Quick Facts

Class:

Location:

Transfer Type:

★★★★★

Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll

Domestic flight + Speedboat
60-70 minutes + 1 hour

Large

122

• Great house reef
• Beautiful natural island

• Great All-Inclusive packages
• Very family friendly

Transfer Duration:

Island Size:

Total no. Villas:

Highlights:

Reviewed by Florian - September 2025

Transfer & Arrival

Let’s start this review of Ayada Maldives with the transfer and arrival process.

Reaching Ayada is not the quickest journey, but it is part of what makes the experience so unique. After landing in Male, we were warmly greeted by Ayada’s representative, Ifam, who stood out as perhaps the most professional and friendly ground staff we’ve encountered in the Maldives. He even negotiated with the check-in staff to waive fees for our 20kg of excess luggage, something we greatly appreciated.

The transfer involves a domestic flight of about 60–70 minutes to Koodoo Airport, followed by a one-hour speedboat ride to the resort. While this journey is long compared to resorts closer to Male, it places you in an untouched paradise, far from other resorts or busy boat traffic. For many travelers, this remoteness is exactly what they’re looking for.

As travel agents for the Maldives, we would never recommend this resort for our clients if they plan to stay less than 5 or 6 nights. The journey is too long and you would be wasting too much time in transfers. Above this length of stay, it is definitely a resort that we recommend.

Island Beauty

The island itself is stunning. Not too small and not too big, Ayada offers the perfect balance in terms of size. Every corner of the island feels like a postcard: wide sandy beaches, crystal-clear lagoons, and lush greenery.

It’s the kind of place where you’ll find yourself stopping constantly just to take in the views.

If you are looking for a beautiful natural island without seawalls or groynes all around and with beautiful shades of blue, this resort is excellent! This is, of course, not the only reason why our review of Ayada Maldives is so positive, but it definitely weights heavily!

Our Villa: Sunset Ocean Suite with Pool

Let’s continue this review of Ayada Maldives with the accomodations.

We stayed in villa 615, a Sunset Ocean Suite with Pool. The villa was spacious and thoughtfully designed, featuring a separate living room, a big advantage for families traveling with children, as it allows for privacy if the kids are sleeping in the living room.

The outdoor deck was equally impressive, with a private infinity pool, comfortable loungers, and, of course, breathtaking views of the sunset. From the villa, the reef was easily accessible, making it easy to snorkel whenever we felt like jumping in.

Other Villas at Ayada Maldives

During our stay, we visited several villas to better understand the options available for our clients:

Sunset Ocean Family Suite (612): Similar to the Sunset Ocean Suite with Pool, but with the living room set up with one or two extra beds, making it ideal for families.

Royal Residence: A showstopper. This two-storey residence sits at the end of the jetty and offers unmatched privacy. Highlights include the master bathroom with its bathtub overlooking the ocean and a massive outdoor deck with a long infinity pool.

Sunset Lagoon Suite (402): A hybrid between a beach villa and an overwater villa, perfect for guests who feel uneasy being fully overwater.

Sunset Beach Suite (308): Spacious and with direct beach access to one of the most stunning stretches of sand on the island.

Garden Villa (109): The entry-level category, smaller than the others but featuring a beautiful bathroom. Ideal for surfers and divers who won’t be spending much time indoors.

Beach Family Suite (209): Essentially a Beach Villa connected to a Beach Suite, this option is perfect for larger families traveling together.

The choice of villas at Ayada is really great, with options for everyone. The only villa that we did not get the chance to visit is the Ocean Pool Villa, but we’ve been told that the interior is quite similar (though smaller) than the villa we were staying in.

Dining Outlets

Ayada has several restaurants offering a wide range of cuisines and we of course tried to review as many as possible.

Kai: A pan-Asian restaurant where we dined on our first night. The Angus beef tenderloin and sushi are highly recommended.

Magu: The main buffet restaurant, serving breakfast and dinner. The spread is extensive, with a wide range of delicious options. Even though it is not the highest quality we’ve experienced in the Maldives, it is still globally very good and the selection is amazing.

Zero Degree: The poolside restaurant where we enjoyed several lunches. Perfect for light meals, snacks, and cocktails during the day.

Beach dinner: We experienced a BBQ dinner on the beach, which was beautiful but quite expensive at over 250 USD per person.

Other outlets: Ocean Breeze and Mizu are additional dining venues we did not try but heard great feedback about.

Overall, the food was consistently very good, with enough variety to keep things interesting during a longer stay.

Service at Ayada Maldives

Service at Ayada was good, but not at the level of the very best luxury resorts in the Maldives. With 122 villas, the resort is relatively large, so staff don’t always know your name or personal preferences. Still, they were friendly and efficient.

Every villa comes with a butler. Ours, Ali, was excellent: always available, quick to respond, and eager to help whenever we needed something.

Still, for us, the service is a very important part of the experience, and an overall negative point of this review of Ayada. It was good, but Maldives has made us used to excellence when it comes to service. Of course, we still need to take into account the price of this resort. At this price-range it is a globally good service.

