Sun Siyam Iru Veli

A 5-star resort of Sun Siyam Resorts, in its Privé Collection, on an island in South Nilandhe (Dhaalu) Atoll. The official 2026 fact sheet counts 125 beach and water villas, all with a pool, and aims it at couples, honeymooners and small families; the official website sells it with a 24-hour all-inclusive plan.

The name comes from Dhivehi for sun and sand, according to the destination page. The official pages give no opening year; the address of the Booking.com listing still carries the old name, Sun Aqua Iru Veli, and Expedia calls the island Aloofushi.

9 types, according to the villas page and the official fact sheet. On the beach: Beach Villa with Pool, 93 m², 51 villas; Family Beach Villa with Pool, 97 m², 10; Grand Beach Villa with Pool, 135 m², 5; Beach Residence with Pool, 194 m² on 2 floors, 1; Two Bedroom Beach Residence with Pool, 643 m², 1. Over the water: Ocean Villa with Pool, 124 m², 41; Dolphin Ocean Villa with Pool, 124 m², 14; Ocean Residence with Pool, 175 m², 1; Two Bedroom Ocean Residence with Pool, 393 m², 1.

The villas sleep 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 children, the one-bedroom residences 4 adults, the 2-bedroom ones 6. All have air conditioning, a minibar, a bath, a rain shower and Wi-Fi. Guests in 2025 and 2026 remember the private pool, the space and the housekeeping; in June 2026 one of them reports that the resort was announcing a refurbishment of all the villas over the summer. Booking.com says no extra beds can be added; cots are free up to the age of 2.

In South Nilandhe Atoll, which the contact page calls Dhaalu Atoll, 153 km south-west of Malé according to the official fact sheet. The Google listing says only «atoll, Maldives». Niyama, The St. Regis Vommuli, Kandima and Baglioni are in the same atoll.

The island has a lagoon side and a reef side, and guests almost all describe it as quiet. The seaplanes start at 6am, and guests sleeping over the water describe hearing them take off.

By seaplane, about 45 minutes from Velana airport, according to the destination page, which gives the transfer at $490 per adult and $295 per child return, compulsory through the resort. Booking.com shows the same figures until 31 October 2026 and $515 and $310 from 1 November, tax included.

The seaplanes fly from 6am to 4pm; for evening arrivals and departures there is a domestic flight, followed by an hour by speedboat according to Booking.com. The Free Transfer offer makes the seaplane free for one guest from 4 nights and for 2 from 7.

No: it is an island reached by seaplane, or by a domestic flight and speedboat, and no page of the resort mentions parking. You get about on foot or on the resort’s buggies.

From the beach, in front of the 68 villas on land, or down the ladder of the 57 water villas, according to the villa pages and the official photographs. The lagoon side has the calmer water, for those who swim without a mask; on the reef side the coral starts straight away, according to an Italian couple in December 2025.

Masks and fins are part of the all-inclusive plan, with kayaks, paddleboards and pedalos. For children there is also the small pool at the Turtle Kidz Club.

Yes. The official fact sheet describes a house reef «just metres from your villa»; guests in 2025 and 2026 climb down from the water villas and report turtles, rays, reef sharks, clownfish and a sunken ship at about 10 metres.

The all-inclusive plan includes one guided snorkel per person per stay; the dive centre is SSI-certified.

Every villa has its own pool: in front of the villa or in a courtyard on the beach, an infinity plunge pool on the deck over the water, according to the villas page. The shared ones are the main pool at Chemistry Bar, open from 9am to 6pm, and the adults-only pool at Fresh Water, on the beach, open from 10am to 7pm on its own page and until 6pm in the fact sheet.

The Turtle Kidz Club has a children's pool, and the spa a warm pool and a cold plunge for hydrotherapy.

The website says nothing about heating or temperature for the villa pools or the shared ones; the honeymoon offer says only that every villa has a freshwater pool. The main pool opens from 9am to 6pm, the adults' pool from 10am, and the festive gazette for 2026–2027 describes a warm pool and a cold plunge at the spa.

