Summer Island Maldives is a barefoot island on Ziyaaraifushi, in North Malé Atoll, 45 minutes by speedboat from the airport, with 156 rooms from the garden to the lagoon
A week here, month by monthSummer Island suits a barefoot week on a small island, with fish around the jetty and nights from $240 for 2 from May 2027, the lowest price any seller showed on Google for one night. Parents wanting to sleep over the water with their children will be happier elsewhere: the Water Villas do not take children.
Official site All-inclusive: termsDoes it suit you?
5 pairs of hotels, and the guide tells you whether this one suits you.
I would ask for a Premium Beach Villa: 45 m² on the beach, with a private stretch of sand past the patio, a Jacuzzi bath and meals at the overwater Hiya. 2 returning guests chose it for a later stay.
From May to July 2027 many nights show $240 for 2, such as 8–26 May: the lowest price any seller showed on Google for one night, read 12 October 2026. The dearest week, 25–31 December 2026, shows $445 to $1,261 a night.
The return transfer is mandatory and paid on top: by speedboat $198 per adult and $99 per child from 1 November 2026. By seaplane it is $470 per adult and $282 per child, the resort’s own fares.
All-inclusive guests have afternoon tea, with coffee and tea, at Nevi bar, the open-air beach bar facing the sunset side of the island, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
Summer Island calls itself a barefoot island, and guests take it at its word: one, in July 2025, found sand underfoot at reception and in the Nevi bar and went shoeless to dinner; another, a year later, advises leaving the shoes at home. It is small: a lap of the beach takes 15 to 45 minutes, according to 6 guests. The sea is the entertainment. Off the jetty lies an artificial reef, which the resort presents as the largest 3D-printed reef, and the jetty is where 8 guests between May 2024 and September 2026 tell of sharks, in the afternoon by 2 accounts. Coral is another matter: 5 reviews between August 2025 and August 2026 describe it as largely broken or bleached. Ashore there is one pool, a spa over the water, badminton and table tennis, and, guests say, live music at the bar on some evenings. Choose the room with care, because the restaurant goes with it, and, for guests on all-inclusive, so does access to included drinks at Avi.
Lumina Guide 2027
Summer Island is an island for the beach and snorkelling about 45 minutes by speedboat from the airport, with 7 room categories, from the garden to the water villas.
How we choose the hotelsAmong the hotel’s regulars, 3 were welcomed back like familiar faces: a decoration on the bed, a member of staff who knew them from the year before, a greeting as if they had never been away. One guest, writing in August 2024, first came when the island had 3 stars, no pool and no television in the room, and found it renovated, with a pool, on a later stay. A guest writing in September 2025, on a fourth stay, takes a Premium Beach Bungalow every year.
Counted among all 1,014 reviews with text; the 14 were written between July 2020 and August 2026.
What we found reading the hotel’s own pages, one thing at a time.
A North Malé Atoll island, around 45 minutes by speedboat; snorkelling trips reach other reefs by boat.
Rooms and bungalows among greenery and beach, with a straightforward setting and marine activities.
7 categories: Water Villas for 2 adults with Jacuzzi baths; the private pool belongs to Summer House.
Samuga buffet and Hiya meals are assigned by room category; all-inclusive drinks and services are selected.
An overwater spa with 5 treatment rooms, steam and ice rooms; current prices and stand-alone access are unverified.
On Google, US$313 a night for 2 for 16–19 November 2026; the mandatory speedboat transfer is charged separately.
What do Summer Island’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. A compact island you can walk round: guests write of the beaches, the colours of the lagoon and the turtles, rays and small reef sharks seen swimming off the jetty or in front of the villas.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Rooms cleaned every day, often twice, and a few steps from the sea: guests on the beach write of the sand in front of the verandah, those in the Water Villas of the lagoon below the deck.
8 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Guests thank by name the waiters at Samuga, the bar staff at Nevi and the housekeepers, who come as often as twice a day.
6 in 10 guests who mention it are happy with it. Breakfast is at Samuga or Hiya, depending on the room: guests remember the eggs and omelettes cooked to order, the pancakes and the fresh fruit.
