prices because it also leaves out the 17% GST.
Between November 2023 and September 2026, 16 Google reviews describe damp rooms: the air conditioning has to stay on so that clothes and bedding do not turn damp, and 3 say the hotel brings a dehumidifier on request.
By domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo and then by boat, or by seaplane from Malé
| Flight and boat | 45 minutes’ flight from Malé to Kudahuvadhoo, then 15 minutes by dhoni to reception; RIU staff meet guests at both airports |
|---|---|
| Seaplane | 50 to 60 minutes according to RIU’s blog, 60 with a stop at another resort according to the notes on Booking.com; daylight only |
| Prices | Flight and boat $395 a person; seaplane $816 an adult and $450 a child aged 2 to 11 from 1 November 2026; free under 2 |
| Timing | For the seaplane the international flight must land in Malé by 3pm; flight details go to the resort 10 days ahead |
From RIU’s official blog of 4 August 2026, the resort’s notes on Booking.com and the conditions on Expedia, read on 3 and 7 October 2026. The domestic flight is free for stays of 4 nights or more between 1 May and 31 October, in 2026 and 2027.
Riu Atoll · Dhaalu Atoll
Loading map…
Recommended for you
The buffet restaurant serves breakfast from 7am to 10.30am.
Mask and fins are included, and kayaks, paddleboards and pedal boats are part of the all-inclusive.
Lunch runs from 1pm to 3pm; the Sunshine swim-up bar in the pool is for adults only.
Boduberu is the sunset bar, open until midnight.
Sofia, the à la carte Italian, serves dinner from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, with smart dress asked for.
In the evening there are shows, live music and DJs, and the sports bar stays open all night.
The platforms’ scores, read on 3 and 6 October 2026, and what guests say about the reef, the rooms and the bill.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 1,911 ratings, 85% of them 5 stars. The figures by theme come from the latest 500 reviews with text, from December 2023 to October 2026, in many languages. They are accounts of stays we have not checked.
6 stays told on Google between May 2025 and September 2026.
GoogleIn August 2026 a couple in a beach room snorkelled just outside their door: spotted eagle rays, reef sharks and big turtles, day after day.
GoogleIn September 2026 a family spent the week on the beach and the reef, hardly using the pool, and remember the rays, the turtles and a room cleaned every day.
GoogleIn May 2025 a newly married couple found the reef 10 metres from the shore, free snorkelling every day and an all-inclusive that never made them think about money.
GoogleIn April 2026 a German couple loved the island and the reef but found the Palace rule hard to follow: one visit a day, at 10am, escorted.
GoogleIn January 2026 a guest enjoyed the weather and the water, with one complaint: a 10-minute walk between the far blocks and the centre, with no transport.
GoogleIn January 2026, on a second stay, a guest found the rooms quiet and the air conditioning cold, and the à la carte restaurants first come, first served, with no more booking through the app.
What people ask before booking Riu Atoll, answered from sources read between 3 and 7 October 2026.
A 4-star resort of RIU Hotels & Resorts, the Spanish chain, opened in May 2019 on Maafushi island in Dhaalu Atoll, together with the 5-star Riu Palace Maldivas on the island next door. The official page counts 264 rooms and pitches it at families, with a 24-hour all-inclusive.
The same page speaks of overwater villas and luxury villas; the room catalogue lists 4 types of 31 to 41 m², 2 on the island and 2 over the water. The pages read announce no refurbishment since it opened.
4 types, according to the rooms page: the 31 m² Double Standard with a sea-view balcony, the 31 m² room with a patio on the beach, the 37 m² Junior Suite over the water and the 41 m² Superior, with a bath. Each has a 200 cm king or two 125 cm beds, a sofa, a minibar and air conditioning.
None has a private pool, and the resort adds no beds; a room takes at most 3 adults or 4 people in all. For nights from 8 December 2026 RIU’s engine sold the overwater Junior Suite at $692 a night for 2. The site does not say how many rooms there are of each type. Booking.com calls them Double Room Sea View, Beach Room and Overwater Junior Suite.
On the private island of Maafushi in Dhaalu Atoll, joined to Kedhigandu, the Riu Palace Maldivas island, by an 800-metre walkway over the water, according to RIU’s blog. Kudahuvadhoo airport is 15 minutes away by boat.
By day the beach is calm; in the evening there are shows, live music and DJs, and the sports bar stays open all night. The island is long and has no buggies: from the far rooms it is a walk of about 10 minutes to the restaurants.
2 ways, according to RIU’s official blog of 4 August 2026: a 45-minute domestic flight to Kudahuvadhoo, then 15 minutes by dhoni to reception, or a direct seaplane of 50 to 60 minutes. The same blog names Maldivian Airlines in its text and Manta Airlines in its questions; Expedia says Manta Air.
