Vegan friendly resorts not to be missed in the Maldives
The Maldives is a dreamy destination where escaping the pressures of every day life is simple. You’ve seen the pictures, you know what we mean. In fact, you may have been lucky enough to visit previously and if so, you know exactly what we mean. From the picture postcard beaches with the whitest of sand and unimaginably blue oceans, the Maldives is one of the most unique and extraordinary countries on this wonderful planet. But of course, even with the stunning natural beauty and some of the most luxurious resorts in the world, without an array of creative and delicious plant-based food, this dream destination could easily turn into your holiday nightmare.
Fear not, we’ve got you covered with four vegan friendly resorts in the Maldives that have adapted their culinary offerings, to cater for those of us who are partial to a generous slice of vegan luxury whilst on vacation.
Amilla Maldives Resort & Residences
As a member of the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Amilla Maldives is a unique and independent luxury resort in Baa Atoll, one of the most breathtaking locations in the Maldives. This pristine UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (where snorkelling with magnificent manta rays is not to be missed) offers the perfect home for a resort who have sustainability and respecting the environment as two of their core values. With a selection of modern and stylish pool villas to choose from, or vast and luxurious residences with up to eight bedrooms, Amilla Maldives is sure to making your wildest Maldivian dreams come true.
When one of your favourite vegan friendly luxury resorts in the Maldives starts to collaborate with visiting vegan chefs and restaurateurs, you know that they’re serious about remaining at the forefront of the fast growing vegan luxury travel market. Spending time at the resort just confirms with us just how committed these guys are, Amilla Maldives is a bonafide vegan luxury paradise. Their ‘Wellness Your Way’ concept means that every restaurant has a vegan and vegetarian menu, each boasting an extensive selection of delicious and nutritious plant based delights. Did someone mention vegan sushi and the most decadent of vegan chocolate cake?
Cora Cora Maldives
Having opened towards the end of 2021, Cora Cora Maldives is one of the newest luxury resorts to open their doors in the Maldives. Boasting a vibrant and colourful collection of more than 100 beach villas or water residences and multiple restaurants, Cora Cora Maldives has received rave reviews since their debut. Championing the often overlooked Maldivian history and culture, the resort features an art gallery and museum showcasing more than 400 artefacts from the region, the first of its kind on a private island in the Maldives. Expect fun to be at the fore during your stay at Cora Cora, this intimate resort is the perfect place to spend your ‘freedom time’, where you will be welcomed like one of the family by the friendly and personable team.
At Cora Cora Maldives, their MOKSHA initiative has taken wellness to the next level. With a motto of ‘natural, real and unfiltered’ this balanced wellbeing concept includes spa treatments, nutritious smoothies, wellness shots and MOKSHA cuisine, featuring multiple plant based and vegan creations. This approach to embracing the benefits of plant based food is found throughout the resort, with delightful and delicious options readily available. Upon request, we were even able to join a vegan demo at ‘Ginger Moon’, their pan-Asian restaurant with an all female staff team. We loved the multi cuisine approach at ‘Ginger Moon’, and we enjoyed learning from the talented and passionate chefs who were happy to share their secrets with us. A special thanks to the team at ‘My Coffee’, who made ‘off menu’ cheese and tomato toasties for us with Violife vegan cheese… yes, they have Violife at Cora Cora Maldives!
Kurumba Maldives
Kurumba Maldives is the original private island in the Maldives. Opening in October 1972 it was the first ever Maldivian resort and it proved to be an absolute hit right from the outset, being fully booked for the first year. As we now approach the 50th anniversary of Kurumba Maldives, it still remains one of the most popular resorts in the Maldives. Being just a few minutes private boat ride from the international airport is super convenient after your international flight, but rest assured once you arrive on the palm fringed island you could be a million miles away from the airport and bustling city of Male. A successful blend of “natural growth, proud perseverance, and heartfelt service” have ensured that Kurumba Maldives remain at the forefront of luxury travel to the Maldives.
Kurumba Maldives have continued to adapt and develop their culinary offering in line with their ever changing guests’ desires. The eight restaurants now offer vegan menu items at each and every one, meaning the only decision you need to make is deciding just where to eat next. Our recent visit to Kurumba Maldives was one full of plant based food from every corner of the globe. We dined on veganised versions of our favourite cuisines including Thai, Indian and Sri Lankan, but our favourite meal was at ‘Al Qasr’ where we enjoyed a delightful array of Arabic dishes. We even enjoyed a Beyond Meat burger during our stay at Kurumba Maldives, and whatever you do, don’t miss out on the delightful coconut sorbet which we ate at every opportunity.
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LUX* South Ari Atoll
With a luxurious selection of pavillions and villas where “simplicity meets elegance” situated along four kilometres of pristine coastline, or over the exquisite turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, LUX* South Ari Atoll offers something for everyone. Quite simply, not only will you find the perfect ‘home’ for your holiday but you will love the multitude of culinary offerings, the integrated approach to health and wellbeing, and of course the opportunity to explore the surrounding protected marine environment which is home to a myriad of reef fish, rays, turtles, dolphins and even whale sharks. From the moment that your seaplane touches down in the mesmerising lagoon, your holiday begins. Trust us when we say that you just won’t want to leave when the time comes…
The ‘Keen on Green’ concept at LUX* South Ari Atoll makes life as a vegan guest, or anyone who wishes to eat more healthy plant based food, an absolute breeze. Creative and innovative vegetarian and vegan dishes are waiting to be experienced across all of the restaurants, ensuring that you’re never going to miss out, instead you’re going to be eating your way around the island on your very own vegan Maldives culinary adventure. From fresh and flavourful vegan noodle soup that we enjoyed as one of the many vegan breakfast options, to the most sumptuous Indian vegan thali that was an absolute feast, mealtimes at LUX* South Ari Atoll were a true vegan extravaganza.