The all-inclusive covers 3 meals, a selection of drinks and one snorkelling trip a day; when guests write about the bill, they describe where it stops.
| What | Score out of 10 | Guests who mention it | Happy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | 8.7 | 289 | 90% |
| Room | 7.8 | 223 | 84% |
| Staff and service | 8.1 | 432 | 81% |
| Breakfast | 6.5 | 50 | 64% |
| Price | – | 136 | 35% |
The scores come from 500 Google reviews with text, left from 4 April 2023 to 28 September 2026. The other hotels are the ones weighed for a stay in the Maldives: for each we read its latest 500 Google reviews with text, or all of them where there are fewer, as of 5 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 Maldives:
Price: for two on the night of 1 May 2027, from $240 (seen on Google Hotels on 12 October 2026).
On Google a night for 2 costs from $240 between 1 May and 7 September 2027 and $305 to $537 from 16 January to 30 April, while 25 December 2026 to 15 January shows $305 to $823. I would pick dates from May to July 2027, when runs of a week or more show $240 a night.
| Period | Dollars a night |
|---|---|
| 13 Oct.–24 Dec. 2026 | 171–803 |
| 25 Dec. 2026–15 Jan. 2027 | 305–823 |
| 16 Jan.–30 Apr. 2027 | 305–537 |
| 1 May–7 Sep. 2027 | 240–333 |
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 7 September 2027; 1 January to 6 January 2027 has no price. Booked as 7 nights from 16 November 2026, the lowest seller Google listed that day asked $297 a night; the resort’s own listing, $464.
Choose Summer Island for a water villa; choose Eri, also 45 minutes by speedboat, to be close to the northern dive sites. Choose Thulhagiri if the transfer matters most: 20 minutes by speedboat from the airport, against 45 minutes here.
| Hotel | A night, from | Speedboat, return, per adult |
|---|---|---|
| Summer Island | $323 | $198 |
| Eri | $386 | $185 |
| Thulhagiri | $446 | $150 |
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. The speedboat fare is each resort’s own, per adult, return: from 1 November 2026 at Summer Island and Eri, on the hotel policy page at Thulhagiri.
Five scenes from films published between 2016 and 2025. Getting Stamped filmed a trip hosted by the tourism board; all the footage shows past moments without establishing current prices or included activities.
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Garden Rooms and the 3 Superior categories eat at Samuga, a buffet; Water Villas and Premium Beach Villas at Hiya, built over the water, part buffet and part menu. The fact sheet names no restaurant for The Summer House.
Avi is the à la carte restaurant and lounge over the water, priced separately: tuna tartare of local yellowfin, grilled reef fish, surf and turf, served 11am to 3pm and 7 to 9.30pm.
Nevi, “the local name for the captain of the ship”, is the beach bar on the sunset side, open to the air, with a snack menu of pizzas, sandwiches, burgers and ice cream.
Drinks outside the all-inclusive selection are charged, and the daily snorkelling trip does not include the equipment, which is hired. Source: summerislandmaldives.com
There are mosquitoes on the island: several guests between 2023 and 2026 advise bringing repellent. Source: 500 Google reviews read, 4 April 2023 to 28 September 2026
The transfer is compulsory and charged separately: by speedboat, return, $195 per adult and $97.50 per child until 31 October 2026, then $198 and $99; by seaplane $470 and $282. These are the resort’s own fares, read on 5 October 2026. The last boat leaves the island at about 3pm, 3 guests wrote between May 2024 and December 2025, so an evening flight means hours at the airport. In 2026, 5 Google reviews describe waits at the airport for the speedboat: 1 to 3 hours on arrival, 4 to 6 before the flight home.
The room decides your access to the sea: ground floor, first floor and garden change how you reach the sand, Water Villas take 2 adults only and have a Jacuzzi; the private pool belongs to Summer House alone. The sunbeds on the sand are numbered by room, 6 guests wrote between December 2024 and November 2025: one adds that a room on a stretch of sharp shell leaves you with your sunbeds there, another that the numbers are mostly ignored.
