Villa Nautica, Paradise Island

Our honeymoon stay at Villa Nautica was truly unforgettable. The resort is absolutely spectacular — breathtaking views, peaceful surroundings, and a perfect atmosphere to relax and enjoy as a couple. It exceeded all our expectations. And, as a wonderful added touch, we’re especially grateful to Sayuru, whose warmth, attention, and kindness made our experience even more special. My husband and I felt genuinely cared for throughout our stay. Thank you, Villa Nautica, and thank you, Sayuru, for helping create such beautiful memories. 💙🌴✨ Read less

My fiancé and I spent five marvelous days in harmony on a wonderful and amazing paradise island, Villa Nautica. We stayed three nights in a Beach Villa and two nights in an Overwater Villa. Both were incredible experiences. In the Beach Villa, we really enjoyed the swimming pool, which had the perfect water temperature. The Overwater Villa is a must if you want to experience the pure Maldives vibe. The resort is much more than just the villas — there are plenty of activities to do and a large area to walk around the island, play basketball, table tennis, tennis, or badminton. We can’t wait to come back and enjoy Villa Nautica again as soon as possible. A special mention goes to the staff, especially Sayuru & Soltara. He helped us every day via WhatsApp, answering our questions, sending us daily activities, and being incredibly kind to us. Thank you so much for everything — you are the best. Carlos Read less

Stayed: 12 days at Villa Nautica (formerly Paradise Island), Maldives We chose Villa Nautica mainly for its convenient location, just a short speedboat ride from Malé, as we only had 12 days and didn’t want to lose time waiting for seaplanes or domestic flights. The decision turned out to be a good one! Arrival & First Impressions We flew direct with BA on the night flight, arriving in Malé around 9:30am. After clearing customs and collecting our luggage, we checked in at the Villa Nautica booth. Everything was smooth and well organised — within 10 minutes we were on the boat and heading to the island. The transfer was quick, and we were greeted warmly at the jetty by staff before being taken to reception for check-in. We were introduced to our island host, Ifraazz, who would be our main point of contact throughout our stay. He set up a WhatsApp group for us with all the key details — island map, restaurant and bar timings, menus, daily information, etc. It made communication and organisation so easy. Accommodation We had booked a Beach Villa, and while the room itself was lovely, our first villa had a rather gritty beach area and an uninspiring outlook — not quite the pristine Maldivian scene we’re used to. I messaged our host, who was fantastic and immediately said he’d see what he could do. By the following day, he’d arranged for us to move to another villa in a much better location. Our bags were transferred seamlessly, and the difference was night and day! Ifraazz checked in again afterwards to make sure we were happy — a really nice touch. Throughout our stay, he sent us daily updates via WhatsApp with weather forecasts, sunrise/sunset times, and evening entertainment info, which was really helpful. The Island The island itself is beautiful and very well kept. We were initially concerned about its proximity to Malé, but honestly, it wasn’t an issue. You can see the city in the distance from one side, but after the first day, we barely noticed it, and aircraft noise was minimal. The snorkelling was good — not the most colourful coral, but plenty of sea life to see. The best area was around the water villas and under the Hook restaurant, where we spotted reef sharks, lionfish, and lots of other marine life. The sea wall surrounding the island also keeps the water calm for swimming and snorkelling. Dining We were on an all-inclusive plan and mainly ate at the buffet restaurant, ( will come back to that later ) with one meal at the Italian restaurant, which was excellent — both food and service. Highly recommended! We didn’t try the Japanese or seafood restaurants, so can’t comment on those. The Buffet: Breakfast was consistently very good, plenty of choice, well-stocked, and service was smooth and friendly. Lunch and dinner, however, were less consistent. At busy times, finding a cleared table could be tricky, and the staff seemed stretched. We had a few occasions where we had to find someone to clear a table for us (and once even started doing it ourselves). Getting drinks could be slow, and a couple of times they didn’t arrive at all. Unlike some other islands we’ve stayed at (this was our 10th in the Maldives), there’s no dedicated waiter service, so it feels less personal. We missed that touch, having the same waiter who gets to know you makes a big difference. Food was a bit hit and miss. There was always something to eat, but some dishes felt repetitive (tuna steak, for example), while others rarely appeared, like boneless chicken or grilled beef steak. Sometimes the combination of dishes didn’t quite make sense — we’d see chicken burgers and hot dogs, but no fries! And occasionally, it was hard to find enough vegetables to make a balanced meal. Desserts were fine but could be improved — a few simple additions like custard or sauces would really lift them. Overall Despite a few dining frustrations, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The island is lovely, the staff are friendly and attentive, and having an island host like Ifraazz made everything effortless. Villa Nautica is a beautiful resort with a lot to love, a convenient location, great facilities, and excellent service. If the buffet restaurant at lunch and dinner could be better staffed and a little more refined, it would easily reach the same high standard as the rest of the resort. We left relaxed, happy, and grateful for another wonderful Maldivian escape. Read less

My wife always wanted to go to the Maldives, but in our mid 60's I didn't want to be in a resort full of lovey dovey honeymooners. How wrong I was. We found holiday makers of all ages. Families and older couples probably make up the majority. We picked the Villa Nautica for our 10 day stay in November 2025 because we wanted to transfer by speedboat. After a 10 hour flight we didn't then want to hop on another plane. Cost was also a factor of course. I would say this was middle of the road. Not the cheapest and certainly not the dearest. Then there were the reviews. Couldn't really read anything bad anywhere. To be honest, I would say most of the resorts would probably be good. If they weren't there is so much competition they wouldn't survive. When we landed in Male we went to the booths at T2 where all resorts had a representative. Gave our name and we then waited for another couple to arrive before setting off. Right... tip. We decided to get a coffee while we waited. Just after purchasing and sitting down we were collected and taken to the speedboat. Now, a 600hp speedboat on open water is quite bumpy. Even in the take away cup with a lid I still ended up with coffee over my T-shirt. Next time, no coffee until reaching the resort. The view of the island is exactly like the pictures. Fantastic colours. Quite beautiful. We were received by our host Sayuru for the checkin process. This was new to us. No visit to reception, everything was handled via Sayuru. This included any bookings for trips and restaurants. Very simple and convenient. Talking of restaurants we were All Inclusive. The premium AI was quite a bit extra and as it turned out really not necessary. We were in an over water villa so had our own buffet restaurant the Lagoon. Food and drink was absolutely fine so we didn't really need to go to the speciality restaurants. The other beach based villas had their own restaurant. This was far larger as it catered to more guests. But we were glad we didn't eat there as the Lagoon was a much nicer atmosphere less busy. We found that we stayed in the villa everyday except the first day. Day 1 we thought we would stay by the pool. It looks lovely but firstly, the water was quite cold (colder than the sea by a margin). There were no sunbeds to be had. I guess you would need to get there early to grab one. Even then, there was not much shelter from the sun as the brollies were quite small and fixed in place. So we ended up sitting at a table and chairs on the beach by the bar. The rest of the holiday we stayed on our decking. Much nicer as it had plenty of shade, our own sunbeds and we could simply walk down the steps into the water. Perfect. This is getting a bit wordy now so lets sum up. The over water villa accommodation was brilliant. I would highly recommend over a beach villa. Service was nothing short of fantastic - impossible to single anyone out. The location was ideal. Snorkelled every day and never got tired of it. Swimming with the black tip sharks was a highlight. No issues with food or drink. No Mosquitos as far as I observed. Any negatives? Not really. I have seen others comment that the hotel could do with a bit of TLC and I can agree to a point, but nothing that would put me off. Would we go again? Absolutely! Read less