According to the dining page and the official fact sheet: Aqua Orange, a buffet on the beach, 7 to 10am, 12.30 to 2.30pm and 6.30 to 9.30pm; Grouper Grill, fish and meat off the grill, lunch 12.30 to 3pm and dinner 6.30 to 10pm; Roma, Italian over the water, dinner only, 6.30 to 10pm; Teppanyaki, 8 seats, at lunch and in 2 evening sittings; the Wine Cellar inside Roma, 12 seats; Chemistry Bar, open 24 hours, and Fresh Water from 10am to midnight.

Grouper Grill’s lobster barbecue is on Wednesday and Sunday nights, according to its page on the official site, read on 15 October 2026. Guests mostly prefer Roma and Grouper Grill; of the Aqua Orange buffet they remember the live grill, the dishes cooked to order and the desserts.

The website offers the 24-hour «Dine Around» all-inclusive, set out in the 2026 brochure: buffet breakfast and lunch at Aqua Orange, pizza and salads at Grouper Grill at lunch, afternoon tea at Chemistry Bar from 3.30pm, dinner at the buffet or à la carte at Grouper Grill and Roma, 3 courses; wines, champagne, beers, spirits and cocktails at Chemistry Bar at any hour and at Fresh Water from 10am to midnight; and a minibar restocked once a day.

It also includes, once per stay, the dolphin cruise, a guided snorkel and a local island visit, $100 of spa per adult or 3 dives for certified divers, 15 minutes on a jet ski and non-motorised water sports. Signature dishes cost extra, wine is served by the glass, and everyone in the villa must be on the same plan. On 7 October 2026 the official website sold the Beach Villa on Google at $985 all-inclusive, against $747 half board.

The Ocean Spa is built over the water and uses Thalgo products. It has 8 pavilions and a main spa house, according to the resort’s 2026 fact sheet, read on 15 October 2026. The website gives no floor area.

It has hydrotherapy facilities; the festive gazette lists a warm relaxation pool, a cold plunge, a steam room and a sauna, and the spa page asks guests to bring swimwear for the steam room and spa pool. There are also a beauty salon, bridal make-up and a shop.

Treatments are paid for, with tax and service included, according to the spa menu. All-inclusive guests get a one-off $100 credit per adult, valid on massages, Ayurvedic treatments, Body Works and packages, but not on Thalgo treatments or yoga.

No page publishes a day pass for anyone not staying on the island, which in any case can only be reached by seaplane. Hydrotherapy is sold as the Starlight Hydro Escape, $143 per couple plus tax and service, from 6 to 7pm, over the 2026–2027 festive season. No massages under 12; the relaxation areas and changing rooms are for over-18s.

9am to 7pm daily, according to the spa page and the menu. It is worth booking one or two days ahead and arriving 15 minutes early; cancelling within 6 hours costs 50%, and a no-show the full treatment.

From the spa menu: Balinese massage $198 for 60 minutes and $258 for 90; Thai, Hawaiian Lomilomi and Classic Western $215 and $285; Ayurvedic Abhyanga $225 and $298, Shirodhara $245, Nirvana $315 for 90 minutes; an hour's Thalgo facial $188; the Always Together couples' package, 120 minutes, $580; private yoga $50.

Prices include 10% service and 17% tax. Guests almost always praise the spa, for its massages and its setting over the water.

Yes: the Turtle Kidz Club, according to the official fact sheet, takes children from 3 to 11 from 9am to 5pm, with a pool, a cinema room, a nap room and outdoor games, but serves no meals. For under-threes a babysitter is charged extra, with a parent present. It is not adults-only, although Fresh Water has its own reserved pool.

The Family offer lets up to 2 children under 12 stay and eat free with 2 paying adults, plus a dolphin trip and a sandbank picnic. From 12 children pay as adults, according to Booking.com, which sets 18 as the minimum age to check in; children eat from their own menu, and jet skis are from 16.

According to the official fact sheet: an SSI dive centre, a water sports centre, the Go Fit! gym, a tennis court, the Turtle Kidz Club, the Roanu boutique, the island clinic, a photographer and Sun Siyam's lounge at the airport. Wi-Fi is free in the villas and public areas.

