THE ULTIMATE MALDIVES ITINERARY
23 May 2023 || THE MALDIVES
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Honestly, designing an itinerary across the local islands of the Maldives is a nightmare. There are hundreds of inhabited islands across 26 atolls; some are closer to the capital than others, some have nightmarish ferry schedules, all with varying levels of tourist infrastructure. So, how do you choose which ones are perfect for you?
With so many island combinations, everything depends on the time you have available for your trip. Here, we detail three different atoll routes, of which you could easily spend one to two weeks on each (or less if you’re in a rush!). If you are feeling ambitious, you could take on multiple atolls in one trip. Below we detail how.
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THE MALDIVES ATOLLS AND WHY THEY MATTER
The Maldives is a nation made of atolls, which are rings of islands and sandbanks. These can be clearly viewed and recognised by using Google Maps satellite view (take a look at the Google Map on this post). Logically, public ferry and speedboat routes follow the strings of islands, making it simpler to plan a trip along one or two of these directions.
All the ferries and speedboats for the Maldives Itinerary options below originate in Malé, meaning that if you choose to transit between atolls, you’ll likely need to return to the capital city to change boat. Check out our detailed guide on the Maldives public ferries for more information.
BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT THE MALDIVES
Overall, the best time to visit the Maldives is the dry season between January and March. However, the best time to visit the Maldives actually depends on what you plan to do.
The average day time temperature in the Maldives is above 25 Celsius (77 F), all year round, it’s always hot! The wet season is between May to November and the driest months are between January and March. Accommodation and flight prices in the Maldives in general are lower during the rainy season.
For surfing, better conditions in the Maldives can be found between March and October. Divers will find conditions suitable all year round but may see an abundance of manta rays, reef sharks and hammerhead sharks in the wet season.
MALDIVES DURING RAMADAN
In 2024, Ramadan is between 10th March to 9th April, depending on the moon. This will affect shop, café and restaurant opening times on local islands and in the capital, Malé. Public speedboats and ferry services run a reduced service. We would recommend avoiding this time of year (we’ve spent Ramadan in three, some strict, Muslim countries so far and have no issue with it but feel that the Maldives would be particularly difficult if you are not observing). Personally, we wouldn’t recommend going to a resort during Ramadan either as the staff serving you food and drinks will likely be Muslim and I don’t feel great about that.
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Below is a saveable Google Map with all the islands included on these itineraries marked in distinct colours. Itinerary one is yellow, itinerary two is purple and itinerary three is red. All commence in Malé, marked in green.
PLANNING A MALDIVES ITINERARY
It’s a tricky one, designing a Maldives itinerary.
There are a handful of obvious island combinations that originate in Malé, so here, we’ll detail three of those multi-island itineraries across different atolls. It is possible to spend 1-2 weeks per itinerary or choose selected bits from each and have a bit of an adventure. It all depends on how chill you want your trip to be. We wanted an adventure so transited between four atolls and all the routes we write about!
Each itinerary has the relevant ferry schedule listed, suggested islands on the route, transit times and what each circuit is best for. If a speedboat makes more sense for any part of a route, we mention that too. It is also possible to change up the island orders with minimal difficulty on these itineraries if your arrival and departure dates fit less well with the ferry schedules.
Do not plan to travel on a Friday between any islands by ferry. This is a holy day and there are minimal (read: zero) public transport choices operating.
MALDIVES ITINERARY 1 - SOUTH Malé/VAAVU ATOLLs
⟨ Maafushi → Gulhi → Guraidhoo → Fulidhoo ⟩
BEST FOR:
proximity to Malé, tourist infrastructure, frequency of ferries, variety
WHY THIS ROUTE:
This is one of the most obvious choices for a Maldives itinerary and provides a little slice of everything that the island nation has to offer. As Maafushi is the most popular and one of the larger local islands in the Maldives, it provides excellent tourist infrastructure. Fulidhoo on the other end of the scale is a sleepy island paradise, perfect for sitting in a hammock with a book. Gulhi and Guraidhoo, sitting either side of Maafushi, are both excellent instances of small communities in the Maldives with beautiful beaches.
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RELATED POST | MAAFUSHI PHOTO GUIDE
⋅ Maldives Itinerary 1: Transport Timetables ⋅
For this itinerary, you could visit these four islands in any order really, but we think it makes sense to start in Maafushi. It’s the easiest to reach via public transport and the most established local island. From here, it is possible to overnight-trip to Gulhi and/or Guraidhoo, depending on the amount of time available. The ferries for the route that connects all three islands is the number 309 and runs daily (apart from Friday).
Fulidhoo is in a separate atoll, far to the south, but is a favourite amongst visitors to the Maldives. The ferry (number 306) takes just under two hours, heading south from Malé and Maafushi on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. From Fulidhoo, the ferry back to Malé operates on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. If your schedule doesn’t fit this, speedboats run daily but are very expensive, at around $50 a pop.
Below is a map of the route options and copies of the MTCC public ferry schedules. For more information on how to read them, check out our dedicated Maldives ferry guide.
⋅ Maldives Itinerary 1: the Islands ⋅
This combination of islands provide a lot of diversity.
Maafushi: is great for decent hotels, water sports and community. We enjoyed Maafushi, despite it being pretty touristy (we didn’t like the quietest islands!). It has one bikini beach on the northern coast and lots of shops and restaurants. Check out our Maafushi photo guide if you want to see if it’s your cup of tea.
Gulhi and Guraidhoo: we didn’t visit these two islands but would definitely do so if we came along this route again. They’re small communities with a bikini beach on each island and a few restaurants and guesthouses.
Fulidhoo: this is the perfect little island utopia (in most people’s eyes). There are around 500 people living there, two beautiful bikini beaches, and that’s pretty much it! It wasn’t our favourite island, but we apparently hate the quiet. And reading books. And doing nothing.