From Velana to the island, by speedboat or seaplane
| Distance from the airport | 35 km, by the resort’s fact sheet |
|---|---|
| Speedboat | Around 45 minutes. 2 reviews, dated February and August 2026, name airport counter A10; the August guest says they were met there. |
| Speedboat, return, until 31 October 2026 | US$195 an adult; US$97.50 a child |
| Speedboat from 1 November 2026 | US$198 an adult; US$99 a child, return |
| Seaplane | Around 15 minutes; US$470 an adult, US$282 a child, return |
Fares from the resort’s own page, read on 5 October 2026. The boat’s time is fixed only the day before, as far as one guest could tell in September 2026: the resort sent word to the hotel where they had spent the night before, and on the last evening a note with the hour of departure was slipped under the door.
Ziyaaraifushi · North Malé Atoll
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Nevi starts pouring all-inclusive drinks at 9am and keeps going until midnight.
All-inclusive guests get one snorkelling trip a day; the equipment is not included.
Avi, over the water, opens its bar and its à la carte restaurant at 11am and stays open until midnight.
Table tennis, beach volleyball, badminton, billiards and board games are free.
Dinner is at Samuga for Garden Rooms and the Superior categories, at the overwater Hiya for Water Villas and Premium Beach Villas.
Avi and Nevi bring the nights to life with live music.
On Google, on 5 October 2026, the resort had 4.7 out of 5 from 1,826 ratings. We read the latest 500 reviews with text, in full.
The 500 reviews, the latest with text among the 1,826 ratings, were published between 4 April 2023 and 28 September 2026, all after the rebuild. A review’s date is the day it was written: a few tell of a stay years earlier or of an exchange with reservations, and a guest who posts twice is counted twice.
GoogleGuests write of a small island, 150 metres from the sunrise side to the sunset side by one count of April 2026. The beaches and the colours of the lagoon come up again and again. For snorkelling, many describe the daily boat trip to a nearby reef.
GoogleSpace, housekeeping, often twice a day, and the sea a few steps from the veranda are what guests come back to: a couple in a Superior Beach room counted fewer than 10 paces to the water (April stay, review dated May 2026).
GoogleGuests remember the fresh fruit and the eggs and pancakes cooked to order. Breakfast is served at Samuga or Hiya, depending on the room. For an espresso or a cappuccino, 2 guests in January 2026 went to Nevi, which opens at 9am.
GoogleThe all-inclusive covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, a selection of drinks and one snorkelling trip a day. Guests who write about the bill quote cocktails outside the selection at US$12 to US$18 (3 of them, December 2025 to September 2026) and mask, snorkel and fins at about US$20 a day per person (August 2023, July 2026). These are the sums quoted in those reviews.
GoogleGuests thank by name the waiters at Samuga, the bar staff at Nevi and the housekeepers. At the bar they had one guest’s name and room number by heart after the first order (March 2025).
A 4-star island resort, as Google classes it, on Ziyaaraifushi in North Malé Atoll: in its own words a barefoot island, owned and managed locally. It has 156 rooms, bungalows and villas in 7 categories, The Summer House among them, by the fact sheet on its site, a PDF with “2026-04” in its file name and no printed date. Visit Maldives wrote on 26 May 2020 that it is one of the first resorts in the Maldives: the Kaimoo group took the island over in 1996 as Summer Island Village; in 2015 it was rebuilt entirely and renamed. The reopening date is not recorded; the 500 reviews used here run from 4 April 2023 to 28 September 2026.
The island · Rooms and villas · Fact sheet (PDF) · Visit Maldives
7 kinds. 7 Garden Rooms (38 m²) share one block mid-island, each with a patio in the greenery. The 52 Superior Bungalows (40 m²) stand in pairs, with a veranda and a path to the beach; 14 of the pairs interconnect. 30 Superior Beach rooms on the ground floor open towards the sand and 30 Superior Vista rooms on the first floor have wide terraces level with the palm trees; both are 41 m². The 16 Premium Beach Villas and the 20 Water Villas (45 m² each) are detached and add a Jacuzzi bath and an espresso machine. The Summer House is a single house of 380 m², with a master suite, a twin room, a living room, a kitchenette, dining areas and the only private pool. Rooms on land sleep 3 adults or 2 adults and one child; Water Villas take 2 adults and no children; The Summer House 6 adults or 4 adults and 2 children. The sizes are the resort’s, which does not say whether they include the terrace.
