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 6 of 25 islands
Photo · Ilija Jevtic / Google Alif Alif Atoll
Bodufolhudhoo
Bodufolhudhoo has just over seven hundred residents, which puts it among the smaller guesthouse islands in Alif Alif. That size…
704 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Lucie Mohelnikova (other way holiday) / Google Baa Atoll
Fehendhoo
One hundred and ninety-eight people live on Fehendhoo. That makes it the smallest inhabited island covered here — smaller than…
198 residentsBikini beach
Photo · AROUND THE WORLD / Google Baa Atoll
Fulhadhoo
Three hundred and forty-one people live on Fulhadhoo, on a long sandbank at the southern edge of Baa. It is one of three small…
341 residentsBikini beach
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…
400 residentsBikini beach
Photo · Petra Caganova / Google Baa Atoll
Goidhoo
Goidhoo has just under six hundred residents and shares a reef with Fulhadhoo and Fehendhoo in the south of Baa Atoll. Of the…
583 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