Baros Maldives

We are very fortunate to travel to the Maldives regularly and have stayed in many resorts (some multiple times). This was our third resort of our 2025 trip. We booked Baros last minute due to our transfers from a domestic island being difficult and stayed just two short nights. That said, this is a resort we have been intending to visit for many years so it was not a difficult decision to choose Baros. We were on half board. As we only stayed two nights we ate all our meals at Lime. Plenty of reviews comment on the food being good and I agree - I shall not go into more detail than that. We did do sundown drinks and canapes at Lighthouse which was lovely. Booking last minute did initially work against us as we were allocated a room very close to the bar (there is live music regularly and I am a peace and quiet lover). However, staff were very helpful in helping us move rooms and we were very happy with the villa they changed us to. We were moved to 215 which is a pool villa. This room was really lovely and we would request it again on a return visit. While the pool is visible from the beach (and vice versa) we only had a few people walk past and one snorkeling trip turn up on ‘our beach’ so it was far from busy. The pool was lovely and warm and there were plenty of places to sit outside (and dry swimwear). Despite Male being quite close, we did not notice much boat or plane traffic from our villa. It was certainly less than I had expected. Places like Gili Lankanfushi certainly have more traffic overall. The upkeep in the villas was excellent and while they were closer together than I had realised (the island is very densely packed) they still felt very quiet and private. While the beach is not traditionally pretty - for a short stay this did not bother us at all. If however you are looking for long sweeping stretches of sand this island is not a good fit for you. The house reef was a pleasant surprise. While there is a decent current we were able to tell which way it was pushing from the surface so simply adjusted our entry location to drift with it. There are snorkeling maps provided in the villa and at the dive shop. While the corals were not as impressive as other resorts, there is plenty to see and we saw a lot more than we really expected to. We saw a few really big sharks (nurse and black-tips including ‘Finny’ who is missing her dorsal fin) turtles, a purple crown jelly (new sighting for us, very nice) and a zebra moray (rare snorkeling). I also found a nudibranch on the way out in the shallows. There were plenty of schools of fish some huge giant trevallies/jacks, clown fish in shallow water and (my favourites) puffer fish and box fish. We were also lucky enough to see two octopus (one appeared rather interested in making some more octopus, the second less so...) Overall the reef was really rewarding and certainly interesting enough for a few days. I would recommend wearing rash leggings and vests as there were some sea lice/plankton out and about. If you are stung rinse with fresh water and take an antihistamine :) I went to the spa once in the interest of writing a comprehensive review and not just because I am self indulgent. The treatment was very good and comparable to other spas in the Maldives. There were some minor maintenance issues such as a buzzing light in the changing area, spider webs in the outdoor shower and the music kept cutting out in the room, I suspect a freshen up will be on the tables soon but it was worth the money I paid. A few of my favourite things: - The shower pressure was excellent. Full points. - There is a hose/tap as you leave the beach to wash your feet, this helps keep the outdoor area neat. - The sommelier (Danu) was excellent, personable, excellent at identifying suitable bottles and I really liked the fact he recommended bottles at multiple price points (generally starting lower) which helps with budgeting. - No tray charge for room service. This makes ordering lunch to the room a fun little splurge rather than prohibitively priced. - The gardens and landscaping are truly lush, well established and cared for. The departure experience at Baros was excellent and one of the key reasons I would say make this your last resort on a multi-island trip. They have this down to a fine art and ensure you leave the resort early enough to make your flight, but not so early you are stuck in the airport for hours. We left at 4:30pm for our 7:15pm flight. From the boat we were escorted through check in to the security gates. While you can do this alone, it is always nice to feel well looked after by a resort and Baros excelled at this. Baros is a bit of an interesting resort to me. On paper it has quite a few downsides. For example, the villas are crammed in, you can’t walk around the island, there are sea walls, groynes, sandbags and I’m not one for the ‘lounge jetties’. Of course there is the Male factor and you cannot escape the fact the coral is not in good condition. But despite these downsides, Baros really does work. The villas feel private, the landscaping is lovely, I adore the water dragons everywhere. There are a lot of fish on the reef. The staff are very good. While the room is darker than we'd usually like, somehow that did not bother us either. Perhaps in bad weather it might. Anyway, suffice to say we’d happily return for a few nights at the end of a trip!

Wonderful experience in a truly beautiful place with exceptional hospitality and warm, welcoming service. I strongly recommend everyone to visit and enjoy it.

Baros is a luxury island resort which offers a lot for your money. All accommodation is in private villas, some on land and some overwater. We stayed a few days in one and a few days in the other. The experience is very different but both are great. The staff in the resort (which is very cosmopolitan from all corners of teh world) is extremely friendly and helpful. Every guest is assigned a personal butler who cares about all our needs. There is a great spa with experienced massagists, and the diving center with very professional staff. We immensely enjoyed our stay, and especially grateful to all very nice people who cared about us: Kiara, Albina, Mika, Celini, Saeed and all the rest.

We stayed 5 nights at Baros, we were met at Male airport and guided to the speedboat to take us to the resort. We were met at the jetty with champagne, introduced to our Butler Mika who was on hand via WhatsApp for anything we needed. Every day Mika sent us details of the activities that day. Lime restaurant was great breakfast especially was spectacular. Shimla always made sure we were ok. Cayenne was a treat, we didn't eat in the Lighthouse. The over water villa was wonderful, tea on the deck first thing in the morning was accompanied by sharks, rays and many other eye-watering sights. Sai kept our room perfectly and was friendly. The Sails bar was great, very friendly staff. The snorkeling was some of the best and the Dive Centre were on hand for advice and help. I would recommend Baros as an adult getaway with many once in a lifetime experiences.

Fantastic stay on Baros. We love the Maldives and this is not our first rodeo to one of the most unique places in the world. When looking for a resort the words relaxed unpretentious friendly hideaway with great snorkeling/diving are our key criteria. Baros checked many boxes. Despite being a little bit of a bigger island in terms of guests in comparison to Mirihi or Kandolhu, the atmosphere was extremely relaxed and truly hideaway like. Our overwater Villa was very well designed and immaculately kept by the amazing housekeeping staff. The reef offered a great variety of fish, turtles and sharks. Sea was a bit rough and therefore snorkeling better for advanced skills, but overall very good. Full disclosure for snorkelers/divers looking for untouched diverse coral formations Baros is good, but other house reefs we experienced are better. The resort is wonderfully kept, but the true shine comes from the incredible staff. Thank you very much for an amazing stay and a wonderful time to the whole team.