Action
Travel with purpose at Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio resorts in Maldives
The last Wednesday of October is marked as Sustainability Day to remind the community of the importance of caring for the environment and the steps to do so. Studies have shown that travellers are increasingly more concerned about their impact on the world and there has been an increase in awareness of environmental and social issues. Apart from eco-conscious accommodation, travellers are also looking for meaningful travel initiatives. In 2021, Marriott International launched the Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy programme which aspires to shift the way vacations are perceived – from pure leisure to a value-adding opportunity that allows travellers to explore and build deeper connections in local communities.
Conscientious travellers to the Maldives can look forward to include initiatives to continue to eliminate single-use plastics, implementation of re-usable glass bottles for water and juices, usage of paper products around the resorts and initiating monthly dives against debris and clean-up days along with various other initiatives to promote the conservation of marine life and awareness of the same.
These four resorts from Marriott Bonvoy’ portfolio in the Maldives are taking new and enhanced initiatives to do their bit for the environment, oceans and community:
JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa
Sustainability is at the heart of the multi-generational JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa’s ethos and the island haven offers interactive activities for the entire family to enjoy whilst keeping a sustainable approach in place. The resort’s marine biologist leads fun and interactive chats for all ages at ‘Marine Talk’ where guests can learn about the importance of coral, how the resort is preserving it and delving into the wonderful wildlife which inhabits Vagaru Island. Through the FAMiLY by JW Little Griffins Kids Club, arts and crafts sessions aim at reducing waste and providing kids with tangible knowledge and experience on recycling and sustainability. Children can use a plethora of day-to-day items from plastic bottles to paper cups and toilet paper, or even leaves from around the beautiful resort, to create art and celebrate this idyllic island while understanding the impact of waste. The Kids Club facilitators teach children through interactive and fun activities, how each one of us can play a part to support climate change and sustainability.
“Supporting local” is not just a trend, but an important undertaking for travellers who directly contribute to empowering the local economy. The pandemic has underscored, for many travellers that everyone is in it together. Marriott International is committed to supporting local communities and embracing local businesses for sustainability. JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa uses Island Apothecary products – made from local natural ingredients, in some of the signature couple treatments at Spa by JW. This initiative supports women run businesses in the community as each bottle is mixed, bottled and shipped straight from the island homes. The resort also uses locally sourced fresh catch in their restaurants and handmade tipi tents to bring to life the FAMiLY by JW experience in villas for kids.
W Maldives
Whether you’re looking to follow your dietary discipline, or experience what sustainable dining entails even while you’re in the middle of the ocean – look no further! W Maldives is elevating it’s culinary offerings by collaborating with celebrity vegan chef & sustainable cuisine champion, Chef Priyanka Naik, who has created a pop-up menu that would be available exclusively at the resort until October 2023. With a focus on local and sustainably sourced ingredients while maintaining stylish presentation and bold flavors true to the brand, the menu is sure to entice not just vegans but also the non-vegans to give it a try.
The luxury playground in North Ari Atoll has also partnered with cutting-edge Hong Kong swimwear label Mazu Resortwear to create exclusive prints with a bold message in mind. Made out of salvaged plastic bottles, the limited edition swimwear collection is stealing the scene in style and is inspired by the team’s commitment to save the ocean since 2021.
Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa
The Adopt a Coral initiativeat Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spainvites guests to participate in the fun and interactive coral-fragment plantation activity in an effort to promote reef habitats and generate new coral. The resort has teamed up with Reefscapers, a coral propagation organisation appointed by the Maldivian Government as custodians of the coral colonies in the Gulhi Falhu lagoon which was slated to be destroyed as part of a reclamation project. The activity is led by experts and offers a hands-on experience to participants while also providing an alternative business to the 250 inhabitants whose sole previous source of employment was fishing. The resort witnessed coral spawning, a milestone in the resort’s coral propagation initiative that started in February 2020. To date, over 6,000 coral fragments from 15 different species of corals have been transplanted.
