This was our 5th trip to the Maldives and our first stay at JA Manafaru and I would highly recommend the island. (For context previous stays include Conrad Rangali and Park Hyatt Hadahaa).
JA is far to the north of Maldives and we took a seaplane from Male (included in the price we paid for the resort - a huge saving). As expected, we were looked after by island staff as soon as we came off our international flight. The seaplane lounge was excellent, in the new terminal. It is a shared Transmaldivian lounge, but of a MUCH higher calibre than previous shared lounges we've had in Maldives and very much on a similar standard as the Conrad lounge for example. We had to wait about 3 hours for the seaplane (no issue in the great lounge) and the flight time to the island was about 70 minutes - wonderful views as always. Check in happened in the lounge - very efficient.
The welcome onto the island from the GM and our host Mohamed was brilliant. We were whisked off on golf buggies to our room straight away, to find we had an upgrade to a Deluxe Beach Villa with pool out the back. This was a lovely surprise! We always prefer a beach villa rather than an over the water villa as you get more space, and a beach. However, I felt they could do much more with the beach in front of the villa - make it into a garden rather than a plain expanse of sand for example. I wonder if they were going to put pools out the front originally. We loved having the pool out the back - it's great for privacy. I was really glad to see the decor in the villa was neutral (I had seen photos of lime green sofas which were not to my taste but we did not see any of this on the island). The bathroom was particularly great - spacious with jacuzzi bath.
There were some small issues with the hardware - soft close drawers getting stuck, no pin for the parasol on the beach, wardrobe lights flicking on and off. The indoor shower leaked under the shower door into the main bathroom and the water pressure in the outside shower wasn't great. The lighting in the villas also wasn't great - it was either very low, or big lights bouncing off the ceiling (which no-one wants!). And the light switches were hard to figure out (a common hotel gripe and I love it when hotels get this right - it's rare). The bed and sofa were both very firm - I had to do my yoga every morning to loosen up, but my husband loved the firmness. What I would rave about all day is the quality of the towels and robes - so so so soft, really luxurious to touch and super cosy. Big A* for these elements. Overall, we really liked the villa.
The service was excellent - and probably the stand out piece of the puzzle - it was just the sort of service I like. VERY efficient. Comms with your island host is via WhatsApp, and from requests to delivery, things were often sorted in under 10 minutes - this is not an exaggeration and is hugely impressive. Service in the restaurants was equally excellent. I had made a number of pre-orders for meals ahead of our visit, and they were all delivered with no fuss. In fact none of the service was fussy - which I really appreciated. I also didn't ever feel like I was being up-sold which I highly value and do not take for granted. The service was also really warm from all the team - big shout out to Pranita and Rambo at the restaurants. JA also acknowledged our 10 year wedding anniversary with lovely treats at dinner and in our villa - we loved this element, it felt really special.
The spa was a real highlight. The tranquility, setting and location are unmatched. We had the couples connection treatment and my husband said it was the best massage he's ever had. However, they do allow children in the spa. Post-treatment, having a 10 year old child jumping in the plunge pool and banging the gong multiple times is not the one. I'm really surprised they allow children anywhere near the spa to be honest and would recommend this is reviewed.
The whole island was very popular with families. I'd say we were in the minority as a couple. For the most part the children we saw were really well behaved - especially at dinner; however, inevitably, so many families does change the 'vibe' and so although the island is in the far north and 'secluded' - it doesn't necessarily feel like a hideaway private island when you're at dinner or the pool. I work in a school - so getting away from children on holiday is high on the agenda. At times around the pool at Andiamo, there was some children jumping in right near our loungers, which splashed us - they weren't being naughty, just enjoying themselves but we are not here for that, and a member of bar staff came and stood by us to chat with us, clearly to discourage the children away. It wouldn't stop me going again (I put on my noise cancelling headphones and got lost in a book), but something to be mindful of if you are looking for tranquility in public spaces.
