NOVA MALDIVES: The Best Resort in the Maldives! Everything You Need To Know Before Booking

If you’re looking for the best luxury resort in the Maldives, you just found it! Located in the South Ari Atoll, Nova Maldives is an incredible resort for your Maldives trip.

At Nova Maldives you’ll find everything you’d expect from a luxury island getaway, and more! From the overwater villas to the white sand beaches, or from the delicious dining to the fun water sports, Nova is the ultimate island getaway.

In this article I have outlined everything you need to know about staying at Nova Maldives, including how to get there, an overview of the different room types, activities, services and amenities, and the special Nova Maldivian touch!

So what are you waiting for? Read on, and discover everything you need to know to plan your perfect stay at Nova Maldives!

Where is Nova Maldives

Nova Maldives is located in the South Ari Atoll, on Vakarufalhi Island, a natural island with lush green vegetation, pristine white sand beaches, and a rich house reef.

How to get to Nova Maldives

To get to Nova you have to take a seaplane from Male International Airport, which takes around 25 minutes. 

After landing you just have to look for the Nova representative, and depending on your seaplane flight time, you’ll get transferred to the seaplane terminal, where you get to relax and wait in a comfortable lounge.

The seaplane flight is an experience in and of itself! It’s super scenic! You get to enjoy the beautiful view over the atolls, reefs and clear blue sea as you make your way to Nova.

Room types

There are 76 villas at Nova Maldives, and 10 different types of villas, so that all types of travellers have their different priorities covered.

Water Villas

The Water Villas are the iconic Maldives overwater villas. We stayed in a Water Villa and loved it.

You wake up in the morning to the sound of the waves splashing against your villa, and have the most beautiful outdoors deck to chill, sunbathe, and to directly access the sea and house reef.

From the deck we often spotted turtles, sharks and rays as they swam past! The room itself is super spacious, with a huge bathroom with both shower and a bath tub with a view.

There are three different types of water villas; the classic one, the Water Villa with Jacuzzi, and the Water Villa with Private Pool.

Beach Villas

The Beach Villas are tucked into the lush vegetation of the island, with direct access to the beach. Similarly to the Water Villas, there are different types of Beach Villas to choose from.

For example there is the Sunset Beach Villa with Pool, two Interconnected Beach Villas for big families, the Beach Villa with Jacuzzi or the Beach Pool Villa, which has a private pool in an inner courtyard, instead of facing the beach.

That way, whether your priority is maximum privacy, or a bigger interconnected villa for a big family, there is a villa to suit your needs.

All the beach villas are big with beautiful outdoors bathrooms, and a comfortable outdoors deck with sun beds to relax.

Two Bedroom Beach Residence with Private Pool

There is also one big two bedroom beach residence, which is perfect for families. This residence also comes with a big lounge area and a small kitchenette, which is great since you get a communal space to hang out.

The pool is directly on the beach, with sun beds and an outdoors deck to enjoy the beautiful Maldivian sunshine.

Restaurants & Bars

There are three restaurants and two bars at Nova Maldives for you to enjoy.

Soul Kitchen

Soul Kitchen is the main restaurant at Nova. With its interior dining area and beachfront tables, it’s a delicious buffet restaurant, where you can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The buffet always has a variety of cuisines and dishes, both western, Asian and Maldivian. I also loved that there were multiple fresh dish stations, where you could food prepared for you on the spot.

Depending on the meal, this could be eggs, pancakes and crepes at breakfast, or pasta, noodles and grilled fish or meat at lunch and dinner.

Flames

Flames is one of the specialty restaurants at Nova, which focuses on grilled dishes. Here we had an incredible dinner of grilled prawns and grilled fish.

Flames also has a lovely atmosphere, with tables by the beach and relaxing live music.

Mizu

Mizu is the overwater Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. Here you can enjoy your food while watching the chefs prepare it right in front of you, and enjoy a variety of delicious Japanese, including both sushi and Japanese teppanyaki grill.

Wink

Wink is the main bar at Nova Maldives. Equipped with fun games like table football and pool, here they also play live music. 

This is also where, every week, Jenna who is a scuba diving instructor and marine biologist, gives a really interesting presentation all about the Maldives, their geological formation, and marine life around Nova, specifically whale sharks and mantas.

Solis

Solis is the poolside beach bar at Nova Maldives. If you want to enjoy a sunset cocktail while cooling down in the pool and enjoying the view over the pristine beach of Nova, this is the place to do so.

Choosing the right Meal Plan

There are two meal plan options at Nova Maldives. The Full Board and the Premium All Inclusive.

