Laid-back Surf Vibe in Paradise
Mar 10, 2025 M_Kobe_17 Bern, Switzerland
Niyama was the eighth island we visited in the Maldives, and it was by far the most beautiful. The island has lush vegetation unlike anything we’ve seen on other islands. It is very well maintained, yet still gives you the feeling of being in a natural jungle. The beach has fine, white sand, and everywhere you can spot little crabs. The water is…
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Niyama was the eighth island we visited in the Maldives, and it was by far the most beautiful. The island has lush vegetation unlike anything we’ve seen on other islands. It is very well maintained, yet still gives you the feeling of being in a natural jungle. The beach has fine, white sand, and everywhere you can spot little crabs. The water is calm, and the colors are simply a dream. We didn’t go snorkeling, so we can’t give a review on that.
We stayed in two Deluxe Beach Pool Villas on Chill Island, located on one of the nicest stretches of beach. We had villas number 18 and 19, both offering stunning ocean views. The villas are newly refurbished and leave nothing to be desired. One thing we didn’t love was the open-air bathroom, as it gets quite hot in March, but this is something we’ve experienced on other islands as well.
We visited both buffet restaurants, Epicure and Blu. Each day of the week features a different theme. The food selection is extensive, and the quality is excellent. We personally preferred Blu over Epicure, as it is smaller and quieter. A special thanks to Said, who cooked wonderfully at Blu and kindly recommended dishes to us.
We also dined at the à la carte restaurants Tribal and Nest. Both are beautifully designed and unique in the Maldives. The food quality was high, and the prices were reasonable (especially with half-board food credit). At Nest, we’d like to thank Adi for his outstanding service. We also recommend ordering different dishes and sharing them to experience more variety.
The resort offers plenty of activities. We did the Lucky Dolphin tour and saw many dolphins, which was an unforgettable experience. We also did the one-hour jet ski tour. However, the sea was quite rough, making it less enjoyable. A special highlight was our sunset surf lesson, which we highly recommend. The setting was beautiful, and it was a lot of fun. A big thanks goes to Lasse, who was an excellent surf instructor. Some activities could be priced more reasonably. For example, we think the morning yoga session could be complimentary rather than costing $40.
The hotel follows an interesting concept, there’s no traditional reception! Instead, you have a Thakuru (butler), who is your personal contact for everything. This works perfectly. We had the pleasure of having Imthy as our Thakuru. He handled all our requests flawlessly and always had a smile on his face. He truly made a difference in our stay at Niyama.
We would describe the resort as offering “chilled luxury.” If you’re expecting classic luxury like One&Only, you might be disappointed. For example, there’s no pressure to wear long trousers at dinner, and room keys are water-resistant wristbands. There’s also Imran, who walks around the beach bringing fresh coconuts that he picks from the island, small touches like these add to the laid-back surf vibe of Niyama, which is perfectly captured during sunset at the Surf Shack.
During our stay, there were quite a few Russian and Brazilian families, which led to some noise during breakfast. Otherwise, the island was very peaceful and relaxing.
As a complete package, Niyama has been the best island we’ve visited in the Maldives so far, and we would definitely go again.
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