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.
Narrow it down
Showing 7 of 25 islands
Photo · maldivian_abo / Google Alif Dhaal Atoll
Dhangethi
Dhangethi sits on the eastern rim of South Ari with a little over nine hundred residents. It is one of the older guesthouse…
936 residentsBikini beach
Baa Atoll
Dharavandhoo
Dharavandhoo is the way into Hanifaru Bay. The bay sits within the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and in season the currents…
997 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Marc Perreault / Google Kaafu Atoll
Guraidhoo
Guraidhoo sits in southern Kaafu with around seventeen hundred residents, which makes it a proper island community rather than a…
1,743 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Angelo Greco / Google Vaavu Atoll
Keyodhoo
Keyodhoo has a little over six hundred residents and sits in Vaavu, the atoll with the fewest people in the country and some of…
641 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Mohamed Fazeel / Google Alif Dhaal Atoll
Omadhoo
Omadhoo lies in the eastern chain of South Ari with a little over nine hundred residents. It is less visited than Dhigurah or…
913 residentsBikini beach
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…
1,282 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Denis Ivko / Google Vaavu Atoll
Thinadhoo
Two hundred and fifty-eight people live on Thinadhoo. That makes it the smallest island covered here by a wide margin, and it is…
258 residentsBikini beach