Visit Anantara Kihavah Villas, a 35-minute seaplane north of Malé airport, and you can gaze at the stars from your private beachside villa, should you wish. There’s so little light pollution in this corner of the Maldives, we are told, that it is possible to see 15,000 stars with your naked eye. Alternatively, you can head to Sky, the hotel’s overwater observatory, where you can see hundreds of thousands more pinpricks of light and get a much better understanding of exactly what it is you are gawking at.

As well as a restaurant, Sky is the only at-sea observatory in the Maldives. On a platform on top, someone has plonked a research-grade telescope, the most powerful in the region. Below, someone equally astute has constructed a cocktail bar. How’s that for far-sightedness? (Geddit?) This means you can huddle under a blanket (although, in this part of the world, temperatures barely dip below 30°C, even at night), strawberry daiquiri or glass of Chablis in hand, while trying to locate the yellow rings of Saturn or the precise location of Jupiter (clue: other than the moon and Venus, it’ll be the brightest thing you can see). Sky does a fine line in tapas, as well as upmarket finger food, if you’re feeling peckish.

By day, Zunnoon Ahmed is Anantara’s assistant IT manager. By night, he becomes one of the hotel’s two ‘Sky Gurus’. A self-taught astrologist, Ahmed has spent years conducting research, taking exams and collaborating on astro-imaging projects so that he can share his passion with guests of the hotel. Born on a neighbouring island, few people have spent more nights observing this patch of sky than Ahmend.

He can, for example, talk you through the different types of galaxies, point out stars and planets that are invisible from Europe and America, and explain, with the use of a laser pen, that some of the stars at which you are looking could be up to 30 million light years away. At which point it’s a good time to order another daiquiri.

“I always make it a habit to check online astronomy forums for the latest celestial discoveries,” says Ahmed. “We regularly witness solar eclipses and lunar eclipses.” Get lucky during your stay, and you could see a meteor shower. Apparently they happen more often than you’d think.

The other big draw of staying at Anantara Kihavah Villas lies not in the sky but under the water. The island is located in the Baa Atoll, the Maldives’ only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, designated so in 2011 for its bounty of marine life. Found just north of the Kaashidhoo Kandu channel, which divides the northern chain of atolls, the Baa supports one of the largest groups of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean.

Snorkelers and divers come year round to observe dolphins, hawksbill turtles and fish of every colour and creed. If manta rays and whale sharks are more your thing, visit from June until November, when larger marine species gather to feed on the abundant plankton. The nearby Hanifaru Bay is a mantra ray feeding ground, the largest of its kind in the world. It’s also a popular mating point for whale sharks.

Anantara Kihavah is located on a private island routinely voted as one of the most unspoilt in the Maldives. Aware of the paradise it has inherited, the hotel has trod lightly, constructing sympathetic buildings of traditional thatched roofs and refusing to fell palms, papaya and mango trees. ‘Kihavah’ actually translates as ‘young coconut’, the island being blessed with a huge number of coconut palms.

Last year, the resort revealed the results of a refurbishment of both its Fire restaurant – one of six on the island, and now serving a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines – and its over-water villas. Atelier Pod, the international design studio, has leaned in heavily to a wood-cabin aesthetic, choosing furniture, fittings and materials to reflect e sustainable qualities of local indigenous culture. Naturally enough, each villa comes with its own infinity-edge swimming pool.

Talking of water, better mention Sea, the hotel’s underwater restaurant. Home to the world’s first undersea wine cellar, the restaurant serves lobster ceviche and Australian wagyu steak, and many other things, against a backdrop of sharks, turtles and tropical fish. It truly is one of the world’s most unique dining experiences. Especially when combined with a spot of after-meal star gazing.

Beach pool villas from approx. £1,500 per night, Overwater pool villas from approx. £1,575, both on a half board basis, visit anantara.com.

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