MALDIVES PUBLIC FERRIES - A COMPLETE GUIDE
09 May 2023 || MALDIVES
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The Maldives is an isolated archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, consisting of almost 1200 islands and sandbanks across 26 rings (or atolls). This means that to get around, especially on a budget, the best way is by using the Maldives public ferries. For a tiny fraction of the cost of a seaplane or Maldives speedboat, you can transit across the country comfortably the way the residents do!
The Maldives public ferries are operated by the government run Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC). They have been in operation for over 20 years, providing the primary transport for goods and people across the country.
Having spent several weeks in the Maldives visiting six inhabited islands across four atolls, we used a lot of public ferries! In this article we discuss the best way to buy tickets, how much they cost, where they depart from, what they are like and more, to help you plan your budget Maldives experience!
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Below is a saveable Google Map that highlights where the places mentioned in this post actually are. The marked points on the map include notes that give some useful information.
THE MALDIVES DHONI
Maldives public ferries are also colloquially known as slow dhoni transfers.
The Maldives dhoni is a traditional wooden wind-powered sailing vessel with triangular (lateen) sails. Original Maldives dhonis were built by scooping out a single log which was utilised for fishing. In the present day, functional dhonis are motorised and are also used for cargo transport, ferries and even diving trips.
The locally inhabited island of Alifushi in the Raa Atoll, north of Malé, is the primary site for building Maldives dhonis. A traditional wooden Maldives dhoni takes around 60 days to make.
It is possible, if you have the money, to take a cruise around the Maldives on a traditional dhoni!
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Maldives Public Ferry VS. Maldives Speedboat
Realistically, it is likely that most visitors with complex itineraries will end up taking a Maldives speedboat (or two) if travel schedules don’t align exactly with the Ferry timetables. However, if you have the option of either for a particular route, here are some pros and cons to help you decide:
+ The Maldives public ferries are far, far more affordable than any alternative transport option, including speedboats.
+ Ferries are how many residents travel, which is far more interesting as an experience.
+ Some speedboat routes are absolutely awful – those sick bags and life jackets exist for a reason!
+ Ferries have beautiful island views and provide the possibility of seeing aquatic life (I spotted dolphins).
+ Ferries do not need booking in advance, however it is advisable to book speedboats prior to departure.
– Ferries might get cancelled due to engine breakdown, which is less likely with speedboats.
– Maldives speedboats are far faster (a speedboat can do a journey in a third of the time of a ferry).
– The public ferries do not sail on Fridays due to religious reasons (Maldives speedboats do).
– Generally, more Maldives speedboats operate each route per day than ferries.
Maldives Public Ferries Departure location on Malé
Most tourists arrive in the Maldives via Velana International Airport, adjacent to the capital city, Malé. This means that the public ferries you use will depart from Malé, which is where all the various ferry routes to different atolls originate from. (Bear this in mind when planning an itinerary – there will be some backtracking).
The port in Malé that services the public ferries is known by many names! One is ‘Henveyru’ or ‘Henveiru’, which is the name on the big blue sign outside the Ferry Terminal. On Google Maps it is also labelled as ‘Hulhumalé Ferry Terminal’. To avoid confusion and for clarity (because you do not want to find yourselves at the wrong place waiting for a boat – it happened to us!), in this post, we will refer it as the (MTCC) Malé Ferry Terminal.
Many Maldives blogs are a little out of date. Since the Covid outbreak, all MTCC Maldives public ferries now leave from the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal, which is opposite the Maagiri hotel in the north east of Malé. They used to leave from the Villingili Ferry Terminal in the south west of Malé. If you catch a privately run ferry to Malé, it will still arrive here – we had this happen once.
It is worth reiterating that the MTCC ferry terminal in Malé is often referred to as the Hulhumalé Ferry Terminal. This is puzzling, since there is also a Hulhumalé Ferry Terminal on Hulhumalé, just a little north of Malé. It’s unnecessarily confusing. Sometimes taxi drivers get this mixed up too so be hyper-alert when telling people to ensure they understand where you want to go!
