Maldives local islands: Maafushi, Thulusdhoo, Thoddoo and more

Seven guesthouse islands, sorted by the boat ride

Every guesthouse island in this guide is an inhabited island, and tourists sleep in small guesthouses and hotels among the families who live there. What sets the islands apart is less the sand than the sea between you and the airport. Maafushi and Thulusdhoo lie in Kaafu Atoll, the atoll of Malé itself, half an hour or so by speedboat from Velana International Airport (MLE). Fulidhoo is in Vaavu, south of Kaafu; Rasdhoo, Ukulhas and Thoddoo are in the Ari atolls to the west; and Dhigurah is in South Ari, about two hours away.

Each guesthouse runs or books its own speedboat, and boats between islands go back through Malé or the airport, except Coral Transfer's hop between Rasdhoo and Ukulhas. Our transport guide has the full timetables, the public ferries, private boats and seaplanes.

The table compares the shared speedboat each island's operator or guesthouse publishes. Fares are per person, one way, as listed on 28 October 2026.

For a first stay, give one island three nights and do not try to collect several: each move costs a boat fare and a half day. If you want two islands, the usual pairing is Maafushi and Thulusdhoo, as in our 10-day route, with a night or a few hours back at the airport between them.

Maafushi and Thulusdhoo: within half an hour or so of the airport

Maafushi is the busiest guesthouse island, with 48 guesthouses and hotels on an island 27 km from Malé. Coral reefs with reef fish and sea turtles ring the island, and the village has dive centres, excursion centres and local cafés serving garudhiya, fish soup, alongside international food; the sunset is watched from the beach, a dhoni or a seaside café. Kaani's Full Day Trip snorkels Biyadhoo Reef, a coral garden and Turtle Reef, with sea turtles and tropical fish, then stops for lunch on a secluded sandbank; its Adventure Trip has its lunch stop on nearby Gulhi. The cheap way in is the MTCC public ferry from Malé, about USD 3 per person each way, slower than the speedboat and with no sailings on Fridays. Choose Maafushi for convenience rather than for an empty beach; our Maafushi guide covers it in detail.

Kaani Hotels' shared speedboat leaves the airport (counter E12 in Terminal 2) and Malé's Jetty No. 6 at the times in the table above and takes 35 minutes; boats back from Maafushi run five times a day, the first at 08:00 and the last at 17:00.

Thulusdhoo, in North Malé Atoll, is a working island of about 2,000 people, with the only Coca-Cola factory in the Maldives, and suits travellers who want a less crowded stay, and surfers. Cokes breaks off the island itself, with Chickens a minute away and Ninjas, Jails, Sultans and Honkeys a short boat ride further; Visit Maldives gives the surf season as mid-February to November, best from March to May and from September to the end of November. Much of the reef close to the island has been bleached or damaged by the busy channels nearby, so snorkellers take a boat out: Indulge Maldives, a surf operator there, lists a sandbank excursion with snorkelling at USD 49 per person for two.

Shared speedboats run to Thulusdhoo five times a day, four on Fridays, for USD 25 per person each way, paid in cash on board; the crossing takes 20 to 30 minutes. Seats sell out, so book the seat with your room. Our transport guide has the timetable and the price of a private boat.

Fulidhoo and Dhigurah: further south for sharks, rays and a long beach

Fulidhoo is a small island in Vaavu Atoll, and the draw is the water: Luau Beach Inn's PADI five-star dive centre on its own beach runs the night dive at Alimathaa, where nurse sharks, often more than 20, and stingrays gather under a resort jetty after dark, and a dolphin sunset cruise at USD 85 per person.

Luau arranges the speedboat from the airport at USD 50 per person each way, about 1 hour, leaving the airport at the times in the table above; boats back from Fulidhoo leave at 06:30 and 13:30, or 06:30 and 14:30 on Friday. Fulidhoo suits divers and snorkellers who want a small, quiet island and do not mind an hour at sea.