On Ziyaaraifushi in North Malé Atoll, 35 km from the international airport by the resort’s fact sheet: around 45 minutes by speedboat or 15 minutes by seaplane. The resort says the island “straddles the path of the sun from east to west”, with the Nevi bar facing the sunset. By one guest’s account, the west has the restaurant, the bar and the pool and is the louder side; the east has the better beach for swimming and shade from midday (March 2026). There is a windy side and a still one, and 3 guests between November 2025 and February 2026 changed room: 2 to get out of the wind, one to get into it, away from the mosquitoes.
By speedboat from Velana airport in about 45 minutes, or by seaplane in 15. The return transfer is compulsory and paid on top of the room. The resort’s island page gives the speedboat at US$195 per adult and US$97.50 per child until 31 October 2026, and US$198 and US$99 from 1 November 2026; the seaplane at US$470 per adult and US$282 per child. The island page, re-read on 15 October 2026, still gives these seaplane fares. Its page gives no age limit for the child fare, no infant fare, no baggage allowance, no cut-off times for flights and no end date for the seaplane fare. Google’s nightly price does not show the transfer as included; its listing marks the airport shuttle “Extra charge”.
Not by car: the only way to the island is the speedboat or the seaplane from the airport. Google’s listing shows “Parking” among the amenities; the resort’s pages we read describe none, on the island or at the airport.
Superior Beach rooms, Superior Bungalows and Premium Beach Villas open towards the beach; Superior Vista rooms are upstairs and Garden Rooms face the gardens. Water Villas have direct access to the lagoon from the deck: at low tide, a guest 1.72 m tall stood in water just below chest height in front of a villa on the sunrise side (review of September 2026, stay of 27–31 August). The way into the water is usually sandy, a guest wrote in March 2026, who advises water shoes where the bottom is broken coral; another, in January 2025, says the same of stretches of sharp shell and stone. Only The Summer House has a private swimming pool; the Jacuzzi in a Water Villa or a Premium Beach Villa is a bath.
Start at the jetty. The resort presents an artificial reef as “the largest 3D printed reef”, and guests place it in front of the jetty (January 2024, May 2026): few corals and many fish, a few metres from the shore by one account of March 2025. One guest in June 2026 found the house reef hard to reach through the surf, and saw 12 turtles at once when he got there; another, in March 2025, places a reef far out on the side away from the artificial one. The standard all-inclusive plan includes one snorkelling trip a day by boat; guests describe 2 departures a day, 5 to 10 minutes out. Equipment is not included, and it is compulsory, 5 guests warn between June 2023 and September 2026; 2 of them add that without mask, snorkel and fins you do not board. Diving is with Diverland, the dive centre on the island, and is paid for separately, as is its equipment.
One shared infinity pool, 20 × 9 metres, and the private pool of the single Summer House. Premium Beach Villas and Water Villas have Jacuzzi baths and rain showers, not swimming pools, and the resort advertises a private pool for no other category. 2 guests, in August 2024 and December 2025, counted about 10 sunbeds beside the shared pool. The fact sheet gives no depth for it and mentions no lifeguard.
The resort’s pages we read give neither a water temperature nor opening hours for the infinity pool or for The Summer House’s own, and announce no seasonal closure.