⋅ How to get to the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal ⋅
To get to Malé Ferry Terminal from Velana International Airport, Malé or Hulhumalé, you can take a taxi, the public bus or ferry.
Taxi to MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal
Taxis in the Maldives are inexpensive and abundant. We took several and had only good experiences.
It is common procedure to hail a taxi on the street; any hotel will also be able to arrange an immediate pick-up. There are also Maldives taxi apps such as Avas Ride, PickMe and a ride share option called CabMv.
The fare for street taxis is fixed by the government (up to date as of 2023):
♦ A taxi from Hulhumalé to the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal should always cost 85 MVR.
♦ A taxi from within Malé island to the Malé Ferry Terminal should cost 30 MVR (we were told it should be 25 MVR, but we never got it this low!).
♦ A taxi from Velana International Airport to the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal should cost 75 MVR.
Personally, our experience was that finding a taxi on the street near the ferry terminal was difficult unless you wanted to take a longer journey. The drivers were a little bit scammy and wanted far more than the fixed prices above. No driver would even agree to take us to the other side of Malé and we ended up walking (luckily Malé is only a few miles across!).
Public Bus to MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal
The Maldives public buses are run by the RTL Bus Service (Raajje Transport Link, part of MTCC). These buses are amazingly modern, air-conditioned and comfortable, with cashless payment and live online route tracking. They travel between Malé and Hulhumalé and to the airport.
The buses are seating only, with no standing allowed. They have electronic signs onboard showing the next stop and there are QR codes onboard to scan for a route map. It is probably one of the nicest bus services we have used across the world and the drivers were so helpful!
Bus tickets can be bought online up to seven days in advance or you can pay onboard using a credit card or prepaid bus card.
Maldives Bus Routes
To get to the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal by bus, the bus stop for the terminal is called Carnival. On Google Maps, it is unhelpfully called ‘Bus Stop Henveyru/Hulhumale’. From Velana International Airport (VIA), Malé or Hulhumalé, here are some useful routes:
♦ R2 bus route (Carnival to HM Phase 1) runs between the southern half of Hulhumalé and the bus stop outside the Malé Ferry Terminal (Carnival). This costs 10 MVR for a single ticket.
♦ R8 bus route (HM Phase 2 to Carnival) runs from the northern half of Hulhumalé to the Malé Ferry Terminal/Carnival bus stop. This costs 15 MVR for a single ticket.
♦ R10 bus route (Orchid) runs from Villingili Ferry Terminal on Malé up to the top of Malé and around to the Carnival bus stop. This costs 7 MVR for a single ticket.
There are buses from the airport to Malé, but not directly to the Carnival stop for the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal. It is a far more efficient option to get the ferry if you are travelling directly from the airport (see below).
If you are heading to a hotel in Malé or Hulhumalé, other useful routes from the airport include:
♦ R9 bus route (HM Phase 2 to VIA) runs between the north half of Hulhumalé and Velana International Airport. This costs 15 MVR for a single.
♦ R3 bus route (West Park to VIA) runs between Malé and Velana International Airport along the west and south sides of Malé. This costs 10 MVR for a single.
♦ R4 bus route (HM Phase 1 to VIA) runs between the south half of Hulhumalé and Velana International Airport. This costs 10 MVR for a single.
Ferry from Velana International Airport to MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal
If you are arriving at Velana International Airport, there is a public ferry route that runs to the Malé Ferry Terminal. It costs 10 MVR per trip, taking just 10 minutes (Hulhule Ferry on Google Maps). The ticket counter is at the exit of the airport building – look for the sign ‘Ferry to Malé’.
Only three pieces of luggage are allowed per ticket on this route, but additional luggage allowance can be purchased.