The Full Board includes a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, as well as unlimited soft drinks, water, juice, drinks and coffee during meals times. It also includes a 20% discount on the a la carte menu at the specialty restaurants.

The Premium All Inclusive, as suggested by the name, has some great additions.

Besides what is already included in the Full Board plan, it also includes a 3 course dinner at Flames, unlimited alcoholic drinks, the in-villa minibar is restocked daily, selected complimentary water sports, fitness classes, and you also get a 15% discount for certain spa treatments, Aquaholics experiences and private dinner experiences. 

Aquaholics Dive Centre & Tours

At Nova you’ll find two Aquaholics centres, one for scuba diving and excursions, and one for water sports like kayaking and windsurfing.

The main Aquaholics dive centre offers a huge variety of tours and opportunities to experience the beautiful marine life of Nova and the South Ari Atoll.

They have a fantastic team of scuba diving instructors and snorkelling guides, which will help you every step of the way. During our stay at Nova we did the PADI Open Water course, which is the first step in learning to scuba dive and becoming certified.

Both Jenna and Moosa were fantastic with us, super patient and knowledgeable and ensuring we were always comfortable.

They offer plenty of tours, like the Manta Quest, Whale Shark Quest, turtle snorkelling and more. They’ll take you by boat to nearby spots to search for these beautiful marine animals, and to explore the reefs around SAMPA.

I was also amazed at how beautiful the house reef at Nova Maldives is. It’s very healthy, with lots of colourful corals, loads of fish and even sharks and turtles!

If you don’t want to join a tour, you can ask for snorkelling gear at Aquaholics, and explore the house reef independently.

Amenities & Services

Nova Maldives has everything you might possibly need to make your stay special.

Eskape Spa 

Located close to the water villas, you’ll find a beautiful overwater spa, where you can get all sorts of treatments. 

The staff are incredible, and will receive you with a lovely welcome drink. You get to choose the type of oil you want for your treatment, and you’ll highlight on a form any areas you want them to focus on and the type of pressure you want.

The massage rooms are gorgeous, with an outdoor deck where you can relax after your massage, and glass floors by the head of the massage bed, so you can see the fishes swimming past.

Yoga Classes

At the overwater spa they also carry out morning yoga classes, some of which are free to join (you can check which ones in your Nova app).

Needless to say, it’s a gorgeous setting for your yoga session, and the perfect way to start your day. Depending on how many people there are they either do the class in one of the overwater rooms or on the outdoors deck.

Gym

Tucked into the lush greenery of the island, you’ll find a fully equipped gym that is open 24/7.

Holhuhashi & Maldivian culture

One of the things I loved about Nova Maldives was their commitment and dedication to showcasing and supporting Maldivian culture.

They directly support Maldivian businesses by selling local artisan products in the on-site shops, as well as inviting local artisans to come to Nova directly to sell their products on regular occasions.

At Nova you’ll also see that the roofs of many buildings are finished with the traditional Maldivian “kajan” thatch, made with coconut palm leaves hand-woven by local artisans.

This is a more expensive choice by Nova, as it requires regular replacing, but it supports Maldivian craftsmanship and gives the resort an authentic Maldivian island culture touch.

We also had the pleasure of participating in Holhuhashi, a weekly event at Nova where they showcase Maldivian culture, practices and traditions.

It’s usually held under the huge banyan tree in the middle of the island, but unfortunately it was raining when we were there, so it was held at Wink Bar instead. 

It’s a great opportunity learn about traditional Maldivian culture and lifestyle, to try local dishes, and even learn to write in Dhivehi.

Soul Kitchen also always has a “Maldivian Flavours” section on the menu.

A lot of resorts in the Maldives feel like they could be anywhere in the world, as they don’t really showcase Maldivian culture. At Nova, that’s definitely not the case, and it’s something we really appreciated.

Final thoughts on the best luxury resort island in the Maldives

And that’s a wrap on staying at the best luxury resort in the Maldives! Have you been to the Maldives before? How did you find it? Let me know in the comments below!

We spent five nights at Nova in June 2026, and absolutely loved it. It’s our favourite resort we’ve ever stayed at in the Maldives.

The combination of gorgeous beaches, our beautiful water villa, delicious food, absolutely stunning house reef and professional diving instructors, made for a really special trip.

It’s not every day you get to wake up to the sound of waves lapping at your doorstep, and that you can just walk over to a gorgeous reef where you can dive with countless colourful corals, fishes, sharks and even turtles!

If you have any questions about staying at Nova Maldives, just let me know in the comments below!

Enjoyed reading about staying at Nova Maldives? Pin it!