Sun Siyam Iru Veli: Room Comparison

Did you even go to the Maldives if you didn’t stay in an overwater bungalow?

View of the dolphin ocean villa from our boat coming in

It has been on our bucket list to stay in an overwater villa at least once, but we also wanted to get the full experience on the island. We decided to split our time on the island and we stayed 3 nights in an overwater villa and 4 nights in a beach villa.

When deciding to go to the Maldives, one thing I wouldn’t compromise on was having a private pool. At Sun Siyam Iru Veli every room has a private pool, from the ocean villas to the beach villas, which was one reason we chose this particular resort. Over the last few years we’ve looked at a ton of overwater villa resorts and typically children have to be 10+ to stay in an overwater villa. This is not the case at Sun Siyam Iru Veli.

Sun Siyam Iru Veli has 9 room options and to take advantage of our time here, we chose to split our time between the dolphin ocean villa with pool and the beach villa with pool. We didn’t need excess space since we wouldn’t have the kids with us but there are several two bedroom/family options.

Dolphin Ocean Villa with Pool

Climbing into the ocean from our overwater villa

At Sun Siyam Iru Veli, there are two overwater villa options available: the ocean villa with pool and the dolphin ocean villa with pool. The dolphin ocean villa faces the channel that the local dolphins like to frequent, so you have a better chance of spotting them swimming by, and it’s also a bit pricier. We chose this option in the hopes that we would be able to see the dolphins. Spoiler alert: we didn’t. There are also only 12 dolphin ocean villas and it’s on the opposite side of the island from the other ocean villas. Even though we didn’t see the dolphins, I’d book this one again because it felt a bit more secluded and private.

The dolphin ocean villas were completely surrounded by coral reefs and the view was stunning. Out in the distance is a sandbar that the resort offers tours to and depending on the tide levels, you can watch it grow and shrink. At low tide, you could climb down your ladder and stand up in the ocean, at high tide you couldn’t.

Finally managed to catch the nurse shark on camera

One morning I opened the shade on the bathroom window and looked down to see a nurse shark swimming by! You can’t get that experience on land! We loved hanging out in the pool and watching the fish swim by in the ocean beneath us. Having an overwater villa definitely lived up to the hype, it’s an experience I would pay for again and again, when I can afford it.

B watching all the fish and sharks in the ocean

Besides the amazing views, the room itself was very spacious. There’s a mini fridge, a kettle and a Nespresso coffee pot. Coffee pods, tea bags, sugar and water were replenished throughout the day. There was also a large wardrobe, a King size bed and a built in couch for lounging. The room and the bathroom were connected by a sliding door but only the bedroom had air conditioning. Both rooms had doors leading out onto the deck.

Bathroom in the Sun Siyam Iru Veli dolphin ocean villa

Also - can we TALK ABOUT THIS BATHROOM. Two sinks, a free standing tub in the middle of the room that looks out through doors onto the deck and ocean. But that’s not even the best part! The shower stall and the bathroom stall are something I’ve never experienced before.

The back wall of the bathroom was half shower, half water closet - and both had doors that opened over the ocean. I enjoyed a shower here while a rainstorm blew in and it was quite the experience to be doing your business and watching the fish swim by at the same time. It was the only part of this room that I wouldn’t consider kid-friendly when opened. If our girls had been with us, these doors would’ve stayed closed and triple bolted. Click here for a quick video walk through of our overwater bungalow!

Every area of these rooms have been thoroughly thought out. The deck was expansive. Next to the pool was a covered couch for seating and a table with two chairs. In front of the bathroom doors were two chaise lounges that were not covered. There is so much space and you can enjoy it all no matter what kind of weather is rolling through. We ate lunch out here everyday and even sat through a rain storm on the couch.

A view of the dolphin ocean villas

A lot of resorts in the Maldives are “barefoot resorts” meaning that it’s not necessary to wear shoes anywhere. Staying in an overwater villa, you will always need at least one pair of shoes. One afternoon I decided not to put my sandals on and the walk back on the deck to our room was so hot! Instead of stopping to put my shoes on, I took off running to our room and ended up having to soak my feet in the pool.