Snorkeling at Ayada Maldives

One of the highlights of Ayada is its fantastic house reef. You can snorkel 360° around the island, and most of the reef is healthy and vibrant. The marine life is abundant: we spotted sharks, turtles, rays, and countless colorful reef fish.

The reef is easily accessible, which makes it perfect for both beginners and experienced snorkelers. If snorkeling is a priority for your Maldivian trip, Ayada is one of the best choices you can make.

We recommend entering from the water villas and swimming towards the lighthouse for an easy snorkeling with most of the time, the current which would gently push you from behind.

The Main Pool

The main pool area is another excellent feature of Ayada.

Surrounded by comfortable loungers and serviced by Zero Degree restaurant and bar, it’s the ideal place to spend a lazy afternoon. The vibe is relaxed, the food and drinks are good, and the views of the ocean make it hard to leave.

All-inclusive Packages

An other area that we wanted to cover in our review of Ayada Maldives is its all-inclusive plans as more than 65% of guests go for these options.

Ayada is famous for its all-inclusive packages, offering two levels:

• Crystal AI: Covers most meals and drinks.

• Diamond AI: Includes access to all restaurants, premium drinks, some activities, and excursions.

A few notes:

• Bicycles are complimentary only with the all-inclusive package. Otherwise, they cost 15 USD per bike per day.

• Diamond AI includes extras like shisha, which is a fun touch.

• The Diamond plan is highly recommended if you want the full Ayada experience without worrying about extras.

Spa & Gym

The Ayada Spa is beautiful, with serene treatment rooms, relaxation lounges, and an atmosphere of calm. While we didn’t have a treatment during this visit, it looked impressive.

We did however, manage to fit in a few gym sessions during our stay. The fitness complex includes an outdoor adult jungle gym–style area, an indoor yoga studio, and a small indoor gym room. For a resort of this size, the indoor gym felt a little cramped, and the air conditioning wasn’t very effective, which made workouts less enjoyable. A renovation and expansion would definitely enhance the experience and provide guests with a more comfortable and well-equipped fitness space.

Activities & Facilities

Ayada offers a wide range of activities, both on land and at sea.

Water sports: Jet skiing, water skiing, diving, surfing, and more.

On land: Tennis courts, a football field, volleyball, table tennis, pool, and even PlayStations for kids (or adults looking for fun).

Whether you want an active vacation or pure relaxation, Ayada provides plenty of options.

With all these activities, Ayada is really ideal for people planning a long stay, which is good, as we mentioned earlier in this review that this is a resort where we recommend stays of at least 6/7 nights or more.

The Kids Club

Families are well catered for at Ayada. The kids club is excellent, with dedicated facilities and a full schedule of daily activities to keep children entertained throughout the day.

Note that the kids club is for kids aged between 4 to 11 year old. Below that, kids are accepted but they must be accompanied by an adult.

The value for money at Ayada Maldives

As always in our reviews, we have to talk about the value for money of this resort.

It is overall very good with villas matching different budgets. While the entry category villa (the Garden villa) is extremely cheap and super competitive, other villas, like the Sunset Ocean Suite with pool are relatively expensive given how far from Male the resort is.

Such kind of overall experience, if located within 30 minutes from Male, would be significantly more expensive. Therefore, taking into account everything we covered in this review of Ayada Maldives, the value for money is very good here. We do have some very special offers for this resort all year long, so do not hesitate to contact us for a personalised quotation.

Departure Experience

Before concluding this review of Ayada Maldives, let’s talk about our pre-departure experience.

Our departure was the only disappointing part of the stay. After checking out of our villa, we waited in the lounge near reception for our boat. Unfortunately, the lounge had no food, no drinks, and no cold towels, a surprising oversight for a resort of this caliber.

While waiting 45 minutes in a room (with AC, fortunately!) we would definitely have expected a few little attentions that other competitors in the same price range do offer.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Stunning island with postcard-worthy beauty

• Excellent house reef, easy to access and full of marine life

• Wide variety of villas for every type of traveler

• Great all-inclusive plans (Diamond AI highly recommended)

• Multiple dining options with consistently good food

• Strong kids club and family-friendly facilities

• Great surf and dive opportunities in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll

Cons

• Long and tiring transfer (domestic flight + speedboat)

• Service is good but not ultra-personalized due to resort size

• Gym is small and lacks proper cooling

• Departure lounge experience could be improved

• Beach dinners are quite expensive

Conclusion: an Overall Very Positive Review of Ayada Maldives

Ayada Maldives is a stunning resort that combines natural beauty, a thriving house reef, and excellent facilities for both couples and families. While the transfer is long, it rewards you with a sense of remoteness and exclusivity that is hard to beat.

From our Sunset Ocean Suite with Pool to the variety of dining outlets, Ayada delivered a consistently enjoyable stay. The reef, in particular, is one of the best in the Maldives and a key reason to choose this resort.

If you’re looking for a luxury Maldivian experience with great all-inclusive options, plenty of activities, and a balance between romance and family-friendliness, Ayada Maldives is an excellent choice.

Contact us for more information or to book your stay with the most competitive rates.

Ayada Resort Tour