Kihaa Maldives Hotel

Having spent two weeks at Kihaa island resort in the Maldives, I wanted to provide a comprehensive review of the island, share my own personal insights and attempt to dispel some myths about the resort. To preface the review, my partner and I spent two weeks on the island. We opted for the “Full Board” package, which includes 3 meals per day, but no drinks (neither of us drink alcohol). It’s my second time visiting the Maldives and my first at Kihaa. We booked this trip with the mindset of spending two weeks relaxing in a tropical haven, away from our corporate jobs and mindful of Kihaa’s proximity to Hanifaru Bay, its reputable diving centre and ‘jungle island’ vibes, given the unusually high amount of foliage on the island. Its also important to note that we opted for early July to maximise the possibility of seeing the more interesting marine life (manta rays, whale sharks etc.) - *spoilers* we were not disappointed. Wildlife Opportunities: The key reason we chose Kihaa. Safe to say, if you are hoping to find for an impressive array of wildlife spotting opportunities, this island is a very good bet. Starting with the island itself, it is tropical. There are a lot of palm and fruit trees with many large fruit bats that soar between them throughout the day and especially at dusk. However, there are also a lot of mosquitos on the island. If you bring good bug spray and apply liberally, they will not be a problem whatsoever, but if you bring no bug spray, you may have a tough time sleeping because you will get bitten a lot - we saw this with other holidayers who were less prepared. The island staff do a great job cleaning the rooms every day, but I strongly urge you to bring your own bug spray and lots of it. Moving onto the house reef (that strangely receives negative reviews from others) - lets put that myth to bed right now, because whilst snorkelling on the house reef, 15 metres from shore, we saw black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, moray eels and eagle rays on a daily basis. That’s not to mention the abundance of fish and that we encountered, stingrays and even a lone manta ray, alongside various Green and Hawksbill turtles. You will be very hard pressed to find a more diverse and accessible house reef to snorkel on every day in the Maldives. Next, Hanifaru Bay. We arrived in the middle of ‘manta ray season’ and were not disappointed. Trips to Hanifaru are ad hoc and dependent upon when the Rangers are in the Bay, but during our stay there were 4-5 opportunities to venture into the Bay and we were fortunate enough to snorkel with upwards of 30 manta rays (although the guides we were with said that at some points during the year, you may be lucky enough to see hundreds in a single afternoon!). Regardless of how many mantas there are when you visit, it’s an incredible experience and for the avid marine wildlife lover, you won’t be disappointed. In addition, on our first day, we also had the opportunity to snorkel with a Whale Shark (pictures attached) - this isn’t a frequent occurrence in Baa Atoll, but during our two week stay, there were 2-3 sightings, so if you time your trip right, you may get lucky! Wrapping up the wildlife section with the scuba diving opportunities. My partner and I completed 11 dives throughout our trip and they were broadly excellent. The dive centre (Ocean Dimensions Kihaa) is staffed with superb and knowledgeable dive masters who know the area very well. We saw manta rays, eagle rays, sting rays, dozens of turtles (green and hawksbill), reef sharks, octopus - the list could go on and on. Superb diving opportunities, twice a day if you feel like it - strongly recommend getting out on the boat and if you haven’t got your PADI certifications yet, you can pick them up during your time at Kihaa. It’s also worth noting that en route to the dive sites, we ran into pods of dolphins multiple times which added a nice touch to the experience. However, if Scuba Diving isn’t for you, don’t worry, the Ocean Dimensions team run regular snorkelling trips and excursions, such as to “Turtle Reef” where we saw 12 turtles in 45 minutes of snorkelling. Alternatively, night fishing can be a brilliant way to spend an evening - we loved it so much we went twice and even saw a manta ray feeding at the surface on the second occasion. This is a great trip, because whatever fish you (or the boat crew!) can catch, you take home for dinner the next night. In summary, if wildlife is what you’re looking for - Kihaa is a truly wonderful place to visit and you are going to be in for a treat. The Resort: As mentioned, we selected the “Full Board” option, which meant we were entitled to 3 meals a day from the main restaurant. Being candid, if you are looking for fine dining and 5* cuisine, you won’t get it at Kihaa. That’s not to say the food is bad, to be clear, its quite good, but