Dhigurah, in South Ari (Alif Dhaal) Atoll, is green with tropical vegetation and fringed with white sand, and its southern tip runs out into the thundi, a long, crescent-shaped sandbank of white, powder-soft sand, for a cup of tea at sunset. The island faces the South Ari Marine Park, which Visit Maldives calls the only year-round whale shark aggregation site of its kind, where whale-shark trips go out with marine biologists; the UK reports fatal propeller accidents in the park, where propeller guards are not yet fully enforced, and advises extra care when swimming or snorkelling near boats. Other governments may draw a wider line, so check your own government's advice. Bliss Dhigurah, a guesthouse there, publishes three ways in. Its shared speedboat leaves the airport at the times in the table above and returns at 07:00 and 13:00; the crossing takes about 2 hours in good weather, sometimes stops at other islands, and costs USD 66 per person each way. It suits an international flight landing before 15:00 or leaving after 11:30.

The faster options cost more. Bliss's domestic-flight package flies from the airport to Maamigili (VAM) in 20 minutes, then drives 5 minutes to the harbour and crosses 20 minutes by speedboat, for USD 216 per adult each way, door to door. Its seaplane package lands on the lagoon platform of LUX* South Ari Atoll, 5 minutes by boat from Dhigurah, for USD 283 per adult each way; seaplanes fly in daylight only, so you must land at Velana by 15:30. Dhigurah suits travellers who come for whale sharks and a long beach and are willing to spend half a day, or a flight fare, on the journey. Our snorkelling and diving guide covers the whale-shark rules and seasons.

Rasdhoo, Ukulhas and Thoddoo: the Ari islands west of the airport

These three islands lie across the open channel west of Kaafu, in Alif Alif Atoll. Rasdhoo is about 60 km, Thoddoo about 70 km and Ukulhas about 74 km from the airport in a straight line; allow a morning or an afternoon for the transfer. Rasdhoo is small, about 600 metres across, so the harbour, the village lanes and the guest beach set aside for swimwear are all a few minutes' walk apart. It is the island for sandbank days and Ari diving: a day here can pair a morning dive at Kuramathi Kandu with a picnic on a sandbank near Rasdhoo. Quicksand Rasdhoo, a guesthouse in the centre, runs sandbank trips, manta swims, picnic-island days and dolphin cruises.

Ukulhas is a small island under 1 km from end to end, known for the dive sites around it and holder of a Green Leaf award for sustainability. Its designated bikini beach, with Ranthari Hotel and Spa on the beachfront opposite, has a house reef a few steps from the sand for snorkelling in clear water, so a stay here is mostly beach, reef and boat dives. Coral Transfer, a speedboat company based in Alif Alif Atoll, runs three departures a day including Fridays; some routes run on selected days only, and it gives no crossing times. Fares are USD 40 per adult each way to or from Rasdhoo and USD 50 to or from Ukulhas, from the airport or Malé, and USD 15 between Rasdhoo and Ukulhas; children aged 3 to 10 pay a reduced fare. Book on WhatsApp or at its airport counters, D17 or D11.

Thoddoo is the farming island: it is known across the Maldives for its watermelons, and its farms also grow aubergine, papaya, chilli and drumsticks. Its own curry paste, fundi havaadhu, flavours the island's chicken and smoked-tuna curries, and the walks between the farms make a slower, rural stay. Avi Guesthouse runs small-group trips including turtle snorkelling at USD 25 per person, a guided reef snorkel at USD 30 and a half-day manta and nurse-shark snorkel with a sandbank stop at USD 60. Avi books a speedboat that leaves the airport at the times in the table above and returns from Thoddoo at 06:45 and 13:00, taking 1 hour 15 minutes for USD 35 per person each way, and meets you at the Thoddoo jetty. It also sells seaplane seats on Thursdays and Saturdays for USD 90 per person each way, including 17% T-GST, on non-refundable tickets.

Choose Rasdhoo for sandbanks, Ukulhas for a beach-and-reef stay, and Thoddoo for walks through farmland. Guraidhoo and Gulhi, Maafushi's neighbours in Kaafu, appear in our Maafushi guide as a dive site and a trip's lunch stop, and Dharavandhoo, in Baa Atoll, is in our snorkelling and diving guide.

Rules, swimming and the boat back to your flight

The same rules apply on every island in this guide. Outside the resorts no alcohol is sold, shoulders and knees stay covered, and during Ramadan nobody eats, drinks or smokes in public by day; our first-trip guide sets out the rules. Swimwear is fine on each island's designated bikini beach, and Friday, the weekly day of prayer, changes some ferry and boat times.

