If you’ve loved the thought of the Maldives but want more than just a beach holiday, Siyam World is the perfect resort to choose.
Located on one of the largest islands in the Maldives, the 54 hectare resort is in the Noonu Atoll, 40 minutes on a sea plane from Male. For many this is a huge part of the Maldives experience and provides glorious views of the atolls below. Siyam World is a natural island and enjoys its own house reef and is so large, it even has room for its very own horse ranch – a Maldives first.
As your sea plane sweeps down to land, you’ll gain your first sight of soft white sand beaches fringing a lush jungle-esque interior, and long jetties housing a host of overwater villas, all with pools and slides, jutting out into the clear turquoise shallows. This island can house a lot of holidaymakers at any time, but the acres of space enable you to escape to peace and quiet whenever you wish. It even has its own shuttle service running every few minutes – enabling you to get to wherever you want in no time.
Siyam World is a resort of pleasing contradictions. It can be busy in places, and the pace lively, with music and the bustle of the many activities it offers, and also peaceful when tucked away in your beach villa nestled in lush greenery in the quieter parts of the island. There are also very luxurious and majestic beach houses (The Beach House Collection), with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, lounges, huge balconies on the first floor, and front and rear private pools, and conversely smaller, much more affordable villas to enjoy if on a tighter budget.
We were lucky to enjoy a fantastic two-bedroom Beach Residence, which was actually two houses in the same walled garden with a large pool and direct access to the beach. The main building was super-spacious two-storey affair with its own kitchen, lounge, bathroom, huge first floor balcony and wonderful beach and ocean views. The second was just one floor but featured a gorgeous private rear courtyard with its own outdoor bathroom and pool. Both houses were tastefully designed and comfortable, with bathrooms with large whirlpool tubs and views to die for. Our Beach House had its own beach area, with swinging day bed, hammock, and sun loungers.
As you’d expect for an island of this size, there are many places to dine, drink and swim. This variety was a welcome bonus as for each meal we could try out a new place and never got at all bored. The food throughout was excellent, with all guests benefiting from what is known as Siyam World’s WOW! 24-hour premium all-inclusive package, which includes virtually everything – even Champagne. This is great as it means you can relax and not worry about racking up a hefty bill which is incredibly easy to do in the Maldives.
The 6 bars and 8 restaurants include Tempo for casual dining on a beachside terrace offering global buffet cuisine with live cooking stations; Baraabaru, for international buffets and up-close encounters and live-cooking stations with the talented chefs; Andalucía offering authentic aromas and flavours of a traditional Spanish kitchen, Takrai for gourmet Thai cuisine; Kurry Leaf for Indian fine dining; The Wahoo Grill for fresh seafood and Arigato for Japanese fine dining (this restaurant is exclusively for guests staying at The Beach House Collection). There’s also Barrique – a signature restaurant in an underground cellar offering gourmet menus with world-renowned wines; Mint and Jungali poolside bars and more….. too many to have space to describe here. Enough to say dining at Siyam World is an absolute highlight.
Activity wise, the resort has a collection of super pools. A firm favourite was Jungali – a huge freeform pool with sloping beach-like entry and a swim up bar and eating area. It was a little quieter than the others and a great place to swim, relax, enjoy super cocktails (part of the WOW! All-inclusive deal) and watch the cute resident Flying Fox bats zip by. Another favourite pool was the gorgeous infinity one at The Orchid Bar which was nice and quiet as it was exclusively for guests staying at The Beach House Collection.
A firm favourite with children was the huge water park. It was rather good fun sitting on the beach with a cocktail or two watching the chaos as kiddies and their dads tried to navigate the large, steep and very slippery inflatables without falling into the sea.
Siyam World offers a host of water sports – from sea bobbing, and jet surfing, to diving, snorkelling, jet skiing and more. Do take a sunset cruise if you can where you are likely to spot large pods of playful spinner and bottlenose dolphin. The resort also has a new fleet of custom Mini Mokes; adrenaline-pumping Seabreachers; and “the world’s first water bike”, Manta5’s Hydrofoiler XE-1, providing guests with three more eye-popping ways to motor away from the Maldives mainstream.
Taking things as a more sedate pace, a visit to the rather lovely spa is a must. Tucked away in a particularly lush and flower-filled area of the island, you can only reach it through a winding path with gentle spa music playing as you walk. They offer a range of super treatments to suit all tastes.
All in all, this is a great resort. Even though because of its size and the number of guests you might not always get the feeling of being on a traditional R&R Maldivian holiday, it’s perfect for all those who want beautiful beaches plus endless choice, an amazing all-inclusive plan, and a huge range of things to see and do. Most definitely well worth a visit.
For further info: https://www.sunsiyam.com/siyam-world/
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