Samuga serves an international buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner for Garden Rooms and the Superior categories; Hiya, over the water, serves a semi-buffet for Water Villa and Premium Beach Villa guests: at dinner, one of 5 main courses and the rest from the buffet, a guest wrote in September 2026 after staying from 27 to 31 August. Both run a 14-day rotating menu, and the fact sheet names neither for The Summer House. Avi is a separately priced à la carte restaurant and lounge; Nevi offers drinks and a snack menu; Baraveli is a beach bar with Caribbean-inspired tiki cocktails. Private dinners on the beach, champagne breakfast and the weekly seafood barbecue are listed apart from the meal plans. The menus on the resort’s site show dishes and no prices. Room service runs from 10am to 10pm, according to the resort’s fact sheet of April 2026, read on 15 October 2026.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner at Samuga or Hiya, according to the room. To drink: regular brands of whisky, brandy, rum and vodka, draught beer, house wine by the glass, mineral water, canned juice, soft drinks and a daily cocktail, chosen from 7 drinks on a menu that alternates weekly. Nevi pours them from 9am to midnight and serves afternoon tea from 4.30 to 5.30pm; Avi pours them from 11am to midnight, for Water Villa and Premium Beach Villa guests only. One snorkelling trip a day, without the equipment. Drinks are served opened. Anything off the list is charged, including unlisted excursions, special dinners, diving, the spa and premium brands. The plan stops at check-out, at 12 noon, even when the boat leaves hours later, 2 guests noted in March 2025.
Fact sheet (PDF) · Avi · Nevi
Firuma by Serena stands over the water and has 5 treatment rooms: 3 single rooms and 2 “Adam and Eve” rooms for couples, with a lounge, a steam room and an ice room. The Serena menu, Ayurvedic in inspiration, runs from massages, facials and body treatments to private yoga. Google’s listing shows a sauna; the resort’s own pages describe the steam and ice rooms only.
No. Treatments and private classes are booked and paid for separately: the all-inclusive list leaves them out, and anything off that list is charged by the resort. The menu on the site prints no prices; a guest reviewing a November stay in December 2023 quoted US$55 on the spa’s price list for a 30-minute back massage, with 25% in service and taxes to add. The pages we read do not say whether the steam and ice rooms can be used without a treatment, from what age, or by visitors from outside.
From 9am to 8pm, by the resort’s Firuma by Serena page. Neither that page nor the 2-page Serena menu says how much notice a cancellation needs or how early to arrive.
The 2-page Serena menu lists massages, among them Balinese and Serenity aromatherapy at 50 minutes and Marma Ayurvedic and hot stone at 90, along with scrubs, wraps and facials. Yoga is hatha, with an Indian teacher: private sessions of 30 or 60 minutes, per person or per couple, or a group of 3 to 10. It prints no prices.
Children can stay in every category but the Water Villas: each room on land sleeps 3 adults or 2 adults and one child, 14 pairs among the 52 Superior Bungalows interconnect, and the 2-room Summer House takes up to 4 adults and 2 children or 6 adults. Water Villas are for 2 adults, and children are not permitted. The pages we read mention no kids’ club and no babysitting. A family who booked 2 adjoining rooms in May 2026 wrote that badminton, darts, pool and table tennis kept the children busy.
The shared infinity pool, the Roanu gym, a dive centre, water sports, the Firuma spa, a library, a boutique, laundry, room service, Wi-Fi across the island and 24-hour reception. Free of charge, by the fact sheet: table tennis, beach volleyball, badminton, billiards and board games. The sheet also lists evening entertainment at the bar and a doctor on call. Drinking water in the room is free and comes in glass bottles, 3 guests note (March 2025 to August 2026); the fact sheet promises nothing else from the minibar. The water-sports list runs from kayaks and glass kayaks to catamaran and jet ski, and prints no prices. The dive centre’s unlimited package covers 6 consecutive days and leaves out the boat trips.
The offers page says only to book through the website’s booking engine “to unlock private offers”: no booking window, travel dates, minimum stay or cancellation terms are on the page. On 5 October 2026 Google showed rates on the resort’s own channel labelled “Early Bird Offer”, at 30%, and “Limited Offer”, at 25%; neither label says what the 25% or 30% is taken off.
The fact sheet describes a renewal of vows: a ceremony on the beach with a certificate, a boat trip to a sandbank, an Adam and Eve massage, champagne, a decorated bed, a candlelit dinner on the beach with wine, a cake and a photography session. It gives no price, dates or minimum stay, and says nothing of a legally registered wedding. A couple writing in September 2026 tell of their wedding day on the island and thank the staff for it. Honeymooners get wine and fruit if the resort is told at reservation and the wedding was within the previous 6 months.
