The Residence Maldives at Dhigurah

The Residence Maldives at Dhigurah is a 173-villa resort on a two-kilometre island in the southern Gaafu Alifu Atoll, shaded by more than 2,500 coconut palms. Every villa has a private pool, built from local materials and set either along the beach, in garden grounds, or over the lagoon on stilts. The largest, a two-bedroom water villa, runs to 336 m² of deck and interior. You can walk to Dhigurah's sister property on Falhumaafushi across a one-kilometre bridge, which extends the island's nine restaurants and bars into a second setting. Dining draws on Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Cantonese kitchens, including a Cantonese room called Li Bai and a farm-to-table restaurant supplied by the resort's own kitchen garden. A house reef sits close to shore for snorkelling. Divers and anglers work the wider atoll, while a Spa by Clarins occupies its own garden away from the villas. Families get a dedicated kids' club and a watersports centre with kayaks and paddleboards on the lagoon. Sunrise and sunset yoga sessions run at the spa most days. It is a large island for the Maldives, so distances between restaurants and villas are real. Guests move between them by buggy or on foot along sand paths, with the lagoon's turquoise water and reef visible for most of the walk.