Each of these vegan friendly luxury resorts in the Maldives offer something different in terms of accommodation, service and facilities. They each have their own unique style and brand which is omnipresent throughout your stay. But what they all have in common, is that they have gone above and beyond to embrace the demand for vegan and plant based food meaning you certainly won’t go hungry if you choose any of them for your next destination!
Paul Eyers is Founder of Vegan Food Quest. Vegan Food Quest have become luxury vegan travel specialists as they continue to find, eat and write about the best vegan food in the world.
If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog in order to raise your profile, please contact us.
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Looks like heaven on earth. So beautiful and all that amazing plant based food.
we were blessed to visit such wonderful resorts in the Maldives, and the huge selection of vegan and plant based food indeed delivered that “heaven on earth” vibe that you mentioned!
My husband And I stayed at Amilla and absolutely LOVED everything about it. I’m vegan and the resort is extremely accommodating to your diet needs every menu had a vegan section and the mocktails were delicious. That being said my husband wanted to try the fish and also loved it. There is so much variety and the staff are the nicest people we’ve met. Each activity we did there we loved and everyone was so helpful and kind to us. We definitely are looking forward to going back someday! It was truly a dream vacation.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Shivi, it’s great to hear first hand feedback from your “dream vacation” at Amilla. It’s a pretty special place isn’t it? And as for the vegan food, we love how they have embraced this and offer so many selections resort wide.
Hi Shiva
It was such a pleasure having you both at Amilla Maldives, especially allowing us the privilege of assisting you to celebrate a special moment in your life.
We are so thrilled that you enjoyed our Wellness Your Way menus with the vegan offering in every one of our seven restaurants.
We hope to welcome you back again soon.
Regards form the entire Amilla Team
The ‘Wellness Your Way’ concept at Amilla is excellent, it really shows a commitment to your vegan and plant based food loving guests. Keep up the good work Team Amilla !!!
Thanks Paul, I am so glad you enjoyed the menus. We do find that even if guests are not vegan they love the variety of items to choose from.
you certainly cover all culinary options at Amilla very well indeed, meaning that everyone is catered for during their stay!
‘I would like to visit the Maldives at some stage and each of these resorts look amazing. It’s always hard to decide where to stay but this will help. Even though i’m not vegan, the food looks delicious!’
thank you for commenting Robert. we are confident that even as a non-vegan you would love the food just as much as we did, it’s pretty special!
I can’t decide whether the Maldives islands or the vegan dishes are the best presented.
tough call John, but i suppose when the Maldives looks so beautiful, you need to make sure that the food looks beautiful too! and it certainly was just that…
I passed on the opportunity to visit The Maldives 30 years ago. Looking at these photos – I clearly made a poor decision.
It’s great to see these amazing hotels are embracing plant-based food and being so creative.
wow, the Maldives 30 years ago would have been a very different place. tourism was starting to explode in the nineties and it hasn’t stopped since. it’s about time to put it right and book a trip i’d say!
Wow – I always knew the Maldives was absolutely stunning and on my bucket list, but it’s amazing to learn about how unique and diverse the options for vegan food are there. By the sounds of it, the pictures don’t even do the taste justice, but they all look and sound incredible. What an experience.
thank you for commenting, it was an amazing trip and we were blown away by the amount of vegan food available from these 4 resorts, incredible!
What time is vegan?
Party time!
I hope they do the good cocktails here? I like to drink them…
But not the ones with the bad ice. Once I had a bad time with the bad ice. Many days on the toilet. It was not good times – especially for the toilet!
But this resort looks special. Very nice.
you ask “what time is vegan?” and to that, there is only one answer, and that is “all of the time”…
sorry to hear about your experience with bad ice, rest assured that only the finest quality ice is available at the resorts we have featured above
safe travels
All four of the resorts sound amazing and although they are located in the Maldives, they each seem to offer a unique experience. I love your descriptions of what each resort has on offer, from the luxurious accommodation to the opportunities to see incredible underwater life in clear blue seas. Not to mention the food – plant-based options which look, and sound, absolutely delicious. Even the humble cheese toast looked so tasty.
Should I get the opportunity to visit the Maldives, I would be more than happy to stay at one, or maybe more than one of the resorts you’ve reviewed.
Thank you for providing such wonderful food for thought.
thank you for your comment, the Maldives is truly unique and these resorts all have their own unique styles too! as for the food….wow!
This looks amazing. What time of year is best to visit?
Hi Mark
We visited the Maldives in July when it is considered ‘rainy season’ but we only had 2 days out of 14 where the rain was persistent, the other days were mostly blue sky with the odd shower
We would happily visit again in July, that said, December to March is considered ‘high season’ where you are almost guaranteed no rain
Paul