In the evenings there are a weekly pool party, bodu beru drumming and the beach cinema; the October 2026 gazette puts the whale shark trip at $380 a head plus tax, with at least 6 people. Drones are banned.

Read on 6 October 2026: Free Transfer, a free seaplane for one guest from 4 nights and for 2 from 7, with an extra half hour of massage and an excursion; Honeymoon, a free seaplane for 2 from 7 nights or half price from 4, a couples' massage, the dolphin cruise and a floating breakfast; Family, 2 children under 12 free; Oktoberfest, bookable until 31 October 2026 for stays until 31 October 2027, with the seaplane for 2 and $300 of resort credit from 7 nights.

All add 10% service, 17% tax and the Green Tax of $12 per person per night. The Siyam Rewards club promises members Dine Around, an upgrade and an hour of spa, with an asterisk and conditions the home page does not publish.

Yes: the weddings page offers 3 packages, with a decorated altar, a framed certificate, bodu beru drummers and a coordinator, but publishes no prices and does not say whether the ceremony is legally binding. The honeymoon package, from 3 nights, asks for a marriage certificate less than 12 months old.

For groups the 2026 events brochure gives up to 375 guests per event, 20 on the sandbank, and a buy-out of the whole island with its 125 villas: one case it cites filled all 125 villas with 240 guests.

Yes: the festive gazette for 2026–2027 has a cocktail party from 6 to 7pm on 31 December and, from 7pm, the New Year's Eve Gala Dinner with live music and dancing on Magoodhoo Beach; there is also a paid mystery dinner. According to Booking.com the gala is compulsory: $525 per adult and $265 per child, with the first 2 children in the villa free.

Christmas Eve dinner is compulsory too, at $500 per adult. The official pages publish no menu; in December 2025 one guest reports that drinks were not included at Christmas dinner.

No: the official fact sheet lists no course or golf package. The island has a tennis court, a gym, the water sports centre and the dive centre.

All year: the official website announces no closures and publishes October's events and a festive programme from 21 December 2026 to 7 January 2027. On Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, every night from 7 October 2026 to 31 January 2027 had a price except 29 and 30 December, which showed no rate.

Nights at the end of December and early January cost more than 3 times those of mid-October; the website does not describe the weather month by month.

On Google Hotels, read on 6 October 2026, for 2 adults and one night, taxes and fees included: $574 on 7 October 2026, $631 on 20 October and $1,234 on 28 October (nights within 3 weeks of the 12 October reading), $1,000 on 15 November (a lone low night between dearer ones), $1,418 on 19 November, $1,036 on 9 December, $2,421 on 24 December and on 31 December, $1,292 on 14 January 2027 and $1,635 on 29 January 2027. For 7 October the official website asked $747.

The calendar shows the lowest price among sellers and does not name the villa: for 7 October the $574 was Booking.com's for a Beach Villa, while the website's $747 was the same villa on half board. The seaplane and the compulsory dinners on 24 and 31 December are extra.

On 3 October 2026 Google showed 4.8/5 from 2,530 ratings, Tripadvisor 4.9/5 from 5,455, with a Travelers’ Choice award, and Booking.com 9.2/10 from 386, with staff at 9.6 and value for money at 9.

In the 500 most recent Google reviews, from July 2025 to October 2026, 96% of those discussing the location and the staff are positive, and 90% of those discussing the villas. The praise goes to the reef a few metres from the villa, the dolphins, the private pool and the ambassador who looks after each villa, often remembered by name. Reviews mention the prices of trips, spa visits and special dinners excluded from the plan, as well as wine served by the glass. Guests also mention the buffet, which repeats its dishes over a stay of several days, and the seaplane taking off from 6am.

The website's rates are net: the destination page adds 17% Goods & Services Tax, a 10% service charge and a Green Tax of $12 per guest per day. On top come the seaplane and, for anyone staying on 24 or 31 December, the compulsory gala dinners.

Google Hotels prices for the Maldives, on the other hand, include taxes and fees, as the spa menu's do.

Check-in is from 2pm and check-out at noon, according to the destination page; early arrival and late departure depend on availability.