The resort’s pages we read on 12 October 2026 carried nothing for 31 December 2026: no gala menu, no compulsory supplement, no minimum stay. That day Google priced the night itself at US$1,261 for 2, against US$1,175 for 24 December. A guest writing in January 2026 describes Christmas and New Year on the island: decorations, organised evenings and a band, Prism.
None that the resort mentions: its island, activities, facilities and offers pages have no golf course, no stay with golf included, no green fees at an outside course and no golf transfer. The sports it lists are table tennis, volleyball, badminton, billiards and board games.
The island has been a resort for decades: a guest in August 2026 was back after 25 years. The present resort dates from 2015, when it was rebuilt entirely and renamed (Visit Maldives, 26 May 2020). The pages we read announce no closure. Google’s calendar, read on 5 October 2026, had no price yet for 97 of its nights.
Google Hotels, checked on 5 October 2026, showed US$313 a night for 2 adults for 16–19 November 2026, taxes and fees included; a second reading the same day gave US$316. Other nights on the calendar that day: US$296 for 5 December 2026, US$1,868 for 31 December, the highest, US$305 for 11 January 2027 and US$249 for 10 August 2027. The lowest was US$235, for 1–2 May 2027. The calendar held 283 nights with a price and 97 without. These are sellers’ prices: the calendar figure does not show which room or which board it is for. The compulsory transfer, the spa and special dinners come on top.
On Google the resort scores 4.7 out of 5 from 1,826 ratings, read on 5 October 2026. Guests write of the beaches, the colours of the lagoon and an island you can walk round, of rooms serviced as often as twice a day and of the restaurant and bar staff, thanked by name. Reviews also return to drinks outside the all-inclusive selection, snorkelling-equipment hire, slow Wi-Fi and, in 2026, waits at the airport for the speedboat. We read the latest 500 reviews with text, published from 4 April 2023 to 28 September 2026, after the rebuild.
Google gives its US-dollar price per night with taxes and fees included, for the 2 adults and the dates searched; it is not shown to include the compulsory airport transfer. The resort’s speedboat and seaplane fares do not say whether tax is included, and its spa, dining and water-sports lists print no prices at all. 2 reviews in 2023 quote extra charges: 25% in service and taxes on a spa treatment (December review of a November stay), 26% on diving (April). The pages we read do not say how Green Tax is charged on a direct booking, or whether infants are exempt.
A reef within reach of the villa, with a livelier evening.
The far north, a private pool and 7 dining venues.
Space and greenery in the northern Maldives, with a journey to allow for.
A pool villa close to the airport, with outlook and meals to choose.
Ritz-Carlton Maldives suits couples and families who want a contemporary villa, a private pool and days divided between the spa and restaurants. Budget for meals, treatments and the speedboat when the chosen rate excludes them; reef snorkelling also involves guided boat trips.
Couples and groups choosing between beach and overwater duplex. Transfer prices unspecified; minibar and spa have separate costs
Couples and families wanting meals and activities with explicit terms. Category-specific access; transfers and supplements separate from room quote
Beach, garden or overwater: choose the room first, then the board and transfer.
The Nautilus Maldives suits guests seeking a spacious house, a butler and meals that follow their own rhythm on a small Baa island. Privacy comes at a substantial cost, and transfers, spa and experiences need separate reading from the house rate.
Ifuru Island Maldives suits families and groups seeking a beach, varied restaurants and a pool with music, with arrivals also using the island’s airstrip. Suites and villas have distinct formats, while supplements, transfers and activities do not all become part of Premium All Inclusive.
Brennia Kottefaru suits guests choosing between garden, beach and water, with villas for 2 and residences for a larger family. The variety needs careful reading: counts and areas have discrepancies, and Manta and Sunset Grill require reservations and supplements.
Meyyafushi Maldives suits families and couples seeking a private pool, overwater padel and several restaurants during a Premium All Inclusive stay. Bubble, the underwater restaurant, and Sukun, the teppanyaki, cost extra and need booking; the resort is new, the release of 30 April 2026 announces it officially open, and the earliest reviews describe its opening months.
This guide is written with Lumina, the marketing system for hotels.
