North Male Atoll
North Male is the main atoll of the Maldives, where the capital of the country is located. With a length of 69 km and a length of 39 km, it consists of 50 islands, of which only eight are inhabited (including the airport). The remaining 42 are uninhabited, 27 of them are resorts, and most of the 15 remaining islands are leased to private individuals.
Here is the capital island – Male. Check liuxers for customs and traditions of Maldives.
How to get there
Since many of the island hotels are located close enough to the airport, you can get to your hotel on traditional boats – dhoanis. Transfers to more distant islands are by speedboat (up to 4 hours) or by seaplane (20-40 minutes).
North Male Atoll Hotels
Banyan Tree, Angsana and Four Seasons are hotels for those who want to arrange a relaxing holiday with an oriental spa in Indonesian houses. The Huvafen Fushi Spa Resort, in turn, boasts an “underwater spa”, where during the procedures you can watch the life of the ocean through the glass walls. The best diving hotel on the islands of North Male – Summer Island, South – Kandooma. Well, lovers of lively places are better off choosing a large island-hotel with Paradise Island entertainment.
Diving in North Male
Around North Male Atoll there are great depths and clear water, providing excellent visibility up to 50 meters. There are channels on the outer side of the reefs, where diving in the currents is popular. You just need to peacefully fold your hands and surrender to the will of the water, which itself will take a lazy diver along the reef, showing all the beauties of the ocean. True, in order to dive in the channels, you need to acquire a drift diver certificate – the currents still require certain skills. In the channels you can find manta rays, whitetip sharks and variegated reef fish.
Divers will also be very interested in marine reserves (this listing covers not only North, but also South Male) Embudu-Kandu, Guraidu-Kandu, Embudu-Canyon, Kanduma-Thila and Guraidu-Korner, famous for their underwater relief and caves. As well as the territory near the bungalow hotels Laguna Maldives or Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Club Rannalhi, Vakarufalhi Island Resort or Olhuveli Beach & Spa Resort, Embudu Village.
Siinu Atoll
Seenu Atoll (aka Addu, Addu) is located in the very south of the Republic of Maldives, exactly on the equator. It takes a long time to get here (478 km from Male), but it’s worth it. The atoll includes 23 coral islands, of which only 6 are inhabited. Four straits connect them to the ocean – Kuda-Kandu, Maa-Kandu, Gan-Kandu and Vilingili-Kandu.
The atoll includes several very large and densely populated (by local standards, of course) islands, some of which are interconnected by dams – these are Hitado, Marada, Fidu and Gan Island. The dams were built by the British during World War II, when a naval base was located on the atoll. From her now there is an airport on the island of Gan, from where daily flights are made to Male.
Hitadhoo Island is the largest island in the archipelago, as well as the most populous after the capital Male. There is even a road there – a rarity for the Maldives.
How to get there
The airport on the island of Gan has been considered international since 2007, but serves mainly flights within the country. So first you need to fly to Male, and from there by local airlines to the island of Gan (60 minutes on the way).
Siinu Atoll Hotels
There are three hotels on Siinu that will satisfy the taste of anyone: the fashionable Shangri-La resort and the more than budget and affordable Equator Village hotel.
Attractions and attractions in Xiinu
The four neighboring islands of Ghana, which are interconnected by dams, can be traveled by bicycle (about 20 km). In addition, there is an amazingly picturesque lake, where a large number of exotic birds winter from October to March. There are no problems at all with living creatures on this atoll; in the surrounding waters you can meet whales, dolphins, manta rays and whale sharks.
And also: windsurfing center on Gan Island, morning and night fishing, glass-bottom boat trips, helicopter tours, water safaris around the small islands of the atoll.
Diving in Siina
Addu boasts an impressive variety of corals because, unlike other Maldivian atolls, these places were not affected by the devastating 1998 typhoon. Not far from the shore, at a depth of 30 meters, lies the 140-meter British Loyalty tanker. In 1944 it was torpedoed by a German submarine. The holes in the hull are so large that both divers and a variety of underwater animals can easily swim through them.
