Why St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is perfect for active travellers
I’m not a beach person. I don’t like swimming in the sea. I get bored if there isn’t enough to do. There were plenty of reasons I’d assumed the Maldives wouldn’t be for me – yet here I am, just over 24 hours since touching down in Malé, and I’ve never been happier to be proved wrong.
Because I have been completely won over by its sugar-soft sand, by swimming in sun-warmed water without another soul in sight and, far from bored, I’ve rarely felt so energised. There is some kind of Maldivian magic here that’s revealing sides of myself I have never known.
It’s easy to pinpoint the moment it happened too. Ambling straight from my beach villa at The St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort into the shallows, sun sparkling across the surface of the water, I abandon my usual preference for a pool and opt for a sea swim instead – and end up basking in my own private lagoon.
The water is calm, the seabed clear and the colours so intense and varied, it’s like swimming in a paint palette from Picasso’s blue period, with every shade more brilliant than the last. I glance back towards the deserted beach when the piercing whistle of a tern draws my gaze. Yet this tiny white bird is not alone. The proud outline of a heron sits on the rocks just off shore, its S-shaped neck, absurdly long legs and sharp, pointed bill perfectly framed against a backdrop of lush greenery and shaded villas.
Treading water, I watch as the ungainly heron launches itself into the air, revealing an impressive wingspan as it soars over fluttering palm tree fronds before settling on the pitched roof of a neighbouring villa, the perfect vantage point to survey its surroundings. This heron doesn’t want to move too far from its sea view and nor, I discover, do I.
Marine magic
The sea is never far away on this tiny isle in the Dhaalu Atoll. Each area of the resort, which marks its 10th anniversary this November, has been crafted to reflect the marine life around it. The private treatment rooms of the Iridium Spa fan out like the claws of a lobster with the saltwater-filled Blue Hole hydrotherapy pool at its head; the overwater villas branch off the main body of the resort like the long, thin tail of a manta ray; and the eyecatching design of the Whale Bar reflects the gaping mouth of an enormous whale shark.
Perfectly positioned to capture the island’s best sunset views, the bar is also the setting for the nightly champagne sabreing, a unique St Regis ritual that takes place around sunset in each of the brand’s resorts worldwide. A tradition drawn from the lavish parties of the original Astor family, who established the first St Regis hotel in New York in 1904, the ceremony is a suitably solemn affair that marks the transition from daytime to evening.
The Whale Bar updated its menu last year from grill-style dining to Latin American-inspired tapas, while garden restaurant Cargo – an outdoor venue set amid towering trees and twinkling lights – is shifting its cuisine to reflect its Indian Ocean location; think tender Maldivian lobster, lightly spiced fish curries and fresh seafood.
There are further changes afoot around the resort: the Vommuli House kids’ club is undergoing renovation, the gym was updated last year with new reformer Pilates equipment and a padel court is set to be added in the coming weeks.
That’s on top of a new partnership with private coaching brand Lux Tennis, which will bring professionals – including former world number-one and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in late March and Spanish tennis champion Feliciano López in May – to lead exclusive tennis workshops. They feature private lessons ($160 per person), complimentary tennis clinics for kids and adults, and even a chance to ‘beat the pro’, where guests can challenge the expert to a match and, if they win a set, get the $240 session free of charge.
These visits form part of the annual Tastemaker Series, bringing experts in wine, wellness, food and sport – including British chef Glynn Purnell in April – to the resort. Details of the 2027 series are due to be announced later this year.
Stay and play
Of the resort’s 77 villas, 44 are overwater and 33 are on the beach; all but a handful enjoy direct beach or ocean access. Last year’s renovation included expanding the property’s six Two-Bedroom Ocean Villas to add a living and dining area, extended deck, bigger pool and hammocks to lounge in while soaking up those sea views.
