One of the first Maldives resorts, small, grown-up and ringed by its own house reef.
Baros opened in 1973, which makes it one of the very first resorts in the Maldives, and it still feels like the classic idea of one: a small, round, green island with soft sand all the way round and a house reef close enough to swim to from every villa.
There are 75 villas, split between beach villas tucked under the trees and overwater villas fanning out across the lagoon, many with their own pools. At the top are a handful of suites, one Residence and one Two-bedroom Retreat with butler service.
It is a grown-up resort: guests must be eight or older and there is no kids club. The Lighthouse, a two-storey overwater restaurant, is one of the best-known dining rooms in the country, and the island is only 25 minutes from the airport by speedboat.
Children under eight aren't accepted, and there's no kids club, so it's best for couples and adult families. The entry villas are compact (89–103 m²); pools start at the Pool Villa.
The most popular villas: 23 of them under the island's trees, with decks metres from the beach and a private garden at the back with daybeds and an outdoor shower.
Five secluded beach villas with timber decks, four-poster beds and your own thatched parasol on the sand.
King-size four-poster bed
Wood-and-thatch villas over the lagoon, with a spacious deck and private steps straight down into the water.
A path through the foliage leads to the beach; each has an infinity-edged plunge pool (4 × 2.4 m), a canopied daybed and butler service.
King-size bed
Fifteen overwater villas with a 6.6 × 3.6 m pool, a sun-soaked deck with a daybed and stairs down to the lagoon, plus a 24-hour butler.
King-size bed
Seven secluded suites in a tropical garden with a pool, a hot and cold jacuzzi, a thatched gazebo with a swinging sofa, and a 24-hour butler.
King-size bed and day couch
The only Residence: bespoke art, a 21 m² pool in a walled garden courtyard, a deck onto its own stretch of beach and a 24-hour butler.
King-size bed
The island's two-bedroom villa: a 56.7 m² pool, tropical gardens, a Maldivian swing, a large living and dining area, a butler and a private boat cruise.
King-size bed in the master; two twin beds in the second bedroom
The same resort and the same villa, booked through people who live here.
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Modern French fine dining with Maldivian spice, and a resident sommelier
Open-flame grill: wagyu, lamb, lobster and the day's catch
Breakfast, then local dishes, seafood, curries and wood-fired pizza
Private dinners for two on the overwater Piano Deck, the beach or a sandbank
Champagne, cocktails and canapés for sunset
Drinks and light lunches, with hammocks, chess and snooker
Massages, Natura Bissé body treatments and facials
PADI 5 Star, with dozens of sites within an hour and night dives
Sunset cruises and dining aboard the resort's own luxury boat
The shape comes from OpenStreetMap, simplified: a guide to the layout, not a survey. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
About 25 minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport. Boats run day and night, and the resort waits for delayed flights.
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