The resort also runs its own ‘water bottling plant initiative’ as part of the resort’s sustainability programme that is dedicated to removing large amounts of plastic bottles from the resort. This initiative is an important aspect of the property’s commitment to protecting and preserving their environment through day-to-day operation, encompassing Marriott International’s wider “Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction” campaign.
The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort
As part of Good Travel with Marriott Bonvoy™, The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort offers guests an experience to be able to contribute meaningfully to the community by promoting the traditional art of lacquer to travellers coming to Maldives, making it profitable and helping to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Liyelaa Jehun for future generations. Lacquer work, known locally as Liyelaa Jehun, is a traditional art believed to have come to the Maldives centuries ago from Chinese traders and settlers. It is now only practiced by a few locals and is at risk of being lost forever. At The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort guests are invited to join the interactive workshop with local lacquer workers, to learn the art and help preserve one of the oldest traditional crafts in the Maldives. Guests can learn and mold the intricate craft themselves with local artisans guiding them. Guests participating in the experience play a key role in supporting the local artisans and the industry. The workshops not only give guests the chance to create something of their own, but also to help keep the art alive. By buying crafts directly from the producers, they directly support the local economy, and by taking pieces of the art back home, guests are helping to preserve the traditional craft and heritage and spread awareness about it too.
The resort has also launched a new project to protect and restore coral reefs. The team at AQUA, the watersports centre at the resort, leads this exciting project, one of the biggest of its kind in the Baa Atoll area. It is specific to the local reef topography and will focus on restoring the reefs from top to bottom. Trial nurseries have been set up to see if this method will be successful and healthy coral colonies can be transplanted back onto the reefs.
To know more about the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of resorts in Maldives click here. For more information, please visit www.marriott.com
Since May 2026, a single female green turtle has returned to the beaches of Niva Kuramathi on five separate occasions—on 8, 18, and 29 May, and again on 9 and 20 June—choosing these shores to lay her eggs.
Kuramathi Island is not a regular nesting ground for turtles, which makes each return, and each nest, a rare and significant event. The nesting turtle hauls herself ashore to dig a hollow chamber in the warm sand before laying a clutch of up to 100 eggs. She then draws the sand back over the eggs to camouflage them, smoothing the surface until the nest disappears beneath her. Slowly, she makes her way back to the sea.
This labour-intensive journey usually takes place under the cover of darkness. Green sea turtles can weigh between 150 and 250 kg, with their heart-shaped shells stretching up to 140 cm in length. In the water, their paddle-like flippers sweep through the currents.
Every nest at Niva Kuramathi has been carefully marked and protected, giving it the best chance of success. On 7 July, the first hatchlings emerged from the warm sand at night and instinctively made their way towards the sea.
The nest hatched after 59 days of incubation. It contained 107 eggs, producing 59 hatchlings that made it to the sea. There were 46 unfertilised eggs and only two fertilised eggs that did not hatch. This represents a fantastic hatching rate for the fertilised eggs. The nest was excavated with permission from the Environmental Regulatory Authority (ERA).
Throughout, guests have been given the opportunity to witness both nesting and hatching events – always at a respectful distance. These are the moments that reveal the wildlife that calls the island home, watched not as just a rare spectacle but as something shared.
“We are excited to have a green turtle choose our island to nest on,” said Tom Osborne, Sustainability Manager at Niva Kuramathi. “This isn’t a regular nesting ground for turtles, so to have five nests is truly special.”
For more inspiration, visit www.nivakuramathi.com.
Running from June through September under the banner Play, Create, Move, Kandima Maldives’ Summer Kamp 2026 is transforming the resort into a playground of art, sport and active lifestyle experiences, weaving together a landmark biodiversity exhibition, football fever inspired by the world’s biggest tournament, and a summer’s worth of island dining moments.
Match-Days in Paradise
PlaySpace Sports Arena has become the island’s unofficial town square this summer, drawing guests in for every kick-off and the odd late-night finish. The chapter opened with world champion freestyle footballer Lia Lewis putting on a week of ball-skills sessions that turned poolside kids into aspiring pros, and the island hasn’t quite slowed down since.