It is not necessary to reserve seats in advance as there are departures every 15 minutes from 6am until 7pm which arrive directly at the MTCC Ferry Terminal on Malé. From 7pm until 12am, they run every 30 minutes. These ferries depart directly outside the airport and are by far the best way to travel if you need to catch an MTCC public ferry.
Amenities AT THE MTCC Malé FERRY TERMINAL
The terminal is considerable, with two floors and disabled-friendly access. On the ground floor is the ticket counter and three seated waiting areas with electronic screens. This section has no air conditioning but there are dozens of ceiling fans which we found cooled us adequately despite the temperatures. There are separate western style bathrooms for men and women, as well as a prayer area and a water fountain. There is no public WiFi.
On the upper floor is a Burger King, a coffee shop and a restaurant serving a variety of overpriced food and drink options.
Around Malé Ferry Terminal, there are plenty of shops, cafes and ATMs. Several minutes south of the ferry terminal, at the Carnival/Malé Ferry bus stop area, there are a number of restaurants, some offering very reasonably priced set menus for breakfast and lunch. We bought a bunch of really affordable, incredible tasting (spicy) snacks from these restaurants for each of our longer ferry journeys.
Buying Tickets for a Maldives Public Ferry
Tickets for the Maldives public ferries must be purchased in person as there is no online ticket option available. If travelling from Malé, they can be obtained at the counters just inside on the left at the MTCC Malé Ferry Terminal. Purchasing public ferry tickets in advance is recommended on public holidays (this is what we were told – we did not travel during any holidays though and none of our ferries were very busy!).
The employees spoke a little English and it was very simple to get the correct route. We paid in cash for all our tickets. On the islands, the tickets are purchased during or after boarding the ferry.
⋅ How Much do Maldives Public Ferries Cost? ⋅
MTCC Maldives public ferries are very reasonably priced.
The cost depends on the atoll route. The lowest we paid per person was 22 MVR (North Malé Atoll) one way and the most we paid was 53 MVR (Vaavu Atoll). Prices do not always translate to the length of time a journey will take! Our cheapest journey was also our longest.
This is worth comparing to the equivalent Maldives speedboat routes that can cost 25-75 US dollars for the same journey. The ferries really are a fantastic bargain.
When do the Maldives Public Ferries Operate?
Not on a Friday!
The more popular the ferry route, the more journeys it does. So some, like the boat to Maafushi, operate every day except Friday whilst others only go once a week. Some routes don’t have a return journey on the same day as the outbound trip; others still operate, but just between part of the islands within an atoll on specific days. It’s a little complicated!
If you are heading to islands in the more distant atolls of the Maldives, be sure to check the ferry schedule extremely carefully, especially since a mistake could result in a 75 dollar speedboat. Honestly, one of the only challenging parts of planning a do-it-yourself, budget trip to the Maldives is figuring out the transport!
You can find a ferry schedule updated for April 2023 on the MTCC website which has a list of all the ferries, the islands they stop at and the times of departure. Be aware that some islands, like Maafushi, are serviced by more than one ferry route.
⋅ Understanding the MTCC Maldives Public Ferry Schedule ⋅
I’m not going to lie, when I first saw the ferry schedules, I was a bit confused. They’re actually pretty simple to understand though and I feel like, at the time, I was being mildly overly dramatic.
The current ferry schedule is a 55-page document, with each page listing an island route and number. Use the PDF search function to find the island name you want (it may be within the route, rather than in the title).
At the top of each ferry schedule, there is the number of the route, e.g. 308, the first and last stop and the day(s) of operation. The Maldives is split into seven zones and the first number of the route denotes the zone the ferry serves (e.g. 308 is in zone three).
Read the Maldives public ferry timetables from right to left to find out when the ferry will leave and arrive. The left column is the arrival time and the right column is the departure time. If there are separate days for the return journey, this will be shown in a separate box, e.g. route 306, or the return may be on a different route number altogether, such as route 402 and 404.
See examples below for the routes mentioned here.
