Cruising Maldives

The Maldives is a great cruising destination. The further north and further south you go from Male, the better the coral and the fewer the tourists. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Checking in is expensive. The first month was around $600, the second month a further $300, and so on. Max stay is three months, though I’m not sure if this for your boat as well as you. Checking in at Uligam in the north or Gan in the south is recommended over Male as that can be more expensive. You have to use an agent to do so.

There are three distinctions between the islands: inhabited (by locals), uninhabited, and resort. The uninhabited are so for a reason but you can find some great anchorages and desolate beaches. The inhabited are great, often with good coral around, but we found them all a bit samey. They’re laid out the same, have the same kind of shops/buildings etc etc. Locals are friendly enough though.

The resorts got all the best islands and many are privately owned. Often there’s a lagoon with good protection for anchoring, great reefs and stunning beaches. The problem is getting permission to anchor off of them. Some refuse any access, some require phoning in advance and some will charge a landing fee. One resort we visited and got permission to land on wanted $50 just for the dinghy! We left quickly. There are a couple of resorts that are yachtie-friendly. One even has a purpose-built jetty, but at $200 a night we opted to take one of their mooring buoys instead 😉

Getting boat parts is good in the Maldives. It’s a nation of sea-farers after all. There are even haul-out facilities with well-equipped chandleries.

Navigating using satellite image is essential as there are many uncharted reefs.