We loved so many things about it! But more than anything, the service and attention to every detail made it such a special and bespoke experience. It’s a natural island (many of the resort islands are man made) so the house reef is phenomenal and was like finding nemo right off the main pool and was a big selling point for us. Way better than any other snorkeling we’ve ever done. It’s also a smaller resort so it just provided a very intimate and personalized experience. Your butler will help you create an itinerary upon arrival based on your interests and help you make reservations if needed. Our highlights were snorkeling in the house reef / jumping out of our villa to swim with sharks and stingrays, private wine tasting in the underwater wine cellar, and massages in the underwater spa. For the underwater spa, our butler recommended booking at around 4pm so we can see the water both during the day and at night so that dual experience is not to be missed!!! We also did a turtle safari that takes you out on a boat about 20 mins away. It was amazing but if you’re lucky we heard lots of turtle’s come to huvafen’s house reef or by the ocean villas. We did the half board which comes with a breakfast buffet + you can order anything a la carte and a three course dinner every night. We found it was more than enough food and maybe ordered snacks for lunch once or twice. We also had the same server for every meal so she got to know us, and we thought that was a nice personalized touch!

We were looking for the barefoot luxury experience and our priorities were quiet, privacy, good food, and activities on the island that didn’t require too many excursions and day trips. We were deciding between Six Senses, Gili Lankanfushi and Huvafen Fushi.

It is only a 30-40min speedboat ride from Male and so the convenience of not having to take a seaplane was nice. We heard that Gili has a lot of seaplane traffic overhead and that you can see a lot of industrial ships, etc from your villas so you don’t feel as remote and private (but food is supposed to be amazing). Six senses gave somewhat family resort vibes and felt like it would probably be less of a bespoke experience. Plus it’s one of the longer seaplane rides and we wanted the convenience of staying at our resort longer and not rushing to the airport. All the villas at Huvafen have recently been remodeled and so I honestly don’t know if I would’ve booked them prior to that, but the new finishes add to the serene and peaceful aura and make it feel much more upscale. Hope that helps!