The prices are in the resort’s notes on Booking.com: flight and boat $395 an adult from 12 and $352 a child until 31 October 2026; seaplane $816 and $450 from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027. For the winter Expedia gives $395 a person for the flight and boat. It is paid on the island, and the seaplane flies in daylight only.
No: Maafushi is an island, reached only by plane and boat or by seaplane, with no roads or car parks. The official page mentions parking at the point of departure, and Tripadvisor lists parking: there is none on the island.
From the beach that runs round the island: the ground-floor rooms have a patio straight onto the sand, and the overwater suites have steps from the deck into the sea, according to the rooms page. At the tip of the island there is a sandbank.
Guests describe a gentle slope and shallow water: at low tide, a couple wrote in February 2025, you can wade a long way out waist-deep. The beach loungers are free.
Yes. The official page recommends the house reefs for snorkelling and includes mask and fins in the all-inclusive. Guests put it 10 metres from the shore, in 2025, or a minute’s walk from the beach rooms, in December 2025.
They describe turtles, rays, eagle rays, moray eels and small blacktip sharks close to the shore. There are no toilets near the reef, and dives with the PADI centre are extra.
2, according to the official page: a large outdoor pool by the sea, with in-water loungers and the Sunshine swim-up bar, and a children’s pool. The Sunshine bar is for adults only.
The pools page also mentions shallow pools and slides for the youngest, in the RIU Land area; Booking.com and Google count 2 pools.
The official pages read give neither the water temperature nor the pool hours, and say nothing about heating. The Sunshine bar works by day, according to the bars page, and guests describe aqua aerobics and pool games in the afternoon.
According to the restaurants page: Dhoni, the buffet, with breakfast from 7 to 10.30am, lunch from 1 to 3pm and dinner from 6.30 to 10pm; Sofia, the à la carte Italian, dinner from 6.30 to 9.30pm; the Beef Steak House, a grill, for dinner. Smart dress is asked for at dinner.
There are 3 bars: Boduberu for sunset, open until midnight, the sports bar open 24 hours and the Sunshine bar in the pool. In 2026 guests write that the 2 à la carte restaurants take no bookings: tables go to whoever arrives first, so it pays to turn up at opening time.
Only the 24-hour all-inclusive: RIU’s booking engine, read on 7 October 2026, sells every room on that plan and no other. It covers buffet and à la carte meals, snacks and drinks at any hour, a minibar restocked daily, mask and fins, kayaks, paddleboards and pedal boats, the RIU Fit programme and the gym, according to the official page and Expedia.
Transfers, the local tax, excursions, motorised sports, diving and spa treatments are extra. In 2025 a Polish guest wrote that local spirits are included and imported ones cost extra, at fair prices.
The Renova Spa, says the official page, offers massages, facials, hairdressing and beauty treatments. The site gives neither its size nor its zones; Booking.com lists a sauna, a steam room and a hammam, Google Hotels and Expedia a sauna.
In 2026 a guest wrote that the gym is in the spa building. The gym is open only to over-18s, in trainers.
Treatments are paid for. The Booking.com rates read on 7 October 2026 promise spa access and a $460 credit a room, $200 of it on treatments, for stays of 3 nights or more until 23 December 2026; Expedia offers $230 a person.
No page publishes a day pass for anyone not staying, and no day pass appears among the services listed; the island is reached only by plane and boat.
The official pages do not publish them. In 2023 a German guest booked the spa and sports through the RIU app; in 2026 a guest wrote that the app no longer takes restaurant bookings. The resort keeps the gym for over-18s.
Relaxing massages, facials, hairdressing and beauty treatments, according to the official page, which publishes no price list. 2 Italian guests, in 2025 and in January 2026, give the price: a 60-minute massage costs more than $100 a person. In 2023 a couple recommended the couples’ massage.
Yes, the resort presents itself as a family hotel. RIU Land, the children’s club, has its own pool, a playground and a programme of activities; Expedia gives ages 4 to 12, and a family in 2025 left their 11-month-old there. Tripadvisor lists babysitting.
Cots are free up to 2 according to Booking.com and not available according to Expedia; there are no extra beds. From 13 children pay as adults, for Booking.com, and for the transfer from 12. The gym and the Sunshine bar are for adults; the rest of the resort welcomes children of any age.
According to the official page: 3 restaurants, 3 bars, 2 pools, the Renova Spa with a hair salon, a sea-view gym, RIU Land, the water sports centre, a shop, a medical service and a 24-hour reception. Wi-Fi is free everywhere, the beach included.
There is daytime entertainment for adults and shows and DJs at night. Jet skis are extra, according to Google, and so are excursions; parasailing is run by an outside company.
