Kagi Maldives Spa Island

We are a family of four, two parents and two adult children, and we stayed at Kagi Maldives Resort for a week at the end of January. Overall an excellent experience at Kagi, as I detail below. Arriving/departing Kagi and Male are in the same atoll, guests have the option of travelling in and out via seaplane or boat and in either case the travel time is short. For us this was a significant advantage to Kagi over resorts in other atolls: you arrive at the resort relatively quickly after touching down at Velana aiport, and if you can schedule a later return flight out of Velana you can enjoy at least one more full morning (possibly a good part of the afternoon too) in the resort before leaving for the airport. We were met in the arrivals area and escorted to our inbound transfer via speedboat, which was quick and efficient. From exiting the arrivals area to Kagi’s island jetty was approximately 90 minutes. The outbound transfer was via seaplane – nice to have both experiences – and this too was quick and efficient, although the controlled chaos at Velana’s seaplane transfer terminal made the experience more hectic. Environment at Kagi The resort island is very small, as noted in other comments. No need for motorized transport here, and the journey from any one point to any other is a matter of a few steps. Landscaping is well-grown and beautifully tended. We were at Kagi when the hotel was at or near full occupancy and no facilities ever felt crowded – in fact the lovely Ufaa bar always had seating free, and after dinner was amazingly unpopulated. The overwater villas are visible from the restaurant, bar and spa but the sea still dominates the view. The seawalls are also visible from the shore in most places but we didn’t find them unpleasant or ugly . . . if we had stayed in one of the villas with a seawall directly in front of it (true for some of the ocean and lagoon villas) we might have felt differently. The guests were a mix of honeymooners, couples, families with adult children, and a few couples with a baby. When we were there the only children present who were old enough to walk were also old enough to have a drivers license. Accomodation We were at Kagi as a family, and we had an ocean villa and a beach villa. The interiors were quite similar, with a clean and modern look; the exterior of the ocean villa was smaller but the deck had a ladder into the sea and of course the wonderful view. Both villas had plunge pools. Some of the previous reviews of the ocean villas had negative reactions to the sound of waves against the villa substructure at high tide but we weren’t bothered at all during our stay. Twice-daily cleaning was excellent and the young men doing the work were pleasant and helpful – thanks to the team! Restaurants The food was uniformly excellent at the main restaurant, which serves breakfast, buffet lunch and buffet dinner. Service at all three meals was organized around a group of two to three stations serving made-to-order dishes, a hot self-serve buffet with 6-8 offerings, and a cold self-serve buffet featuring salads, cheeses, cold meat, bread, pastries or desserts, etc. Executive chef O’Brien was fantastic, present at almost every meal and ready to answer any guest questions or talk about how the resort plans and sources the dishes we saw in front of us. Breakfast fully met the “5-star resort” standard for quality, quantity and choice. We noted slightly fewer purely Asian dishes at breakfast than we expected but there were always a few – including two pots tucked away in a corner, one with fresh chapatis and the other with chicken or (usually) fish curry. This was my favorite station – when am I going to have curry for breakfast at home? – and on several mornings chef Chathura was kind enough to make me a special Maldivian breakfast curry, with all of the trimmings, which I appreciated deeply. Thanks Chathura! Lunch and dinner were not themed around a rotation of countries or regions (Thai, Chinese, Maldivian, etc) but were instead “international” with a variety of dishes from various cuisines. We thought that at least 50% of the offerings could be considered “Western” or “European” (for example, beef cheeks were on offer one night, leg of lamb another, roast and mashed potatoes, risottos, quesadillas. . .) but there were always multiple offerings from Asia as well. The made-to-order stations were excellent and manned by the dedicated kitchen team – thanks to chefs Carlo, Jarov, Davin and Chathura for making each meal so good! Our best experience was the barbeque lunch on Friday (offered every week we were told), with chicken, beef, fish and king prawns grilled right in front of you. This bbq was outstanding and is a frequent topic of discussion since our return (“why didn’t I have that extra serving of shrimp/beef/fish at the bbq . . .”). There are three specialty a la carte restaurants: Italian at Nonna, pan-Asian at Ke-Un and Asian-inspired lunch at the spa. We tried Ke-Un and the spa; Ke-Un was decent, perhaps not better than the buffet, but lunch at the spa was exceptional. It was our favorite dining venue at Kagi and we went twice. Premium All-Inclusive Food and beverage prices at Maldivian resorts aren’t low – almost everything comes from somewhere far away – and three meals plus a few drinks every day can reach a shocking sum at the end of a week. Kagi offers the option to purchase an all-inclusive package as part of your stay, and for us this was absolutely worth the price. The package offers three meals a day at the main restaurant, and you have the option of booking one table at a specialty a la carte dinner restaurant for every three days of your stay, and a table for a spa lunch as often as there is space. Almost everything on the a la carte menus is included in the premium all-inclusive plan with only a few items requiring a supplementary charge. You can also order bar snacks from a long list (appetizers, sandwiches, pizzas . . .) as often as you wish. The plan lets you consume anything in your room’s minibar – which is replenished daily. If you drink alcohol or like soft drinks, mocktails, smoothies, or milkshakes, the plan has you covered. Beer, wine by the glass, cocktails and spirits are all included in the plan and they are of very good quality (top-shelf liquor and wines by the bottle are excluded, however). The menu of options is surprisingly long and caters to all tastes, everything from the classic tropical drinks and juices through after-dinner cognac, and