News Desk
Canareef Resort Maldives, Addu City — On the eve of All Saints’ Day, when much of the world traded candy corn for carved pumpkins under gray skies, the Maldives offered a different kind of spectral allure: witches’ brews sipped beside turquoise lagoons and jack-o’-lanterns flickering on white sand. Halloween, a holiday with Celtic roots that has grown into a global spectacle of costumes and fright, found its way to this island nation not as a local tradition but as a seasonal import tailored for tourists and expatriates.
In a country where Islam shapes public life and non-Muslim festivities are largely confined to private settings, the celebrations unfolded within the archipelago’s luxury resorts. The result was a striking blend of tropical calm and imported spookiness.
Tourism, which generates about a quarter of the Maldives’ GDP and supports more than 40,000 jobs, has long thrived on reinvention.
At The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, the season began with a weeklong Autumn Festival that ran from October 30 to November 5. The resort’s 102 villas became stages for everything from pumpkin carving and beachside workouts to a “Spooky Treasure Hunt” for families. Teens explored a virtual reality “Magic of Mantas,” while adults boarded dhonis for “Boos and Brews” cocktail cruises under the stars. Wellness remained central, with visiting mobility coach Anthony Green drawing more than 200 participants for posture and stress-relief sessions.
Far to the south, the Mercure Maldives Kooddoo Resort in Gaafu Alifu Atoll hosted its first “Haunted Elegance” gala on October 31, turning its 68 villas into a chic retreat for adult guests. The evening opened with a buffet of black squid ink risotto and blood-orange sorbet, followed by a costume contest and a moonlit beach party that lasted until midnight.
Canareef Resort Maldives in Addu City went for spectacle. Its “Haunted Island” celebration began at 7 p.m. with themed dishes like “Witch’s Cauldron Soup” and “Cursed Coconut Cream,” served to 300 guests. By nightfall, fire dancers, a Thriller flash mob, and games filled Dhoni Beach until the early hours. A guest dressed as a “zombie siren” won a free night’s stay.
At Kuda Villingili Resort in North Male Atoll, Halloween stretched from October 28 to November 1 under the banner “Spooky Tropical Halloween.” Children crafted glowing “Ghost Jellyfish” and hunted for “Sea Monsters” in a game that doubled as a lesson on marine ecology. Adults sipped haunted cocktails while watching the sun sink into the Indian Ocean before sitting down to a buffet that mixed local seafood with seasonal flourishes.
In nearby Male’ Atoll, SO/ Maldives turned its Lazuli Beach Club into a playground for families. Daytime activities included mask making, tie-dye T-shirt painting, and cookie decorating. As evening fell, the mood shifted to eerie delight with a beachside “Witches & Waves” dinner and a late-night “Spooky Halloween Party” featuring DJs, glow body paint, and cocktail discounts for guests who dared to dance.
Even Hard Rock Hotel Maldives joined in, offering discounted stays through November 5 and live music to match its name.
Across the resorts, Maldivian staff gave the imported holiday a local touch: coconut “cauldrons” for serving drinks, pandanus-leaf “ghosts” fluttering from palm trees, and costumes that hinted at folklore more island than European.
For most Maldivians on inhabited islands, October 31 passed like any other night. Yet in the country’s far-flung resorts, Halloween has found a curious niche — a festival of foreign frights refracted through the soft glow of the Indian Ocean.
