Reviews from guests who stayed at this hotel, shared by our hotel supplier. Score based on the latest 114 reviews.
“Turning moments into memories!”
+This trip has been one of my bucket list items for the longest time, and the Canareef Resort was the very best location to make my dream a reality. From the joyous welcome on arrival, to a very sad and reluctant departure... the Canareef Team delivered an exceptionally outstanding Service. 👌 Without exception, every member of the Team (Day or Night Shifts) were engaging, attentive but not intrusive, and extremely respectful! As a Solo Traveller, I felt completely safe and at ease at all time, even walking back from the Restaurant to my Villa after dark, when I didn't use the shuttle buggies. As a nice touch, you can find an electric torch 🔦 in every villa, you can take with you to find your way back with ease... or explore your very own stretch of Beach at night and observe various Hermit Crabs zooming around! 🦀 The Resort offers a large number of activities, tailored for any age or level of fitness. In fact, so many activities that I didn't get a chance to experience them all... so I'm going back in 5 months to finish my experience. 😀 The Restaurants are very impressive to say the least, offering a variety of cuisines, with an authentic and delicious Asian and Pacific Rim infl
74white
Couple · March 2026
“In the far south”
+We’ve been going to Maldives since 2003 and have been to around 20 different resorts in several atolls. Canareef did not ask for any feedback at the end of the trip. When you land in Male you need to take a further 90 minute flight. There are 3 or 4 per day so you may have a bit of a wait in Male, possibly longer than for a seaplane. We were very lucky that our wait was only about an hour. This island does not choose to be 1 hour ahead of Male time, thankfully. Important to know about your departure. If you have an international return flight which leaves Male in the morning, you’ll need to get up at 2am, wait in reception, take a speedboat at 3am for a domestic flight around 4.30am which gets into Male around 6am. It possibly links quite well with some international flights but the BA to London leaves at 11.40am so it’s long wait. We opted to take the internal flight to Male the day before and stayed in Hulhule airport hotel to avoid this. Arrival at Canareef itself was fine, we got a cold towel and a coconut drink, but there was an overlong explanation in reception of island activities and what was eligible for all-inclusive and what wasn’t etc. When you’ve been travelling for 19
S641BVtonyw
Couple · March 2026
“Brilliant experience”
+Excellent all round experience on island, marred by poor air connection from Male to Gan airports. Welcoming and helpful staff in all areas, who could not do enough and very attentive to ones needs. Enjoyed the birthday treatment when dining and the bed decoration WOW! We are disabled/deaf but found little barriers apart from steps to accommodation and bars. Would love to return but put off by the local Maldives airline.
193bhanup
Solo · March 2026
“Stunning”
+I couldn't find a fault ara all
lauradds
Couple · March 2026
“Affordable Maldives resort”
+We had a very nice week at Canareef. We wanted to go diving during high season, but also have a beachy resort experience and this place very much delivered. We received a free upgrade to a premium villa, which was very nice. The villas are perhaps a bit older and furniture and fittings are showing signs of wear and tear, however they are very clean, comfortable and well-equipped. We were delighted with our upgrade, but both felt that we would not have wanted to pay the 400USD a night price point for it. If you really want a jacuzzi though, then you may wish to! Staff are all very friendly and helpful, but not intrusive. Much fuss was made of my husband on his birthday, which was sweet. Food is plentiful and tasty, it skews heavily towards European. I’d have loved to see more regional dishes and also more vegetarian options - one evening only 1 salad didn’t have meat or fish in it! The a la carte options if you are half board are quite pricy, so we filled up at breakfast and generally found that and the snacks offered on the dive boat were plenty. It’s a big resort of over 700 villas, so there’s lots on offer activities-wise and a few different bars to watch the sunset from. You can
darrencK8298IO
Couple · March 2026
“Well worth a Visit”
+The staff at this Resort over delivered on our Customer Experience. They were so accommodating and ensured that my wife's 60th Birthday celebration was unforgettable. Our Villa was decorated tastefully for the day and the evening meal was a special celebration. Even at the Spa, the celebration continued for the day Other than that, staff were always smiling and very willing to please. The All Inclusive meal and drink package offered good value for money.
traceywD6679RE
Couple · March 2026
“An incredible island with lots to offer!”
+If you want a larger island in The Maldives then Canareef Resort is an excellent choice. It offers so much more than just stunning beaches and fabulous marine life. On arrival you are given a bicycle to get around the island with ease. If this isn’t for you, then you can use the buggy service which is prompt and the drivers are really friendly. The snorkelling is good from Barracuda beach but if you want to see more, the snorkelling boat trips are superb. The Lucky Dolphin trip was also a must - hundreds of dolphins but also a place to see nurse sharks from the surface! Our beach villa was very spacious and beautifully maintained by Arafat. Beach towels were provided and 6 sunbeds!!!! The staff in all bars and restaurants are really friendly and the drinks are of a good quality. There was plenty of choice at mealtimes and the food was very good. My only complaint would be the presentation of the salads and fruit. They need to be better refrigerated and displayed so that you don’t have to keep removing cling film. We were a little disappointed that there was no opportunity offered to see Manta’s other than on Scuba trips ( but they still didn’t see Manta’s). We researched prior to g
K961QGmarkj
Couple · March 2026
“Resort in need of tlc rude manager and poor transfer”
+Stayed at resort for a few days before catching a live board from gan met at arrivals by friendly staff and arrived at resort no issues on arrival spent half an hour being told that literally everything is an extra cost room was ok but is showing its age, staff are lovely and friendly and food is lovely but is never covered up so does get covered in flies if your not quick for meal times.biggest problem was arranged for a transfer back to gan at a specific time which they confirmed but day before check out made it two hours later after an hours arguing they agreed to original time only to deny the time the following day and had another argument with the rude mgr not the way we wanted to start our holiday
iontsev_legal
Couple · March 2026
“Good choice for reasonable money.”
+The hotel is located far away from Male airport. In order to come there you should have a flight by local airline. It will take you about 1,5 hours. When landed you’ll be carried by the speed boat to the hotel itself. About 15 minutes. The additional fare is 880$ per person in both directions. The reception works well.Everything is fast and well organised. The Island is big. I have been told by the personnel, that it’s about 4,5 km in length. So this is probably the longest island in Maldives. The width is about 300 meters at the widest place. The hotel provides bicycles for guests. But they’re really terrible. Sometimes there are almost no brakes. Take it into consideration while riding. It takes about 35-40 min. to ride across the island. Roads are not perfect, so it would be a good solution to use a towel as an additional pillow for the bicycle’s seat. There’re some different places to swim on the island. The best ones are located at the south-west side. The sunset side is only suitable for swimming. But there’re some nuances. Rooms from 140 till 155 have got a difficult entrance to the lagoon. There’re a lot of seaweeds. It makes the water colour pure. I would refrain from book
233livn
Family · March 2026
“Wonderful and Relaxing Stay”
+We had a very relaxing stay at this resort. The place is calm and perfect if you want to rest and enjoy your time. A special thank you to the waiter Lokesh. He was very friendly, helpful, and always made sure we had everything we needed. We would happily come back again!