Fabulous Niyama

One Island is called Play which is aimed at surfers and families and the other island is called Chill, aimed at couples and larger families and offers a wealth of activities for all the family.

Niyama is a much more active resort, with a daily calendar of activities ranging from aqua Zumba and beach volleyball, to coconut painting and bracelet making. With one of the largest water-based offerings, you can gain your Padi qualification, go snorkelling, parasailing or jet skiing to name a few, plus it’s one of the only resorts in the Maldives with a surf school, the chance to try a Seabob and even the new craze; jet packing.

There’s a 24/7 fitness centre on site, a games room with everything from Xbox stations, pool table and table tennis to a mini cinema and even a golf simulator (both for private hire). For children, the kids club is extensive, with a water zone, climbing wall, stage and trampoline etc. At USD $20-30+ per hour it’s not cheap but with children accepted from 12 months and babysitting also available, it offers a nice respite if mum and dad need some alone time.

One of the strong points about Niyama is its restaurant offerings, they’ve been creative in developing unique environments. Epicure is an airy indoor buffet restaurant that's perfect for a leisurely breakfast and then there's a fantastic outdoor beach restaurant called Dune that offers a wide-ranging menu at lunchtime. We dined at Nest, an elevated restaurant the trees, with its Asian influenced menu, and it was a lovely atmosphere in the trees. We also ate at Tribal, an African village setting, and we enjoyed fabulous food here too. You can have a 72-day dry aged steak! We visited the Edge seafood restaurant which you have to get to by boat and then we went 6m under water and had cocktails at Subsix. There is also the rooftop lounge Fahrenheit which features live music and DJ's in the evenings where you can enjoy late night drinks.

My house for the few days was a beach pool bungalow, and I could just see the sea from my veranda, peeping through the trees, so the pool area was mostly private. The room was very large and comfortable. The bathrooms here again are outside, and I had a visit from a fruit bat one evening at the bottom end of the bathroom in the trees which was fascinating.

To get to Niyama we flew by seaplane. They are quite small, and your luggage is stored in the plane with you, and they seat around 16 people. The journey was around 45 minutes from Male. I could recommend Niyama to a range of people who are looking for a more active Maldives holiday but if you wanted to go and just relax, there are some beautiful places on the island.

Before travelling to the Maldives, I would have just recommended to couple and honeymooners but a group of friends or couples would enjoy these islands for sure.