Twenty-six houses and residences in Baa Atoll, each with a butler and a pool, on an island where nothing runs to a timetable.
The Nautilus is on Thiladhoo in Baa Atoll's UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, within reach of Hanifaru Bay. It has just 26 houses and residences, each with a separate living room, its own pool and a butler, and the idea is that nothing runs to a timetable: menus are only suggestions, and meals can be had at any hour, anywhere on the island.
Nine Beach Houses (309 m²) with an oval bedroom and a Maldivian swing line the shore, and eight Ocean Houses (282 m²) with infinity pools stand in the lagoon. Two-storey Beach Residences, Ocean Residences, two-bedroom Beach Residences and the overwater Nautilus Retreat add more room, and the three-bedroom Nautilus Mansion (922 m²) is the island's signature house.
Thyme is the beachfront all-day restaurant, Ocaso grills Japanese, Mexican and Peruvian food by the beach and keeps a wine cellar of more than 200 labels, and Zeytoun, over the lagoon, pairs indigenous spices with Mediterranean cooking, with a gin and whisky lounge upstairs. Naiboli is the pool bar, with complimentary sundowners. Solasta Spa has three glass-floored overwater treatment pavilions, and there's a children's hub, Young Wonderers, a 24-hour gym and a padel court.
It's one of the most expensive islands we list, and the transfer adds up: the resort's own seaplane is $1,750 per adult return. It doesn't recommend its overwater houses for children under nine, though it will fence decks and pools on request.
Nine on the beach, each with an oval bedroom, a living room, a pool with a covered Maldivian swing, and a garden shower.
King bed
Eight in the lagoon, with a living room, a sundeck, steps down to the water and an infinity pool.
King bed
Two storeys by the sea: living and dining rooms open onto the deck and pool, and the king bedroom upstairs has a balcony with a spiral stair.
King bed
On stilts over the lagoon, with a living room, a dining room with a wet bar, and an infinity pool with steps into the sea.
King bed
A bedroom, living and dining rooms downstairs, a master bedroom upstairs, and a deck and infinity pool on the beach.
Two king beds
The only one of its kind: two bedrooms around a central living and dining room on stilts over the lagoon, with a curved deck and infinity pool facing the sunset.
Two king beds
The island's signature three-bedroom beach house, with its own gym and a large infinity pool.
The same resort and the same villa, booked through people who live here.
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All-day dining in a beach-house setting, cooked to your preferences
Japanese, Mexican and Peruvian grill and teppanyaki, with a wine cellar of over 200 labels
Indigenous spices and Maldivian produce with European and Mediterranean cooking; gin and whisky lounge upstairs
Pool bar with tapas, live music and complimentary sundowners
Maison Caulières and Omorovicza treatments in three glass-floored pavilions, with sauna, steam and an overwater yoga pavilion
House reef snorkelling, dives in Baa Atoll and Hanifaru Bay, and AquaNautica water sports
Children's hub with storytelling, nature play and recycled-plastic workshops
The shape comes from OpenStreetMap, simplified: a guide to the layout, not a survey. © OpenStreetMap contributors.
About 30 minutes on the resort's own shared 8-seat seaplane, direct ($1,750 per adult return, taxes included), or on a cheaper shared seaplane that may stop at other resorts. A private yacht takes about two and a half hours. Arrivals include a fast-track lounge at Velana International Airport.
Dates, budget, who is coming. We will come back with three resorts that fit, and why.
