All You Need to Know About Biyadhoo Island Maldives

Opening in the year 1981, Biyadhoo Island Resort Maldives is known as one of the oldest resorts to open in Maldives. They have built themselves up as a fine 3 star establishment over the course of four decades and continue to give the authentic Maldivian experience. 

The island sports fantastic beaches, is located close to some of the best dive sites and has some amazing snorkelling spots, all of which we’ll go over shortly. If you’re a fan of underwater activities and want to allocate your expenses more towards those activities, Biyadhoo Maldives might be the destination for you.

Location and Accessibility

Located at South Male’ Atoll, the island lies 30 km from Velana International Airport. It can be reached with a quick 45 minute speedboat ride and costs $200 USD per person for transfers. This is the fastest transportation option available since the island is close to the airport, making seaplane transfers a no-go. Check-in time is at 13:00, with check-out time being 12:00 so make sure you don’t overstep the time while checking out to not incur any extra costs. 

Biyadhoo Island Accommodation and Resorts

Biyadhoo Island Resort Maldives has two types of rooms, which are the Sunrise Standard Rooms and the Sunset Standard Rooms which are all beachside, with an option to request a room on the eastern or western side of the island. Both come with the following amenities:

• Minibar
• Beach towels
• Tea and coffee making facilities
• En-suite shower and W.C.
• Hairdryer
• Terrace or balcony (with seating)
• Air conditioning
• Sitting area
• Writing desk
• Baby cot (upon request)

With a total of 96 rooms (all of which are built to two storeys), Biyadhoo Maldives is a destination for those who want a more relaxed and quiet environment as they enjoy their vacation. The rooms are also beachfront and are 30 sqm in size.

Biyadhoo Island Beaches and Natural Beauty

Biyadhoo Maldives is blessed with exquisite natural beauty. So much so that it’s one of the reasons people keep coming back to this island. The beach stretches along the western side of the island and has a few pockets all over, allowing for private sunbathing in those pockets. The western side offers a larger area so if you’re travelling with family or friends, expect to have a good time building sandcastles and swimming along the shore with minimal disturbances as well.

If you’re a watersports enjoyer, you have a few options to choose from:

• Windsurfing
• Catamaran sailing
• Diving 
• Snorkelling
• Canoeing

When it comes to diving and snorkelling, the resort has some fantastic sites for you to experience during your trip, which we’ll go over next!

Biyadhoo Island Marine Life and Snorkelling

The island has an excellent house reef that is the highlight of this quaint vacation spot. Marine life such as rays, reef sharks and turtles call this place home and can be encountered up close with the proper precautions. The reef has seven different entry points, allowing for some exciting exploration.

If you snorkel around the island itself, you have the chance to come face to face with a ton of other marine life, such as:

• Eagle rays
• Calamari
• Black moray eels
• Living shells
• Turtles
• Lobsters
• Reef sharks

If you’re feeling even more adventurous, you have the option of going night snorkelling. This changes the vibe of the activity from bright and colourful to dark and mysterious, allowing for a much more memorable experience.

We can’t talk about snorkelling without talking about diving. The resort has a PADI 5 star rated dive centre by the name of Dive Ocean, complete with experienced and accommodating divers, along with the latest equipment for safe and worry-free experiences. The island has a few incredible dive sites close by, such as Manta Point, Hogura Hura and Kandooma Thila. Manta Point is a manta cleaning station which can be experienced between the months of June to November. Hogura Hura is a dive site that is quite beginner friendly and a perfect start for all newcomers with its calm waters. Kandooma Thila is for the seasoned divers, as strong currents flow through these waters but the trip is worth it due to the beauty it offers.

Let’s go over the overarching activities the dive centre offers, along with minimum and maximum price ranges.

• PADI Courses & Diving Experience Programs
  • From $59 USD to $528 USD
  • Course Material: From $6 USD to $70 USD
    
• Dive Rates
  • From $246 USD to $570 USD
    
• Rental of Diving Gear
  • $1 USD to $90 USD

Dining and Cuisine in Biyadhoo Island Maldives

Biyadhoo Maldives is equipped with one culinary establishment and one bar. The name of the restaurant is Palm Restaurant and offers international buffets with the following cuisines making an appearance:

• American
• Asian
• Continental
• English
• Gluten-free
• Halal
• Italian
• Kosher
• Vegan
• Vegetarian

Palm Restaurant offers traditional Maldivian food buffet style on Friday’s, with an abundance of choices all around. So if you’re a curious foodie who wants to try Maldivian food in droves, this is the place to be. 

The bar is known as the Coconut Bar and is an al fresco establishment where drinks accompany entertainment. If you book your trip between May until November, you get a free upgrade to your meal service from Full Board to All Inclusive. This makes all your drinks free for the duration of your stay. If you opt for the Full Board meal service, here’s what the drink menu looks like:

• Bottled water: $3 USD
• Cocktails: $9 USD
• Draught, bottled or canned beers: $4 USD
• Red or White Wine (per glass): From $4 USD
• Spirits: From $4 USD
• Afternoon Sandwiches: $4 USD

Even though it may not be drinks or food, you also get some equipment for free if your meal service goes from a Full Board plan to an All Inclusive plan. Here’s what you get and what you have to pay if you proceed with the Full Board plan:

• Windsurf boards
  • $20 USD per person for 1 hour
  • $30 USD per person for 2 hours
  • $50 USD per person for 4 hours
  • $181 USD per person per week
    
• Snorkelling equipment: $5 per set per day
• Sunset Fishing Trip: $28 per person

Activities and Excursions in Biyadhoo Island Maldives

The resort is replete with things for vacation goers to do, with a decent split between land and water activities. Here’s what you can do above water:

• Badminton
• Volleyball
• Board games
• Island hopping

They also have a fantastic spa by the name of Aavun Spa. They have a variety of services on offer such as body scrubs, body wraps, facial treatments and massages inspired by other cultures. Their entire list has a min/max price from $35 USD to $110 USD, with varying time frames for each service. The shortest time for a service they have is 30 minutes, with the longest being 80 minutes. If you’d like to have a bit more info, click here to view their spa menu.

