Kandima Maldives

Adam is the nicest housekeeper, he was very kind and very flexible with our family. He also brought us fresh coconut and showed the kids how to open it.

The service was incredible. The staff went out of their way to make us feel more than comfortable every single moment. I would like to thank Mrs. Inu., from the hotel reception, who was very kind and helped us a lot. Also Mr. Haanu, who helped in the Dhaalu Airport. We’ll definitely be back in 2028!

We have just returned from the most magical family holiday to Kandima. I have never written a review but to acknowledge the wonderful job the staff do and the absolutely fantastic facilities we experienced I have to. What a fantastic, beautiful place!! I would highly recommend for families in particular but we met couples and friends without children who equally enjoyed their time there. We stayed for 8 days Full Board in an ocean villa. Accommodation - Our over water villa was the perfect size for me and my two teen sons. Very quiet away from the main restaurant and bar (Flavour and Breeze) and allowed us to swim from our deck, watching out for stunning fish, reef sharks etc! The room was very clean and we could use the app or call to have extra cleaning, towels etc any time we needed. Great selection of movies for a quieter night. Lovely huge shower and MASSIVE bath tub overlooking the ocean. No issues at all with hot water or water pressure. Plenty of space for clothing. Food/drinks - Breakfast at Zest buffet located at the quieter Ocean villa end of the island where we were staying was great. A lovely selection of food, hot/cold, savoury/sweet including a lot gluten free options! Zest has a lovely beach restaurant feel so we really liked it there. Lunch and dinner at Flavour (main middle area of te island) was good quality, tasty food. There were plenty of options with daily changes so we were weren't bored of the selections. The cold section was very good with delicious fresh sashimi, salads, fruits, desserts. Zest and Flavour were covered in our Full Board. Sea Dragon (paid for with 20% discount as we were full board) was delicious and the venue is stunning. Definitely worth going to. Azure - (paid for with 20% discount as we were full board) lovely setting on the beach. We had pizza which was good but nothing amazing. Beach Club - the food at the poolside bar closest to our ocean villa was really lovely and great to be able to sit by the pool/beach and not go all the way to the buffet at Flavour some days. The team at Beach Club made delicious drinks and were very attentive and friendly. Thank you guys :) Room service had a good selection. We ordered twice and the food arrived promptly and very tasty having ordered on the app very easily. Aroma cafe - my sons went from Beach Club to Aroma (very close) to get their daily (added expense) ice cream intake! Lovely staff and great selection of food. Very nice setting overlooking the lagoon. Transport - we transferred on the seaplane which was a great experience! transport around the island is via electric giant golf cart style buses which play great music in the evening :) As we were staying in an ocean villa the far side of the island we needed to take transport regularly to get to lunch, dinner (in the middle of the islade) or get to fast track (opposite side of the island) but we never had to wait more than 10mins. You can also walk the road or slightly faster (but very hot as not sheltered by the trees) on the beach. Activities - where to begin!!! Kandima literally has thought of everything for all ages and the staff are phenominal. Kandiland (for little ones) with its splash area, slides, fountains etc and indoor play spaces (we didn't use but could see it) looked fantastic! I wish I had known about Kandima when my children were younger as it was the perfect set up. Playspace was HEAVEN for my teens!! and I had the best evenings there with them, so much fun! Bowling, pool, table football, air hockey, arcade, VR experiences, escape room....WOW. We did them all and everything is spotless, well run with staff wanting to help or chat (and cheer mum on!!) The staff - Song in particular was just amazing. Thank you so much. but also Anastasia, Santhosh and Molly were wonderful and went above and beyond for us. Nothing was too much trouble. They emailed and WhatsApp'd me prior to arrival so I could pre book activities but also helped move things around for us when we were there. There is a bar for drinks, ice creams and milkshakes. A lovely terrace by the sea for adults if you want to stay with children but don't want to be in the thick of the action. Karaoke was brilliant there too! The enthusiasm of the staff and encouragement to the guests was really so lovely and made such a fun atmosphere. You can load up credit