it won’t be winning any culinary awards. I say this to set appropriate expectations. The breakfast buffet is a large and diverse affair, with freshly made omelettes, eggs, waffles, pancakes all available, alongside cereal, toast, fresh fruit, yoghurt and various pastries. For lunch and dinner, expect 6-8 main dishes, there’s always a fresh soup, a pasta dish, a noodle dish, fish, beef and chicken dishes and various vegetables and salads, with desserts to finish. After 2 weeks, you may find yourself craving something a little different, but it’s all served in different marinades and styles, so don’t be put off - just be realistic about what is on offer. Another myth I’ve seen online is that the rooms are dirty / not cleaned / poorly maintained. Again, lets dispel this quickly. The rooms are cleaned and towels are replaced every single day, without fail. If you would like additional cleaning (bug spray for instance) then they can be provided upon request. However, again, do not expect 5* quality rooms, there will likely be some wear and tear on display. Does that mean the rooms are deficient, bad of filthy? Absolutely not in my experience, they may show scuff marks on the floorboards or water marks in the showers, but they are not unclean. Wi-Fi is consistently available and strong, and the air conditioning is very powerful. Other amenities in the resort include two large public pools (some rooms also have their own), a couple of bars, and a spa offering a large array of treatments, which was open the entire time we were there, despite it being off season. You also have access to jet skis should you wish to use them beyond the reef, we didn’t, but it looked like fun - just be careful of snorkelers! On pricing, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Kihaa is nowhere near the most expensive resort in the Maldives to stay at and you should be mindful of that when you arrive. Nevertheless, other guests told us that alcohol was very expensive, and the excursions and diving aren’t cheap either - be aware of this and budget accordingly to avoid nasty surprises. The resort itself is kept in relatively decent condition - I witnessed no ‘derelict’ buildings, but everything was quite shabby and looked like it could use a lick of paint and some refurbishing. That being said, we were holidaying in the off season when the resort was a lot quieter (10-30 other guests total) and therefore, a reduced number of staff were present. One final point on the resort staff - they were utterly incredible. Ibrahim, Bashir, Mounir and Shaheen were very attentive and a joy to be around and talk to during our stay . They handled every request of ours with dignity and kindness, I was blown away by the service quality. Ethics & Resort Management Transparency During our stay, I became aware of comments online articulating problems with the resort management (which took over ~2017) - unfortunately, on this I am unable to concretely provide more information. I tried to learn as much as possible about the issue by directly asking the hotel / restaurant staff, to see whether any of the claims that I’d read online regarding staff being deprived their pay, or even having their Visas/passports withheld, were founded in truth. I can only relay what I was told and experienced, which is that the staff seemed genuinely surprised and informed me these claims weren’t true, to the contrary, many seemed genuinely happy with their current employment status and we did identify a number of employees going to and from the local islands during our stay. I pushed some employees relatively hard to see whether this was part of a wider facade, but could discern no further information. I know that exploitation of vulnerable workers (especially those dependent upon working VISAs) is one of the single biggest problems with luxury tourism and it is hard to identify truly exploitative practices, so if you are unsure about whether you will be contributing to a wider problem, I urge you to investigate the ethics of the resort prior to booking your trip by reaching out to them directly for evidence of ethical management. Summary: To bring this review to a close, I would suggest highlighting the following key points. 1) This island is a gold mine for wildlife lovers who are looking to get away, relax and unwind for a fee that won’t break the bank. Buy yourself a GoPro (all our photos are taken on the GoPro 13 Hero Black) and have a brilliant time capturing memories. 2) The resort itself is a bit shabby and could use some love, but it is not ‘derelict’ or ‘falling down’. Nevertheless, it’s not the same 5* luxury that you may find at other resorts, be mindful of this and set those expectations accordingly. 3) Finally, bring bug spray, I think this could genuinely make or break your holiday, so buy more than you need and avoid getting bitten to make the most of your vacation!