PlaySpace will also be hosting the season’s biggest watch party for the World Cup Final on 19 July as the tournament crowns its champion.
Colour, Conservation and Creativity
The KULA Art Initiative brings its creative programme to Kandima this summer, working alongside the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Art for Biodiversity – a season-long exhibition displaying shortlisted artists’ work exploring conservation through colour and craft rather than campaigning.
- Art for Biodiversity Opening Ceremony (23 July): the exhibition officially opens, bringing island inspiration and marine conservation into the same frame.
- Resort-Wide Art Trail (from 26 July): a self-guided route threads selected works through the island’s natural landscape, for guests to discover at their own pace.
- Create with the Artists (from 1 August): three local artists and one international guest lead hands-on sessions in colour, craft and storytelling.
- Kids’ Music Lessons (ongoing): younger guests get their first go at a mixing deck in a session built just for them.
An Island Built for Movement
Kandima has always treated activity as part of the scenery rather than an add-on, and this summer’s line-up leans further into that instinct, stretching from the running track to the open water.
- Kandima Running Club x Strava island routes: launched this year, it has turned the island’s shoreline into a proper route map, from unhurried 5k sunset laps to 10k mornings for the more competitive.
- Active Recovery Yoga: morning flow at the Yoga Pavilion, kids’ sessions at Kandiland, and sunset breathwork on Zest Beach cover most moods and most ages.
- Ocean Adventures: jet ski runs, PADI dive certification and turtle or dolphin encounters with the Aquaholics team keep the Indian Ocean part of the daily itinerary, not just the backdrop.
In celebration of PADI Women’s Dive Day on 18 July 2026, Coco Bodu Hithi invites certified women divers to come together for a meaningful morning beneath the surface, combining marine conservation with the joy of exploring the ocean in one of the Maldives’ most vibrant natural environments.
Inspired by this year’s global theme, “Celebrate Community. Create Change.”, the resort’s Women of the Ocean Reef Clean-Up Dive encourages to connect through shared passion for the underwater world while making a positive impact on the environment. Designed exclusively for certified women divers, the guided reef clean-up dive offers the opportunity to explore Coco Bodu Hithi’s biodiverse house reef while helping remove debris and protect its delicate ecosystem.
At the heart of it all is Coco Dive, the resort’s PADI-certified dive centre, where guests can discover the beauty and wonders of the Maldives through safe, personalised and memorable underwater adventures. Whether taking their very first breath below the surface or exploring advanced dive sites, guests are guided by an experienced, multilingual team of instructors dedicated to creating unforgettable diving experiences.
Just minutes from the resort, divers can access almost 30 renowned dive sites, home to vibrant coral reefs and an abundance of marine life, including hawksbill turtles, white-tip and grey reef sharks, eagle rays, barracuda, Napoleon fish, schools of blue-striped snappers, batfish and fusiliers. Guests looking to begin their marine adventures can also start their certification before arrival through PADI eLearning, allowing them to spend more time exploring the ocean once they reach the Maldives.
“At Coco Bodu Hithi, we believe every dive is an opportunity to build a deeper connection with the ocean,” said Jinn Hui, Dive Base Leader for Coco Bodu Hithi. “PADI Women’s Dive Day celebrates the growing community of women in diving while reminding us that small actions, such as removing debris, can make a meaningful difference to the health of our reefs.”
The activity is available at the resort’s standard single-dive rate and includes a personalised certificate of participation and a complimentary dive video, allowing guests to take home lasting memories of a meaningful day beneath the surface.
Rooted in Coco Collection’s truly Maldivian heritage, Coco Bodu Hithi continues to bring guests closer to nature through experiences that inspire a deeper appreciation for the Maldives and its fragile marine habitat.
Located in North Malé Atoll, just 35 minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport, Coco Bodu Hithi invites guests to unwind in spacious villas with up to 30% savings through the Discover Coco offer or enjoy exclusive benefits with the Local & Expat Exclusives package. Visit cococollection.com or contact reservations@cococollection.com for further enquiries.
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