RIU’s booking engine, on 7 October 2026, showed November and December prices 14 to 20% below the list rate, and a non-refundable rate cheaper than the one with free cancellation. RIU Class members have their own rate.
With free cancellation, the nights from 10 November cost $490 instead of $459. Booking.com sold the same weeks with a 30% Late Escape Deal and the $460 credit, until 23 December 2026. The domestic flight is free from 4 nights between May and October.
Yes, with a symbolic ceremony: RIU’s blog describes a wedding planner, the bride made ready at the spa, photographs around the resort and a ceremony at sunset, at 5.30pm, at both Maldives hotels. The site publishes no prices, capacity or packages for Riu Atoll.
A couple held their wedding and honeymoon here in May 2026 and thank the staff in their Google review.
The official pages read publish neither a programme nor a price, and for 24 to 29 December 2026 neither RIU’s engine nor Booking.com adds a supplement for a gala dinner. The engine asks for 5 nights at least over the holidays.
Guests describe special evenings at Christmas and New Year, in December 2022 and over the 2025 holidays; one who stayed over 2024–25 remembers the lobster and sashimi at the 31 December dinner.
No. Google Hotels lists golf among its amenities, but the official pages never mention it: the island has the beach, the pools, the gym and the water sports of the resort’s page.
The resort is open all year according to the official page, which announces no closures. On 7 October 2026, though, RIU’s engine and Booking.com sold no rooms for the October nights read, while Google Hotels, on 6 October, priced 8 October nights at $2,116, taxes and fees included; reviews run to 3 October 2026.
For the resort the dry season runs from December to April, with the clearest skies and the calmest sea.
On RIU’s site, read on 7 October 2026, for 2 adults in a Double Standard on the all-inclusive, taxes included and the local tax extra: $459 a night for 3 nights from 10 November 2026, $459 from 24 November, $432 from 8 December, $705 a night for 5 nights from 24 December and $516 from 12 January 2027, at the non-refundable rate.
Booking.com sells the same room at $393 in November and $369 in December, before the 17% GST: with the tax it is the same price as the site. In October no rooms were on sale.
On 6 October 2026 Google showed 4.7/5 from 1,911 ratings; on 3 October Tripadvisor gave 4.7/5 from 1,840, with a Travellers’ Choice 2026, Booking.com 9.0/10 from 248, comfort at 9.5 and Wi-Fi at 7.5, and Expedia 9.4/10 from 166.
In the latest 500 Google reviews with text, 86% of those discussing the location are positive and 85% of those discussing the rooms. The reef, the beach and the staff come back again and again, with waiters, bartenders and room attendants named one by one. Guests like the all-inclusive and also mention the prices of the spa, excursions and masks on sale. The island is long with no buggies, so there is walking from the far rooms, and the à la carte restaurants take no bookings.
RIU’s engine sells with taxes included and adds only the local tax of $12 a person a night, which Expedia says does not apply under 2. Booking.com includes the 10% service charge but leaves out the 17% GST and the $12 tax.
The transfer is extra. Expedia puts it straight into its total: $2,240 for the 3 nights from 10 November, with the flight, the boat and the local tax. Late check-out is charged.
Check-in from 3pm and check-out by noon, according to the official page; Booking.com adds that check-in closes at 11.30pm. Expedia asks for the person checking in to be 18 and charges for late check-out; the resort offers online check-in.
52 private-pool villas in Club Med’s Exclusive Collection, all-inclusive, 30 minutes by boat from Malé
60 beach bungalows and 8 over the water on a North Ari island, with a reef all round and an Italian all-inclusive plan
176 all-inclusive suites on Kedhigandu, in Dhaalu Atoll, joined to Riu Atoll by a walkway
100 all-inclusive villas on a small South Ari island beside the whale sharks, 30 minutes by seaplane; reopening 1 March 2027
102 bungalows and 16 water villas on a green island open since 1979, with the reef off the beach, 20 minutes by speedboat from Malé
112 timber villas on the beach and over the water of a green Meemu Atoll island, all inclusive, 35 minutes by seaplane from Malé
87 beach and water bungalows on a small North Malé Atoll island, 20 minutes by speedboat from the airport, with half board included
All-inclusive for every guest, with 4 à la carte restaurants and a kids’ club, on Maamigili island, 45 minutes by seaplane from Malé
96 beach bungalows and 34 over the water on a Vaavu island sold in Italy as a Bravo village, with an infinity pool over the sea
A 3-hectare island with 34 water bungalows, nurse sharks off the beach and Francorosso’s Italian all-inclusive plan
Water villas of more than 500 m², each with a pool, a slide into the lagoon and an opening roof over the bed; the reef is a boat ride away.
A 20-hectare island with 47 villas, all with a pool, a golf academy, a snow room and the Maldives’ largest private wine cellar.
This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