as mentioned earlier these have a significant cost if you’re not enrolled in the plan. We were surprised that almost everything on the bar menu and a la carte restaurant menus was included with no supplement, and we never felt deprived of an attractive option – we have stayed at other resorts where this was definitely not the case! Away from F&B the plan also offers 20% off your first spa visit if booked soon after your arrival, complimentary snorkeling equipment, one hour a day use of a canoe or paddleboard free of charge, a complimentary photo shoot by the resort photographer, and a complimentary sunset cruise (we were hoping to see dolphins on the evening we went but were unlucky, the cruise itself was lovely though). One of the non-monetary advantages of the plan is that, except at the specialty restaurants, you don’t have to sign for anything which doesn’t have a supplemental charge. Not signing a check after every drink, snack or meal really added to our comfort and sense of relaxation. If you only want breakfast plus one other meal a day, you don’t drink alcohol and don’t want any specialty non-alcoholic beverages then it may be cheaper to pay as you go (or purchase the half-board plan, for example). Spa Fitness activities which don’t involve the sea are centered on the spa. The spa building is over water with a central core open to the sky and various treatment and exercise rooms comprising the outer ring. The weight and cardio room has a good array of equipment and a great view over the water – we used it several times. There is also a room for group activities, and I believe that some classes were also held in the open center. Spa massage treatments were expert, and although the price was high we felt that they were good value. The masseuses were Balinese ladies, very capable – special thanks to Ketut and Chandra for the great treatments. As mentioned earlier, you can book lunch at the spa and this was the culinary high point of our stay at Kagi. Dishes were mostly Asian or fusion, focused on health and uniformly delicious. Reserving in advance is recommended as there aren’t many tables and guests quickly learn that the food is excellent. Snorkeling We came to the Maldives for the snorkeling, and the main reason we selected Kagi was the excellent reviews of the house reef. I’m happy (and relieved) to add our recommendation to the list. We don’t dive and we didn’t use any of the other available watersport equipment so the rest of this review will focus only on snorkeling. The island is surrounded by a reef but only 25-30% of this is recommended for snorkelers; the remainder is off-limits due to currents or boat access zones. This still affords an amazing amount to see: the coral is healthy, well-colored and the quantity of fish is a snorkeler’s dream. Almost all of the varieties of fish you see in the Maldives are present and in huge quantities; black-tip and white-tip reef sharks swim by occasionally and there’s even a small grotto in coral near the spa which usually hid a resting shark. We had a brief glimpse of a turtle (other snorkelers were luckier, it really comes down to that) but didn’t see any rays. We were out once or twice a day for the duration of our stay. At low tide access via the lagoon, between the ocean villas and the spa, is difficult due to the water level brushing much of the shallow-water coral. The dive center suggested entering the water from the small beach between the spa and the main jetty and this proved much easier – you could swim out a bit closer to the jetty and then let the mild current carry you to the main snorkeling area past the spa (where the current disappeared). There was somewhat less coral via this approach but the schooling fish were amazing. Several times we started from the jetty in front of the restaurant and snorkeled around the ocean villa seawalls to the main area, which was also rewarding. Our best snorkeling experience of the week we spent at Kagi was the turtle search expedition we booked through the dive center. A speedboat with two crew took us to a nearby reef, about fifteen minutes from Kagi, where we spent close to an hour in the water accompanied by two guides from the dive center. This reef didn’t surround an island and the coral, fish and overall appearance of the reef were breathtaking. We were very fortunate: one of the guides found a turtle for us within the first four minutes! We only saw one that morning but the rest of the session was just as amazing – sharks, fish in huge numbers, sea anemones and clownfish (the Kagi snorkeling area unfortunately doesn’t have any of these, we were told that the reef on the other side of the island has a few but you need to dive to see them), a cliff drop-off with some coral caves, healthy and colorful coral, did I mention the vast amount of fish? This snorkeling trip was the highlight of the stay at Kagi for us, and what made it even better was the underwater camera which one of guides brought. He allowed us to download the photos and videos he took – many of which included us – which we will be reviewing for years ahead. The trip was absolutely worth the cost and we would counsel any snorkelers to book one as well – if we had stayed longer at Kagi we would have booked it twice. Thanks to the Dive Center team for that experience! Summary Our experience was very positive: we went for (1) snorkeling, (2) food and ambiance, (3) room style and quality, in that order – and Kagi met or exceeded all expectations. Proximity to Male meant we could spend more time at the resort and less on travelling back and forth to the airport, which was an advantage. Snorkeling was excellent on the house reef and superb at another reef nearby. Food and amenities were great. All staff were friendly, helpful and very good at their jobs. Thanks to everyone there for making such a memorable experience for our family!

It's a simple review.....it's exceptional. The experience is the best you'll get and the food is not just a buffet, it is an experience all of its own. Full stop

A fantastic experience with great staff, excellent food and a beautiful house reef close to and surrounding the resort. Room was spacious, well appointed and was cleaned twice daily. Minibar was well stocked. We went all inclusive and didn't regret it; food and drink were of very high quality and there was a good variety in all the restaurants. Staff were all helpful and friendly but Dorji, Akib and Bee were particularly notable for their good service. Would definitely go again.