As your seaplane touches down at JOALI BEING, your heart will skip a beat. This drop of land in the Raa Atoll is everything the Maldives promises on postcards. With bone-white beaches, a coco-palm buzz cut and a lagoon the colour of a Tiffany box – only in this case, the gems are coral fans, bobbing turtles and giant clams with iridescent lips.
On land, dramatic architecture curves and arches like waves. Sculptural roof canopies and garden walls fold as lightly as paper, angling softly to envelope natural spaces. If you instantly feel a little lighter, then this dreamy destination has already achieved its goal.
Wellbeing on JOALI BEING
Amid a cache of more than 150 private-island retreats, the property is the first in the Maldives dedicated entirely to wellbeing. And architecture plays an important role in this, summoning that soul-salving feeling of lightness through biophilic design principles – everything on the island was built to connect you with nature and evoke harmony.
Ultra-luxurious Maldives villas
This island of wellbeing has temple-like thatched structures. Inside you will find soaring ceilings, sections of sand floors, and the subtle but repetitive use of naturally occurring forms. Its hexagonal designs are thought to evoke a sacred geometry, signifying balance, spirituality and eternity. Indeed, when you discover what your stay here entails, you will want ‘forever’ to be your mantra.
Each of the 68 villas comes with its own butler or Jadugar.
Four pillars of wellbeing
Whether you check in for five days or three weeks, your holistic prescription here revolves around four pillars: Mind, Skin, Microbiome and Energy, with the overall goal of amplifying that sense of weightlessness you feel when you arrive.
Depending on your health goals – whether you want a gut-reset, to destress, look younger or develop healthy eating habits – days are filled with inspiring wellbeing workshops, active adventures, cooking classes, consultations and the most decadent of transformational treatments.
Mind, Skin, Microbiome and Energy
Wellbeing your way
Align your chakras with an Ayurvedic doctor in the morning, followed by alfresco yoga in the Ocean Sala. Replace your saltwater soundtrack with chimes when you wander down the Discovery Sound Path. Here, a series of gongs, tubular bells and lithophones are tucked among pandanus trees – strike them to create your own healing vibrations in the warm, jasmine-scented air.
Ease limbs in saunas, steam rooms, ice fountains, hydrotherapy pools, cryotherapy chambers and a huge salt room with illuminated pink Himalayan salt bricks; the mineral-rich air here improves mental clarity. Then find a perch at AKTAR, the Herbology Centre for a stress-reducing infusion and sign up for herbology classes if you feel inspired.
Wholesome meals
JOALI BEING has three signature restaurants and open-plan interactive dining space. All food and beverage options have been expertly curated with the help of the island’s nutritionists.
Meals are also prepared to nourish, rather than just sate. Plantae offers vegetarian and vegan cuisine, Su serves ocean-to-table pescatarian fare, and B’Well features a signature JOALI BEING menu, including a selection of Earth-to-Table meals.
Most meals are created using ingredients foraged, sourced and grown on the island – responsible dining becomes effortless. At the same time, every mouthful promotes and enforces gut health to ensure a long and happy life.
Where is JOALI BEING?
Nestled on the secluded island of Bodufushi in Raa Atoll, amid crystalline lagoons, pristine beaches and lush coconut palms, JOALI BEING is a 40-minute seaplane journey from Malé International Airport.
This article originally appeared in Signature Luxury Travel & Style magazine. Subscribe to the latest issue today.
