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.

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  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

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  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…

  761 residents