onto a playcard so kids can use the arcade without you there which was very handy. A good selection of games. The staff there are genuinely the best and I felt super safe letting my 13yr old, and autistic 16yr old go there without me to have fun when they wanted. A huge thank you to the Playspace team xx Fast Track - Mt eldest go karts regularly and absolutely loved the track, cars and staff at Fast Track. The boards for weekly, monthly and annual times (and that my boys made it up there) was a great idea and they really enjoyed competing to get on the board so it's not just a show up, pay and run the track, it's very inclusive with staff giving tips, advice and encouraging you. Thank you to the great team on the track! Turtle Quest - what a magical afternoon we had. My youngest and I went out on a boat which was lovely sitting on the front in the wind chatting to our guide. We snorkelled with the option of a life jacket (I would recommend even as a strong swimmer as its quite tiring after a while) and saw TWO turtles and so many beautiful fish. Absolutely worth doing for a very reasonable cost. Thank you to our very kind, experienced guide who made us feel very safe throughout. Photoshoot - we were given a complimentary photo shoot with one free picture...I bought 5 more! What a lovely idea to capture this beautiful place and the great memories. Highly recommend doing and there was absolutely no pressure (as you usually get) to buy any pictures. I wanted them all and it was reasonably priced. What's On! - is within the app for Kandima and shows you daily activities - yoga, football, tennis etc, most of which are complimentary. We played football, volleyball and went to the Glow Party as well as Turtle Quest (paid) but there is much much more to get involved in of you want to. Spa - I had one 90mins treatment which was amazing! and my oldest had a 30min massage....he fell asleep! The atmosphere is calming with the waves crashing in the background. Everywhere was spotlessly clean. The therapists were really lovely, professional and kind. Communal facilities - all bathrooms etc were always immaculate and fresh as if no one had been in all day. Very impressed especially with pool/beachside facilities, they were spotless, dry floors, fully stocked with all the usual as well as face towels and baby changing facilities in every one! Overall I highly recommend Kandima in particular for its wonderful staff and truly great range of facilities. A stunning paradise island with all it should be but so so much more! Some niggles or things I would have liked to be better/different or would do different on booking myself. Mostly small things so not game changers but feedback hopefully the resort could take on board or helpful for guests to know when booking. In hindsight I would have booked room only. One adult (not a big drinker) and two teens with the structure of the included food/drinks on Full Board - Breakfast 07:00 - 10:30, Lunch 12:30 - 14:30pm, Dinner 18:30 - 22:00pm soft drinks included only during those times wasn't very cost effective. My teens often missed breakfast, lunch meant getting a bus (usually only an hour or two after them waking) to get to the only lunch venue Flavour for the buffet or just to get a soft drink and snack. If all meals could have been at Zest AND Flavour it would a) be easier to have two choices depending on which is nearest to your room and pool at least get a drink and snack without paying more b) changed the venue a bit more....the same place for dinner for 8 nights, even with changes to the menu gets boring without spending more to go to a paid restaurant c) being limited with timing didn't work for our family needs so we ended up spending a lot of bar food (which was lovely at Beach Club) - not the resorts issue, my planning! opps I would have appreciated both Zest and Flavour (inclusive for food and drinks during open times) being open at lunch and dinner. There are pools at both and accommodation near both but lunch and dinner (and inclusive drinks) only served at one?? If staying in an ocean villa you are looking at 30mins each way, 1 hour gone in transit for every lunch/dinner/drink you've paid for. Not great. Even Zest being open for soft drinks only over the lunch period would have been really helpful to serve that side of the island, instead everyone has to go to Flavour and back or pay additionally at the bars. Small things that show attention to detail that would have been good - if you know 3 guests are staying provide 3 of the things you normally do in the room: cutlery, beach towels, glasses, chairs on dining table deck etc. you can call guest services of course but I think it shows care to have ready when you already know the number staying in the room. Toiletries - they smell divine