Avani+ Fares
Maldives Resort

5 Restaurants & 2 Bars

Seven venues — Avani's lifestyle template applied as a dine-around. Ocean Terrace runs the all-day buffet, Charcoal is the oceanfront seafood and dry-aged grill, Skipjack handles poolside Mediterranean and wood-fired pizzas, Smuggler's Shack is the surprise-menu beach concept, and Petit Bistro is the Maldives' only kids-only restaurant. Tribe is the sunset bar; Hammock the lobby coffee stop.

Ocean Terrace

International

The main all-day buffet — international, Mediterranean, Asian, and Maldivian themed nights with live cooking stations. Breakfast includes sparkling wine on AI; reviewers consistently flag it as one of the best buffet breakfasts at this price point in the Maldives.

SettingIndoor & terrace · All meals

Our tipAsk which night is the Maldivian themed buffet — strongest of the week

All plans

Charcoal

Seafood

The signature seafood and steakhouse — open-air pavilion at the ocean's edge with a centrepiece charcoal grill. Dry-aged steaks, fresh-catch seafood, and a wine sommelier on hand for pairings. A standard AI plan grants a partial dining credit here; PAI covers the menu in full.

SettingOceanfront · Charcoal grill · Dinner only

Our tipSommelier-led pairing flight is the standout — book a corner table at sunset

AI creditView menu

Skipjack

Mediterranean

Poolside à la carte — wood-fired pizzas, tapas, noodles, smoothies and iced coffee. The all-day default for guests not in the mood for the buffet. Pizzas are the consistent crowd favourite; the spicy salami is the most-ordered.

SettingPoolside · Lunch & dinner

Our tipOrder pizza poolside before the daily 4 pm aqua-fit class

AI includedView menu

Smuggler's Shack

Tapas

A surprise-menu beach concept on the eastern sand — sushi, tapas, tacos and rum drinks served from a thatched shack. The chef changes the daily three-piece small-plate set; you pick a category, not a dish.

SettingBeach shack · Lunch & light dinner

Our tipBest value on the island for a low-key barefoot lunch

AI included

Petit Bistro

Kids

The Maldives' only dedicated kids-only restaurant — pizza, pasta, mini-burgers and supervised dining for ages 4–11. Open 12 noon to 2 pm daily and connected to the AvaniKIDS club, freeing parents for an adults-only lunch at Skipjack or Smuggler's Shack.

SettingAvaniKIDS club · Ages 4–11 · Lunch only

Our tipDrop the kids 11:50 — staff lead a 10-min cooking activity before lunch

All plans

Tribe

Bar

The headline sunset venue — beach swing-chairs, fire dancers, a resident DJ, and a cocktail-and-light-bites menu. A shisha session is included once-per-stay on the Premium All-Inclusive plan; cocktails are à la carte off-plan.

SettingBeachfront · Sunset · DJ & shisha

Our tipArrive 30 minutes before sunset for a swing-chair on the western edge

AI Drinks

Hammock

Bar

The lobby grab-and-go — cold-pressed juices, kombucha, waffles, crepes, artisan coffee, bubble tea and ice-cream. Light bites included on Premium All-Inclusive only; à la carte for everyone else.

SettingLobby · 8 am – 7 pm

Our tipFree for PAI guests · standard AI guests pay à la carte

PAI included

Dining Inclusions

Four plans, with both standard All-Inclusive and Premium All-Inclusive tiers. PAI is the genuine dine-around — Charcoal in full (AI gives a $40 credit), house cocktails at Tribe, light bites at Hammock, and a once-per-stay shisha session. On stays of 7+ nights, PAI adds a sunset cruise and laundry. Reviews are unanimous PAI is worth the upgrade.

Multiple guest reviews flag the standard AI as confusing — Charcoal carries a partial credit, Hammock light bites are à la carte, and cocktails off-plan add up. PAI removes all of that for the upgrade fee shown above and is the value pick.

Your Days on the Island

PADI 5-Star Aquafanatics@Fares runs 20+ catalogued sites including a manta cleaning station three minutes by boat — the closest direct manta access of any Baa Atoll resort. Hanifaru Bay's seasonal aggregation is 55 minutes away. AvaniKIDS, a dedicated teens club, AvaniFIT and AvaniSpa round out a multigenerational programme.

Family-Friendly Features

One of very few Maldives resorts engineered around multigenerational stays. The Four Bedroom Beach Pavilion (34 of them) sleeps eight across two studios up and two on the sand. AvaniKIDS runs ages 4–11 with indoor play, splash park, pirate ship and a zipline. Petit Bistro is the Maldives' only kids-only restaurant — open noon to 2 pm. A separate Teens Club covers 12+.

House Reef & Underwater

The house reef has a dramatic drop-off and overhangs directly off the western jetty — direct shore entry, with the reef edge a short fin-kick from the beach on multiple sides. The headline is a manta cleaning station only three minutes by boat at 13–16 m depth — the closest direct manta access of any Baa Atoll resort. Hanifaru Bay's seasonal manta aggregation sits 55 minutes by speedboat. Reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, eagle rays and resident mantas are reliably present; whale sharks are excursion-only.

PADI dive center on-site. Night snorkeling available. Marine life observations sourced from dive logs and guest reports.

Transfer from Malé

Thirty-five minutes by Manta Air seaplane from Velana — the standard Baa Atoll arrival. Return seaplane is approximately USD 600 per adult / USD 300 per child. A two-minute speedboat connects the seaplane platform to the jetty. A domestic flight via Dharavandhoo Airport plus a 30-minute speedboat is the alternative.

Resort island map — Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort

Who This Resort is For

Avani+ Fares is the first AVANI in the Maldives, and the bet pays off where the brand is sharpest: design-led 5-star without legacy formality, multigenerational pavilions almost no other resort offers, and a manta cleaning station three minutes off the dive jetty. Two things to know going in — the standard AI is confusingly tiered (PAI removes the friction) and the 176-villa scale plus family-pavilion focus lean group, not couple. For a multi-family Baa trip with manta diving baked in, it's smart value well under Anantara Kihavah.

Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort — FAQ