Guesthouses add a green tax of USD 6 per person per taxable day (on guesthouses and hotels with 50 or fewer rooms on an inhabited island), usually collected at check-in, on top of the room rate; guesthouse rooms, meals and trips carry the 17% tourism goods and services tax (T-GST) and a service charge of at least 10%, unless the price says they are included, while ordinary shops and cafés outside the tourism sector charge the general 8% GST.

The sea around the islands can have strong tidal currents: swim only where it is supervised, marked as safe or watched by a lifeguard, never alone, and make sure life jackets are provided on small excursion boats.

Boats can be cancelled in rough seas, so leave slack before an international flight: take the morning boat back on your last day, or spend the last night near the airport, rather than catching the last afternoon boat to an evening flight. Our best-time guide covers the monsoons and the sea month by month.

What three nights cost on four of the islands

Every row includes one shared boat trip for two, so the islands compare like for like.

The totals above are for three nights on one island, all in: room, every lunch and dinner with drinks, the speedboat from the airport and back, one boat trip, a tourist SIM each, taxes and a 10% buffer.

This budget is for two adults sharing a double room with breakfast, arriving before lunch on day 1 and taking the first boat back on day 4 (after breakfast from Maafushi and Thulusdhoo, before breakfast from Fulidhoo and Thoddoo), with rates as listed on 28 October 2026. Food is lunch, dinner and drinks at the hotel's own restaurant or a café on the same island, and every island uses its own prices. A tourist SIM each costs about USD 110 for two (USD 50 each plus 8% GST). The London return in economy is GBP 600–1,800 per person, about USD 800–2,390, based on the fares airlines displayed for the route in October 2026. Breakfast after the early boats from Fulidhoo and Thoddoo is extra; neither property lists a packed-breakfast price.

Thoddoo (for two): room USD 150 (USD 50 a night with breakfast and T-GST included, as published; Avi lists no service charge) plus about USD 40 green tax; food USD 120 from Avi's menu (fried rice or noodles USD 6, grilled chicken and rice USD 10, water and coffee USD 2 each); speedboat USD 140; Avi's turtle snorkelling trip USD 50 (USD 25 per person); SIMs about USD 110; buffer about USD 60.

Thulusdhoo (for two): room about USD 310 (Wave Crest's Superior Double from USD 35 per person a night with breakfast, plus 10% service and 17% T-GST, plus green tax); food about USD 250 at the café of Twin Palms Surfhouse (a bowl at USD 12 for lunch, a main at USD 15 for dinner, USD 5 of water and coffee, plus 10% service and 17% T-GST); speedboat USD 100 (four fares of USD 25, paid on board); Indulge's sandbank excursion about USD 126 (USD 49 per person plus service charge and T-GST, as for Kaani's trip); SIMs about USD 110; buffer about USD 90.

Fulidhoo (for two): room USD 630 (Luau's Standard Room Balcony at USD 210 a night for two with breakfast, service and T-GST) plus about USD 40 green tax; food about USD 170 at Luau Restaurant (Maldivian fish curry at USD 12 for lunch, seared yellowfin tuna at USD 16 for dinner); speedboat USD 200; Luau's dolphin sunset cruise USD 170 (USD 85 per person); SIMs about USD 110; buffer about USD 130. Drinking water is complimentary at Luau.

Maafushi (for two): package about USD 710 (Kaani Village & Spa's Snorkel Tour + Stay: room, breakfast, return boat, night fishing, taxes and service); green-tax allowance about USD 40 if excluded from the invoice; Kaani's Full Day Trip about USD 100 for two, in place of the package's group trip, which needs at least ten guests; food about USD 220 (lunch and dinner about USD 23 per person per meal, Arena Beach's half-board rate on the island with service and T-GST; drinks an estimate of about USD 4 per person a day, about USD 5 with service charge and T-GST; the Full Day Trip's sandbank lunch and the package's night-fishing dinner are already paid for, so they are not counted again); SIMs about USD 110; buffer about USD 120. Kaani's checkout says green tax is included, while its booking terms collect USD 6 per person per night at reception; do not add green tax again when the invoice already includes it.

Rasdhoo and Ukulhas have no costed row. Dhigurah's costed stay is the whale-shark divers' package in our snorkelling and diving guide. Our trip-cost guide prices a whole week, resort nights included.