Beach Villa with Pool

Good morning from our beach villa

This is, in my opinion, the ideal distance to the ocean. Whenever we book beach front vacations from now on, I expect to be this close. From our bedroom doors you walked into the covered deck, then the uncovered deck, followed by the pool and then…. 20 steps to the beach? Depending on where the tide was, you could see the baby sharks swimming along the edge of the water. It really doesn’t get better than this, does it?

View of our beach villa from the ocean.

Even though the villas are close together, they actually feel very private. There’s a narrow path walking up to the front door and the path has a lot of greenery for privacy. Also, at the end of our pool was a lot of greenery to give privacy from anyone walking down the beach. Each villa was different and the amount of greenery varied (you can’t control nature!), but our place felt very secluded and private. There was a good bit of beach traffic but it wasn’t disturbing and didn’t bother us.

Like the dolphin ocean villa, our beach villa was on the lagoon side of the island so we had sunrise views all week. I will say that even though the dolphin ocean villa was technically larger, the bedroom area of the beach villa felt larger. There was a King size bed, a built in couch area, and a large desk with the kettle, coffee pot and mini fridge. There was also a much larger built in wardrobe and a vanity area inside the room for getting ready. Not to sound totally vain, but the mirror in the beach villa is better situated for checking your outfit - and outfit selfies, of course. While both rooms had air conditioning, the beach front villa also had a ceiling fan, which was nice.

One view of the beach villa bathroom

When I was growing up, everywhere we went, I had to use the bathroom, or according to my family, I “had to check out the bathroom” and that’s literally never changed. I love checking out bathroom designs to this day. We’ve traveled a lot around Southeast Asia and outdoor bathrooms are one of our favorite things. It’s hard to even choose between the two bathrooms we had at Sun Siyam. The bathroom in the beach villa was fully outside, with 2 showers, a freestanding tub, a large outdoor couch, two sinks and a toilet. Everything had a roof on it except the fully outdoor shower. This bathroom was spacious yet cozy, protected from but totally enveloped in nature, and did I say spacious? Could it have been better than the ocean villa? Don’t make me choose.

The covered deck here was very similar to the dolphin ocean villa with a built in couch and a table with 2 chairs. Next to the pool were two chaise lounges with an umbrella stand. There was also a bowl of water (refilled daily) to wash the sand off your feet before getting into the pool or walking into the villa.

The lagoon side of the resort was full of coral, just like where our overwater bungalow was. The last two days we were there, the tide was very low and we could walk almost all the way to the barrier. This is where we spotted a sea turtle when we were out snorkeling the first day we stayed in the beach front villa. One cool thing about beach on the beachfront was that almost the entire shoreline was full of baby black tip reef sharks herding the fish back and forth. You had to walk through them to be in the water. This is a different experience than being right on top of the water. Click here to watch a short video walk tour of our beach villa room!

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Morning coffee with a friend

Each room was so different from the other that it would be hard to decide which was the better option! I read a lot of reviews while planning for this trip and one tip every reviewer had was to split your time between rooms. I definitely agree with this! Even if we were to go back a second time, I’d have a hard time deciding which room I’d want to book.

Since both of our rooms were on the sunrise side of the island, I can’t compare them to the beach villas or the ocean villas on the sunset side. However, the sunset side of the island is the same side where the ocean sports are, the restaurants, the reception and the pier. The sand was softer over there but the beach villas were set further back from the water, although not by a lot. The sunsets on the island were stunning, some of the best I’ve ever seen, but that side of the island was also a lot busier. If you’re looking to stay away from the crowds, you want the sunrise side.

The ocean villas were on the complete opposite side of the island from everything and there were a lot of them. I read some reviews of people complaining about the long walk but really, it’s maybe a 25 minute walk from one end of the island to the other. These ocean villas did seem to have less coral in the water though as well as a lot less fish. If you’re looking to see a lot that from your villa, the dolphin ocean villa is the one you want.

Did I help you make your decision on which room to stay in or did I make it harder? Let me know in the comments as well as anything else you’d like to know about our stay!