As with all the accommodation at this resort, my Beach Villa with Pool comes with a butler (in my case, Amy), who is on hand to help with anything from restaurant reservations to garment pressing. That dedicated service started from the moment I arrived, with a personalised welcome video to watch as I was whisked from the international airport terminal at Malé to the St Regis arrivals lounge to wait for the 45-minute seaplane transfer.
The most striking feature of the villa is its high, pointed ceiling, taken from the style of traditional fishermen’s huts that once allowed for boats to be brought inside during stormy seasons. With dark wood and natural fibres, this spacious villa is a cool retreat, with a bathroom featuring an outdoor shower and oversized soaking tub, along with a plunge pool that’s big enough to enjoy a few laps.
Some villas are set closer to the beach for expansive views while others, like mine, are slightly farther back and shielded by greenery, allowing for greater privacy on the terrace, so it’s worth asking clients which they would prefer.
The jewels in the crown are the Caroline Astor Estate, an airy, three-bedroom retreat with a beachfront location, and the John Jacob Astor Estate, which is reportedly the largest three-bedroom overwater villa in the Maldives.
The latter is the resort’s pièce de résistance, complete with its own vintage-style buggy, cinema room, exclusive-use gym and sizeable pool, along with direct access to a private coral reef for unlimited snorkelling.
Growing gains
The reef is a hot topic of conversation this year, as the ongoing programme of coral restoration hit a key milestone. One of its first coral frames – structures designed to encourage regrowth – recorded its first spawning, meaning it has reached maturity and is now part of a natural cycle of reef renewal, contributing to a more diverse and robust coral ecosystem.
More than 300 frames have been planted over the past three years in partnership with marine conservation company Reefscapers. We help fix fragments of acropora digitifera coral onto frame number 338, under the watchful eye of marine biology intern Phebe Dowse – and guests can also take part, with heart shaped frames particularly popular among honeymooners.
These ongoing efforts to restore the reef, particularly since a damaging mass bleaching event in 2024, have resulted in a marked increase in sightings of sharks, rays, turtles and octopuses thanks to the uptick in fish and other marine life feeding along the healthier reef.
Phebe leads a snorkelling session to spot some of these species, including a black-tipped shark weaving its way along the seabed; a nurse shark asleep in a nook on the coral wall; Nemo-like clownfish in neon-bright colours dipping in and out of the anemone fronds; and Moorish idols with their black, white and sunshine-yellow stripes.
Back on the beach, I pause for a moment, reflecting on how much I now realise is going on under the diamond studded surface of the water. I watch a pair of eagle rays chasing each other through the shallows and, as terns swoop and dive in search of a final meal before night falls, a school of fish swirls and leaps out of the water in unison, sun glinting off their shiny scales.
I might not have been a beach person before this, but I’m certainly one now – and all the better for it.
Book it: Elegant Resorts offers a seven-night stay in a Sunset Overwater Villa with Pool from £11,300 per person, based on two sharing, including a complimentary upgrade to half-board, business-class flights with British Airways direct from Heathrow, shared seaplane transfers and UK lounge access. The price is based on a November 6 departure, booked by September 30.
ELEGANTRESORTS.CO.UK
Ask the expert
Hazel Araujo, marine biologist, Reefscapers
“I have always been very passionate about marine life. I grew up in a coastal community in Guatemala and studied sea turtle nesting and mangrove ecosystems while at university, but then I started scuba diving and realised I wanted to specialise in coral. When we think about the lungs of the planet, we usually think about the rainforest – but in actual fact it’s the coral reef, because the carbon dioxide we breathe out is absorbed by the ocean. Our coral on a restored frame has a survival rate that’s three to five times higher than that found in a wild colony, so we have been planting frames in order to create a ‘coral pathway’ to a site by the Whale Bar. That was never really a planned site but it turned out to have the perfect conditions – the current means there is more oxygen, so you can see coral, sharks and eagle rays leaping out of the water. It’s a whole new ecosystem. The real work comes not from guests physically planting coral, but the knowledge and experience they gain as a result – that’s why coral restoration is so meaningful.”
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