The islands where people actually live
Around a thousand islands make up the Maldives; fewer than two hundred are inhabited, and only some of those have guesthouses. These are the ones worth knowing about — each with its own character, its own way in, and its own reason to go.
Photo · Hamdhoon Hameed / Google Alif Dhaal Atoll
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…
Photo · Eduard P / Google Vaavu Atoll
Fulidhoo
Four hundred people live on Fulidhoo. That number explains most of what the island is: a few sand streets, a handful of…
Photo · ibrahim nashid / Google Kaafu Atoll
Hulhumalé
Hulhumalé is not a holiday island and does not pretend to be. It is reclaimed land next to the airport, built to take the…
Photo · Bilal Afzal Khan / Google Kaafu Atoll
Maafushi
Maafushi sits about 26 km south of Malé in Kaafu Atoll, and it is where local-island tourism in the Maldives first took hold at…
Photo · Helena Žabčíkova / Google Kaafu Atoll
Malé
Malé is the capital, and one of the most densely populated cities anywhere — roughly two hundred thousand people on a few square…
Photo · hassan kuleys / Google Alif Alif Atoll
Rasdhoo
Rasdhoo is a diving island first and everything else second. It sits on its own small atoll just north of Ari, and the drop-off…
Photo · Jenzy Ben / Google Kaafu Atoll
Thulusdhoo
Thulusdhoo is the surf island of Kaafu Atoll, and it wears that identity plainly. Two of the best-known breaks in the country sit…
Photo · Carlos Alberto do Amaral / Google Alif Alif Atoll
Ukulhas
Ukulhas made its name doing something unglamorous: it sorts and manages its waste. On an archipelago where rubbish disposal is a…