and have great ingredients despite not being luxury style but the small items, cotton buds, face pads etc and toilet roll need replenishing too on room cleans. One thing I did complain about was the one dish I ordered at Breeze bar so I can't speak for all the food but the nachos were embarrassingly bad. For $20+ I got a box of nachos with what looked like a sneeze (a small one!) of chilli and squeezy cheese sauce. A table spoon (if that) of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. Not impressed especially when I was paying on top of my full board as the only restaurant I could eat in wasn't open. I really think ice cream/ice lollies should be available in the Full/Half Board options during lunch and dinner opening times. As a resort very clearly geared to children and families to not have this included during any of our stay was very disappointing...and expensive for me to cover! The drink stations in Flavour I would suggest have better monitoring as children are frequently getting themselves it can get very messy very easily and as an adult arriving to lunch/dinner at a 5* resort it doesn't look good with juice, fanta everywhere. Same with ice at the drink station. It quickly goes/melts so needs more frequent replenishing. Clearing food still available from both buffets BEFORE the time it closes is really not nice as someone paying for it. Going to get a beautiful dish (a huge beef wellington in particular!! so sad) and having it carried off by staff when people are still getting their meal makes you feel like you're in a rushed school canteen NOT a 5* resort. I would at least wait until restaurant close time or better, stop allowing new guests arriving at closure, BUT you could allow those still there 10mins grace to get what additional bits they might like after closing the doors to new guests. No one wants to pile up plate after plate of starter, main and dessert at 14:00pm in a rush, have it sit on your table in the heat because you're worried everything starts being taken away at 14:15 (or earlier!) and it shouldn't even close until 14:30pm. Especially given the size of the island and knowing it can take up to 30mins to get to another venue. Teaspoons - Zest, please put some teaspoons at the coffee/tea stations! Having to daily stir my espresso with a tablespoon isn't great. Zest/Flavour tables are never laid with salt and pepper? They are available if you manage to hunt them down but this really should be standard. Transfer service: Sea Plane - I'm not sure who this falls on but I assume Kandima have the contract with the sea plane provider so I'll leave the feedback here but it isn't directly feedback of Kandima as they were fantastic with our transfer process. We were delayed departing Heathrow so landed 1hr late to Male. As we had "missed" our scheduled sea plane we had to wait 5.5hrs at Male Sea Plane terminal to get the next sea plane to Kandima. I cannot fathom there wasn't an alternative option with both commercial flights + boat and endless sea plane departures (many we saw near empty) whilst we waited having to buy drinks and very limited food after a 10hr journey. I would suggest better communication/agreements between seaplane providers so in this event if empty seats are available on planes going that direction costs can be adjusted and passengers taken better care of. Additionally avoiding a backlog of passengers. I would absolutely return to Kandima but book differently based on our family food/drinks needs. I would like some of the small, more basic issues considered and hopefully resolved as it really is a wonderful place and the staff and facilities were absolutely 5*******

An incredible family holiday. The room was so beautiful and well maintained. We booked on the beach with the pool, which was perfect for young kids. I’d highly recommend the cast away experience, sunset fishing and dinner at Azure. The staff were all so helpful and friendly. A special mention to Jonathan and Dermot who went above and beyond. We will be back!

We had a fantastic stay at Kandima Resort Maldives. The moment we arrived by seaplane, everything was smooth and well organised. The staff were outstanding — always friendly, helpful, and genuinely made us feel welcome the whole time. Room 550 Beach Villa was perfect for our family of 2 adults and 2 kids, with plenty of space, a private pool, and spa which made it extra special. It’s a great place for families with young kids, with loads of activities to keep everyone busy. We loved the fishing, go karting, jet skis, diving, and the cast away experience — there’s so much to do that no one gets bored. Beautiful resort, great food, and amazing staff who really make the experience special. We’d definitely recommend Kandima to families and would happily come back again.