Sea Underwater Restaurant & Wine Cellar

Verdict: Worth the Effort to Book, If You're Already at Anantara Kihavah

Sea Underwater Restaurant & Wine Cellar is not difficult to book in the conventional sense: walk-in guests won't find a queue at the door. The real barrier to entry is getting to Kihavah Huravalhi itself, a private island in Baa Atoll accessible only by seaplane or speedboat as part of an Anantara Kihavah resort stay. If you're already there, booking a table at Sea is a direct conversation with the resort. If you're not a guest, this venue simply isn't available to you. Plan accordingly: the restaurant should factor into your decision to book the resort, not the other way around.

What Sea Actually Is

Sea is an all-glass underwater dining room built below the surface of the Indian Ocean lagoon, paired with a wine cellar that holds the World's Leading Wine Lists 3-Star Accreditation, a meaningful credential in the wine world, placing it among a small number of operations globally recognised for list depth, range, and presentation. That award matters here more than it might at a destination restaurant in a major city, because it signals that the beverage program has been built with genuine seriousness rather than assembled to match a dramatic setting.

The experience is structured around the view from below the waterline: reef fish, rays, and the filtered light of the Maldivian lagoon form the backdrop to your meal. The wine cellar is physically adjacent, making the combination of underwater dining and serious vinous depth the defining double act. For food and wine travellers who seek experiences with documented credentials rather than marketing claims, the 3-Star WBWL accreditation is a reason to take Sea seriously as a wine destination.

Lunch vs Dinner: How the Two Experiences Compare

At Sea, the choice between lunch and dinner is less about price tier, the resort-captive setting means pricing is broadly consistent across services, and more about what you're there to see. Lunch delivers natural light filtering through the glass panels, with the lagoon illuminated and marine life fully visible in the mid-day clarity. The visual payoff is at its highest in daylight hours, and if the wine list is your primary draw, a long lunch format lets you move through a tasting sequence without the pace of an evening service.

Dinner shifts the register entirely. The glass panels become dark mirrors interrupted by the resort's underwater lighting, which creates a different atmosphere, more theatrical, less naturalistic. For couples celebrating a milestone, dinner carries more ceremonial weight. For food and wine enthusiasts who want to see what's actually swimming past the window, lunch is the better call. If this is your only reservation at Sea during a stay, and the wine list is central to your plan, book lunch and give yourself time to work through it properly.

Who Should Book

Sea is the right choice for guests at Anantara Kihavah who want a combination of serious wine depth and a setting that is genuinely difficult to replicate elsewhere in the Maldives. The 3-Star WBWL accreditation separates it from resort restaurants that hold a large wine list without independent recognition of its quality. Travellers whose priority is food-forward cooking in the Maldives may find more culinary ambition at Aragu at Velaa Private Island or Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc Randheli. But if wine is central to what you're planning, Sea's list credentials are the strongest documented case in the Maldives category.

Solo diners can book comfortably, the format suits a single guest with a wine focus and something to look at. Groups are manageable within the resort booking process, though specific capacity details should be confirmed directly with Anantara Kihavah at the time of reservation.

Dress expectations at a venue of this tier in a Maldivian resort context typically run to smart-casual at minimum for dinner, no beachwear. Confirm current dress code with the resort when booking.

Quick reference: Book through Anantara Kihavah resort, access is restricted to resort guests. Lunch recommended for wine enthusiasts and marine visibility. Dinner for occasion dining. 3-Star WBWL accreditation for wine list depth.

For more options on the island, see our full Kihavah Huravalhi restaurants guide. For where to stay, our Kihavah Huravalhi hotels guide covers the full picture. If bars and after-dinner drinking are part of your plan, our Kihavah Huravalhi bars guide is worth a look. Wine travellers should also check our Kihavah Huravalhi wineries guide and our experiences guide for broader itinerary planning.