JA Manafaru

Wonderful Maldives resort, stunning place and beautiful property. Delicious food and incredibly kind restaurant staff. Special thanks to Mohamed for his kindness, professionalism, and always helpful attitude

Delayed finally getting to post a review of magical JA Manafaru. We stayed in December 2025 to celebrate our honeymoon (our first visit was March 2025, when we got engaged on the island). Both stays were unforgettable and wonderful experiences. The villas are stunning, the island is immaculately maintained, and the food is wonderful. Breakfast was beautifully organised, with a wide selection of buffet options, complemented by excellent à la carte options. Each of the restaurants offers à la carte for dinner (there are 3 – Andiamo, White Orchid, Ocean Grill), and there are some very enjoyable buffet nights through the week to choose from (Maldivian night was our favourite and very special). The food is simply amazing. We enjoyed an experience in the Cellar during the stay – absolutely amazing – highly recommend. The food was delicious and the experience was intimate and hugely enjoyable. The resort has great dive centre options and lots of experiences both group and private to choose from. But what truly makes JA Manafaru exceptional is the team. They are simply outstanding, and they all made us feel so special. A few special mentions below (though honestly, everyone deserves praise). We couldn’t recommend this wonderful place more highly. Thank you, all of the team at JA Manafaru, for giving us such unforgettable experiences, and memories we will cherish forever. • Nizaam, always friendly and extremely professional. Took such good care of us (mostly at Andiamo), remembering favourite food and all the little touches that make occasions feel so special. • Pranita, always smiling and attentive, remembered exactly what we wanted and how we liked it - both on our first and second visits. • Rafael, at the beach bar, was a joy to chat with in the mornings - warm, friendly, fun and unobtrusively attentive. • Musa, the Executive Chef, makes amazing food and curates a great menu across the resort. He was kind enough to surprise us with a favourite - Maldivian mix of spices and dry tuna (masmirus) to take home. • Shaatoo, at the Veli bar, makes an incredible coconut martini. He was always happy to play with ideas and create new cocktails just for us. • Imran, similarly at the Veli bar, always remembered our favourites and makes a fantastic whiskey sour. • Zhanara, thank you for always having a lovely warmth and greeting us with such energy and a lovely smile. • Sood, the Operations Manager, was incredibly helpful and made a point of checking in on us (and all guests) frequently on how we were enjoying the stay and if anything could be done. • Fayaz, our room attendant, kept our villa impeccable and constantly surprised us with sweet touches and treats. Some of the towel animal creations were amazing!! • Abdho, our thakuru, who truly went above and beyond - discreet, professional, always present when needed, and always with a gentle smile. Absolutely nothing was too much trouble. • Tizziano, director of food and our host at the Cellar dinner. His explanations of the dishes, wines, and champagne were excellent and the night was perfectly balanced with privacy, warm conversation, and wonderful stories. • Shaad, who we saw every morning at breakfast and again at Kakuni for dinner. Always busy, yet constantly smiling and attentive - reserving our favourite table and anticipating guests’ needs effortlessly.

Good friends of ours recommended JA Manafaru after they visited last year, and I am so glad we listened to them! We had the most amazing time and it’s hard to put into words just how perfect it was. We were also caught up in the Iran War, with Dubai airspace being closed the day before we were due to fly back up there, and ended up staying 2 extra nights on the Island. Special thanks must go to Peri, Mohammed and Saanih who came to see us in our villa as the news was breaking to talk about our options. Saanih immediately assured us we could stay as long as it took to sort out our flights. A calming influence on what was becoming a stressful time trying to sort out a direct flight back home to the UK. Back to our wonderful stay! Everything was seamless from start to finish with Riyaz meeting us at Male and whisking us off to the seaplane terminal.It was absolutely incredible flying over the Atolls and getting our first glimpse of JA Manafaru as our seaplane captain circled the island before landing. We opted for a beach villa as we absolutely love the beach and our dream was to be able to walk into the sea from the beach. It was the most beautiful villa, and the outside bathroom and pool area was a haven of tranquillity. We snorkelled everyday from the beach and the jetties, but also booked a snorkelling trip to the most amazing reef full of so many different fish. All the staff were incredibly attentive and really took the time to get to know us, and in return they gave us such a wonderful insight into the Maldivian way of life. Although all the staff were incredible, I would like to personally thank the following for making our stay extra special! Ralf- our waiter at breakfast and also at the Ocean Grill, who always took the time to chat to us and got to know where we liked to sit. Such an interesting man with so many tales to tell! Nizam- White Orchid and Andiamo After visiting Andiamo once, he knew that we liked coronas at lunchtime and I enjoyed Pina Coladas! Our villa (120) Was opposite so we became neighbours . Also one night whilst eating at White Orchid, I mentioned that I didn’t really like the 2 white wines included in the AI package and he managed to source us a bottle of Trebbiano . This is just one example of the wonderful personalised service that JA offers. Imran and Jack at Veli bar. Wonderful Service from both Finally, last but definitely not least, the Executive Chef (sadly I didn’t get his name)who took the time to chat to us at the Sunset Cocktail evening. The food across every restaurant was exquisite. The trip back to Male was seamless with us being met again by Riyaz, who remembered us from our arrival. We spoke to several guests who have returned numerous times, which is testament to what a wonderful place this is. If you are trying to decide between the many islands that make up the Maldives, look no further, you will not be disappointed. We are already looking to see if we can come back next year!

We were to stay for four nights here, but the the war in Iran started. So in the end we extended by 5 nights. All the staff was very friendly and supportive during our stay. Our Host Megan was very lovely and helpf all the time! Thank you so much for caring! Saanih, the Front Office Manager even got us a flight back to europe! Our travel agency wasn‘t able to do so. Also a big thank you to the rest of the staff, everybody was polite, friendly and happy!

Location is so good. Less humidity. Great restaurants, never get bored to eat tendorline meat there. Rooms are so good. All so good. Our host Mohammed did a great job while our stay. Every minute he was available for us. And one of the positive waiter in the world Nizam and blondy Russian waiter was so professional and friendly. Manafaru is the best location to go in Maldives.