The island nation of Maldives consists of twenty-six atolls located in the Indian Ocean, about 400 kilometres south-west of India. Maldives is the world's lowest country in terms of ground level, with each island boasting diverse and fascinating marine life. Maldives benefits from truly wonderful weather and plenty of amazing attractions and activities to enjoy. Maldives has long been a world-class, popular holiday destination, if you've never been - do!
The unique landscape of Maldives makes speedboats and water planes the main forms of transport to explore the myriad islands. Islands in the same atoll can often be explored by foot as the sea is so shallow that you can actually walk to nearby islands. Maldives is a top destination for water sports, especially scuba diving and snorkelling, thanks to the countless coral reefs and the ideal diving conditions on many of the nation's lagoons.
Water sports
All kind of water sports are popular in Maldives, including parasailing and snorkelling. 'Serious' water sports athletes may prefer to take advantage of the various unique surfing points of Maldives and show off their surfing and wind surfing skills. The Male Island Point is a very popular surfing point with local and tourist surfers alike.
Harpoon fishing is practiced as a form of water sport here and the Maldives have also become one of the world's top scuba diving destinations thanks to its amazing weather conditions that ensure perfect visibility and zero waves during the dry season. Divers come here for the countless colourful coral reefs, diverse marine live and first-class scuba diving facilities that can be found inside many of Maldives' best resorts. Some of the most popular scuba diving destinations include Broken Rock, Cocoa Corner and Bodu Hoholha.
Diving trips
Diverland is Maldives' premier diving trips provider, organising dozens of incredible dive trips each month. They usually involve travelling on a boat to the best diving spots in Maldives, then proceeding to dive and explore the numerous reefs and underwater caves. The trips are only suitable for adults and people with some diving experience.
Island excursions
Various providers offer island excursions that promise to get tourists to remote and pristinely unique sides of Maldives, often overlooked by more mainstream options. These excursions often take tourists to uninhabited islands known as 'virgin' islands and to various landmarks of stunning beauty across the archipelago. Some island excursions are mixed with fishing excursions to catch large fish or romantic night trips to secluded islands.
On & beneath the waves
Surfatoll is Maldives' number one surf boat trip specials. The company arranges surf trips to catch the best waves across the archipelago, offering a unique, twofold experience; first, you get to travel on boat between the countless islands and see some spectacular landmarks. Second, you get to literally chase the best waves and f you are lucky, even practice surfing alongside dolphins.
The Maldives Boat Trip Charters is a large company that operates across the whole nation of Maldives, offering top quality ferry trips and special eco tours. The company specialises in trips that showcase the natural beauty of Maldives, offering water sports trips, dolphin spotting and whale spotting trips and finally, boat trips across less travelled lagoons.
A true worldwide phenomenon, the Whale Submarine Tour is the world's first and only true submarine ride tour that can only be found in Maldives. Offering a once in a lifetime opportunity for the whole family, the tour gets you below the waves to discover amazing underwater landscapes and elusive marine life.
Sailing & fishing
Located amid oceanic waters, Maldives is a prime location for big game fishing and fishermen can find ample opportunities to haul in a good catch. Night fishing is also widely popular, with several providers arranging fishing trips across Maldives, these trips are often inexpensive and tourists are allowed to keep the fish they catch. Most noteworthy, the Dreamcatcher fleet offers excellent opportunities for big game and regular fishing to fishermen of all skill levels.
Golf
Shangri-la's Villingili Resort golf course is one of the two most prominent golfing destinations in Maldives. This 9 hole par 3 course trails across beautiful beaches and offers some fantastic scenery. Mostly Europeans play here, so if you lose your ball you should be able to shout for it back!
The Kuredu resort golf course boasts a 6 holes par 3 trail that gets golfers through tropical forests and across two different island connected with a shallow lagoon. This is perhaps Maldives' most popular golf course and one that attracts international golfers of all levels.
Tennis
The tennis courts at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa stands above the countless resorts that offer extensive tennis facilities and full sized courts because it welcomes international tennis athletes and hosts the nation's official tennis matches. Here, you will find tennis coaches willing to teach and train tennis players of all levels. Serve!
Walking tours
Many of the islands and islets of Maldives can only be explored on foot. For that reason, tourists will do well to join one or more walking tours that are available across Maldives to explore spectacular rural as well as urban landscapes. Walking tours around Maldives' capital Male are very popular while other tours take tourists across shallow lagoons on foot to explore tiny and uninhabited islets across unpopulated areas in Maldives.
Cycling & quad bikes
Cycling is a very convenient method of exploring numerous islands and islets here in Maldives and tourists often prefer this eco friendly means of transportation over mechanised means. From the numerous providers of affordable bikes you will find across Maldives the Ride the World company is perhaps the most noteworthy, as they also arrange cycling and biking tourist across various islands on the southern atolls and the famous Ari atoll.
Flying high
Sea plane trips present an excellent way to explore but also efficiently traverse many of Maldives' islands, lagoons and beaches, as some of them are only reachable via sea plane. Tourists can book sea plane tours that range from simple one way trips to day long tours across whole atolls. The longer tours may last for a whole day but are rather inexpensive and accessible to families with children, too.
