Dhigurah

Dhigurah is long and thin — the name means "long island" — and that shape is the point. A single sand spit runs off the southern end for a considerable distance, wide and shallow and almost empty, which is unusual on an island where fewer than eight hundred people live.

What brings most visitors, though, is what happens offshore. The stretch of water along South Ari Atoll is one of the few places where whale sharks are seen through the year rather than in a narrow season, and Dhigurah sits directly on it. Boats go out daily; nobody can promise you a sighting, and any operator who does is selling something.

The island is quieter than Maafushi and less single-minded than Thulusdhoo. There is a handful of guesthouses, a few dive centres, one main street, and a long walk to the beach that most people end up doing twice a day.