The setting of the pool is incredible - I've never seen a pool in the interior of a Maldivian island surrounded by jungle and it really worked. It's also REALLY big, and nicely located next to Andiamo bar/restaurant. At times we were the only people there which was lovely. However, it's a shame they now only have one 'public' pool (the 2nd pool on the beach was taken out of service last year and will not be re-instated). In this circumstance I'd ensure there were some adult only hours at the pool (as is often seen in high-end hotels).
The gym was good - nice views out to the ocean, though when we arrived none of the machines were working and there was a puddle of water on the floor next to some sockets - we had to contact our island host, who arranged for them to be switched on. Kinda odd - but the request was dealt with quickly.
For a small island the variety of restaurants was good and the food was a good standard across the board. The highlights were Maldivian night and the sea food BBQ (at which they also had a pasta station and tons of other food, so don't worry if you don't like sea food!). We had heard people raving about the food before we came. We were on a half board plan, and I am very fussy, so we only ate at Ocean GrillI, White Orchid and Kakuni (effectively missing out on all the super fancy dinner spots - wine cellar, tree house, teppanyaki) but even so, we felt that at a base level it wasn't quite as luxury-high-end as Park Hyatt for example. However, I stress that the food was REALLY delicious and at an excellent standard across all meals. We loved meeting Executive Chef Moosa and chatting to him about the resort (he's worked there 20 years!). We would have liked Andiamo (the Italian) to be open for dinner - it was only open for lunch whilst we were there which, as half-board guests, we didn't really make use of.
We were not expecting the reef to be too impressive (having done our research in advance we were aware the house reef is deemed pretty average). However, we were genuinely pleasantly surprised by it. We saw lots of fish, sadly no turtles - though babies hatched right off the beach just before and after we were there. We saw some huge nurse sharks off the jetty one evening, but no big sharks/rays in the water whilst snorkeling. We did the snorkel trip to a nearby deserted island, and the reef there was really good - we felt it was good value and only 2 other couples were on the dhoni with us which meant for a quiet experience in the water which we enjoyed, but still only saw fish - no problem, just to be aware.
The beach was great outside our villa (300). The sand quality was beautiful - very fine and lightly golden. The jungle was lovely in the inner island, though the trees felt low - there weren't lots of tall palms in the centre of the island which can create an awesome cathedral-like feel. In general, the island is beautiful but it's hard to get a vantage point to see it - the jetties aren't central. There are also not many focal points as the restaurants are fairly well hidden into the island (except White Orchid which is out on a jetty). The Ocean Grill and Kakuni restaurants look almost exactly the same to the untrained eye - it would be nice to see some greater variety of design which would add 'wow-factor' on the island.
On the way out, we got a seaplane back to Male (the seaplane schedule you might see ahead of your stay is totally irrelevant - they will book a plane which will get the relevant guests off the island all together - if possible - and on time for your flight home). Our international flight was at 9.30pm and our seaplane was at 2.00pm. This meant a wait in another (not quite so nice, but absolutely fine) TMA airways lounge - still in the seaplane terminal, before JA staff took us to the international terminal at 6.00pm for our flight home. Again we didn't have a problem with this at all - we thought we might have to get a domestic transfer and we were happy to get a seaplane instead.
The weather whilst we stayed was mixed - some storms, some rain, some sun. The temperature remains steady at around 28 degrees regardless. This changeable weather is to be expected in July/August and in no way affected our enjoyment on the island - there's plenty to do whatever the weather and we never get bored in Maldives!
All in all, I think JA is more than the sum of its parts. Yes I have a few small critiques, but the service, warmth and high standards across the board make it a really fantastic island. Even with the few niggles I've mentioned, I would definitely consider it again. The value for money was exceptional (thank you to Purely Maldives for being a great agent through which to make our booking) and we really enjoyed ourselves. Thank you so much to all the staff at JA - you've got a really special island and we were delighted to experience it this summer.