Spas
Veli Spa at Kurumba is regarded as the best Maldivian spa. Offering unique treatments that draw from Indian influences as well as Maldives' own rich culture, this spa truly immerses its visitors in the most relaxing and exotic treatments such as spa under the stars, elemental herbology and more. The Veli also offers kid-friendly spas in their Kokko spa children's menu.
Drawing from ancient Asian influences, the Duniye Spa offers an enchanting and thoroughly exotic spa experience. With names including things like 'sense of touch', 'Maldivian island paradise', 'tropical dreams' and other titles, the spa invites you to take your pick, relax and unwind you won't want to ever leave.
Bird-watching
Bird watching fanatics and nature loves in general can embark on bird watching excursions in which they can observe the numerous different species rare birds that are endemic to the Maldives. There are more than two hundred native bird species and the organised excursions can get tourists to see every single one of them during the dry months. Bird watching tours can last for a whole day.
Markets
The Male fish market is an iconic tourist attraction that allows tourists to witness authentic Maldivian life. Here, local dhonis bring in fresh catches every afternoon to sell and buy fish with other locals. There are plenty of opportunities to sample the freshest fishes here and it's also the best place to see some of the largest catches caught in the Indian Ocean.
The largest shopping centre in Maldives is none other than the STO Trade Centre. Owned and run by the State Trading Organisation, this shopping centre is where you will find the largest selection of stores in Maldives. This is the best place to shop for local products, souvenirs and even hunt for imported goods from all across the globe.
The Male local market is where local Maldivians typically go and it's a colourful, lively place to be. Locals buy and sell locally produced items and fresh produce, often haggling with vigour and good humour.
National Stadium
The National Stadium of Maldives is the largest and most prominent sports hub in the nation. It hosts Maldives' football and cricket matches, which are the nation's most popular sports. Tickets are cheap and there are various sports events held here almost every week, so you're guaranteed of catching a game or two.
Cooking & yoga
The Park Hyyat Maldives Hadahaa offers traditional Maldivian cooking classes , which teach tourists how to prepare a large variety of local dishes, including Maldivian soups, curries and whole Reef Fish marinade. The hotel's head chef, along with his professional team offer these classes in-between cooking for the hotel's patrons, giving tourists an insight into how 5 star kitchens work.
Most resorts with a spa offer yoga classes, and among them three stand out as the best: Baros resort, the Viceroy hotel and spa and the Park Hyatt. All three hold daily yoga classes that are open to hotel guests as well as non-guests.
Catch a movie
The Olympus Cinema is an iconic Maldivian movie theatre, being the oldest cinema in Male. The Olympus plays Indian and local Maldivian films, offering tourists the chance to soak up the cinema culture of Maldives, which is primarily unknown outside the nation. The cinema also plays Hollywood films and international blockbusters and ticket prices are fairly inexpensive.
Natural attractions & landmarks
Located in the Vaavu atoll, the Alimatha Island is a pristine natural attraction and one of the best places to see nurse sharks, sting rays, dolphins and other marine creatures. This national reserve is unique for its deep water, which is not suitable for swimming. These deep waters are illuminated by underwater torches to enhance visibility and make it easier to spot the dolphins, sharks and other animals that swim there.
The Manta Point, the HP reef and the Banana reef are Maldives' top three dive points and a must for scuba divers and snorkellers. Manta Point boasts unique geological formations that merge volcanic rocks with coral reefs where mantas delve. The HP point is a more accessible soft coral reef with perfect visibility and all kinds of small marine life. The Banana reef is a national reserve that is ideal for snorkelling, with shallow waters and good visibility.
Historic & religious sites
As the oldest mosque in Maldives, the Hukuru Miskiiy (Old Friday Mosque) is a building steeped in history and worship. Covered in elaborate and intricate carvings, both inside and out, the mosque is considered one of the most important historic landmarks in the country. The mosque boasts unique, eye-catching architecture and a peaceful atmosphere.
More than a thousand years old, Mulee Aage is a very important historic building that houses the tombs of numerous important locals and saints. Top among them, the tomb of the Moroccan scholar, Abul Barakat Yousef Al-Berberi, who introduced Islam to Maldives in 1153. The tour guides at Mulee Aage are on hand to help tourists learn more about the nation's rich past and present. This is a revered place for locals so tourists are asked to behave and dress - politely while visiting the tombs.
Museums & galleries
The National Museum of Maldives is the largest museum in the nation and presents an invaluable opportunity for visitors to see unique exhibits not found anywhere else in the world. The Maldivian culture is diverse and the majority of its relics have never left the nation, however, the can be seen here. The museum is built inside the original Sultan's Palace in a majestic building, surrounded by the Sultan's Park garden, which is open to the public.
The National Art Gallery of Maldives showcases local and international art pieces that range from the classic and Indian inspired to the post modern. This is the main hub for the country's art scene, with dozens of local and international exhibitions held here each year. Exhibitions include paintings, photographs, sculptures and other pieces of art.
The Esjehi art gallery is an interesting art gallery that exhibits modern art alongside more traditional Maldivian pieces. This gallery is dedicated to promoting local art on an international level and succeeds in doing so by showcasing famous art pieces alongside work by new local talent. This is the best place to see the latest and upcoming Maldivian artist's work up close.