If you’re more of an adventurer, the resort also offers a selection of excursions spread across each day of the week. Let’s go through each of them:

• Monday
  • Snorkelling trip
  • Sunset fishing
• Tuesday
  • Biyadhoo and Villivaru Photo Session
  • Island hopping
• Wednesday
  • BBQ on a deserted island
  • Dolphin watching
• Thursday
  • Visit a local village
  • Sunset fishing
• Friday
  • Dolphin watching
  • Snorkelling trip
• Saturday
  • Excursion to Male’ City
  • Morning fishing trip

 If you’d like some more info on these activities as well, click here to check them out. 

They also provide a Wedding Ceremony and Renewal of Vows service for those that want wedding memories at the exclusively scenic backdrop of Maldives. Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be an official ceremony (as there wouldn’t be any registration or legal certificate) and is meant to create everlasting memories. The package has a separate fee of $1,000 USD so do keep this cost in mind if you want to experience this while planning your trip. If you’d like some more info on the ceremony, click here.

Environmental Conservation Efforts

On 28th September 2016, 27 resorts signed a contract at the Tourism Industry Forum to ensure the protection and care for the coral reefs that surround their islands. One of the resorts to sign this contract was Biyadhoo Island Resort Maldives. 

The contract falls in accordance with the Maldivian government’s 2013 strategy, which called for the Maldives as a whole to become a UNESCO biosphere reserve by the end of 2017. A certain portion of each resort’s coral reef is required under the agreement to be preserved and maintained without causing any changes to the natural environment. Since then, the pristine condition of Biyadhoo’s coral reef is proof of their dedication to conserving the unique ecosystem of Maldives.

To further pledge their support, the resort also prioritises cleanliness within the resort. The beaches are pristine with not a single piece of garbage in sight and the rooms are kept in excellent condition considering how long the resort has been around. The rest of the resort follows suit as well and is adamant on keeping up their practices.

Travel Tips and Recommendations Before Traveling to Biyadhoo Island Maldives

When travelling to Maldives, there’s a few things you’ll need to keep in mind. 

Maldives is a Muslim country so it’s important to be respectful of their beliefs. When travelling to other islands, make sure your clothing covers your knees and shoulders as showing excess skin is frowned upon in Islam. Keep a respectable distance from people and fully covered women in black garments as strangers are not allowed to make contact with them. If you enter a religious monument such as a mosque, ensure you are quiet, respectful and well-dressed. People are quite respectful in Maldives so it never hurts to be considerate and empathetic, which will allow you to act accordingly.

If you’re packing for your trip, you’ll need a few key items. Sunscreen is definitely at the top of the list. A product that has a high SPF should do the trip. Make sure you apply sunscreen even if you go diving or snorkelling and ensure the sunscreen doesn’t have any harmful chemicals. A lot of sunscreen lotions have bleaching properties that are harmful to corals so it’s best to pick a product that doesn’t contribute to coral bleaching. Another thing you’ll want to take with you is mosquito repellant, especially if you’re going during the rainy season. With a bunch of vegetation at the islands and resorts, you’ll likely experience some bites. Resorts take care to minimise mosquito’s on their property but it pays well to be prepared on your end as well. Other things such as hats, sunglasses, anything that helps with the warm weather is a big bonus. 

Testimonials and Reviews

We’ve been talking about and hyping the resort up enough so let’s turn to some guest reviews to mix things up! Here’s what people from three different websites had to say.

I’m a global critic of this place. I really enjoyed the trip very nice staffs. Specially the restaurant team. They were too amazing. And the food too good. Appreciate and thanks for everything team. Would like to come again here. Really enjoyed. 

– Rated 5.0 / 5.0 by Monkey M in May 2023 via Tripadvisor

Excellent budget option for the Maldives. Diving is very good. Staff are wonderful. Rooms are dated but kept clean and in good order. Would definitely stay again. 

– Rated 10.0 / 10.0 by Dawn in March 2020 via Agoda

One of the most beautiful and calm place on earth. Biyadhoo staff is very hospitable and nice, the location is amazing and heavenly, food provided in Resort is of superb quality. 

– Rated 5.0 / 5.0 by Hardik Harshwardhan in April 2020

One of the issues with the resort is its dated accommodations and a lot of visitors have expressed this as well. The day Biyadhoo Maldives decides to upgrade, it will elevate itself from a respectable 3 star institution to a 5 star piece of history that will stand the test of time.

Biyadhoo Island Resort Maldives is a quaint corner of the Maldives tourism industry and is worth experiencing. As one of the first resorts to open in Maldives and for it to still be in the running, you’ll get to experience a dose of true Maldivian hospitality. With their decades of experience, Biyadhoo Maldives offers relaxation, simplicity and a glimpse into Maldivian island life. So stop thinking and get booking with MadlyMaldives today!