Male Island Transportation

The airport of Male Island is just opposite of the island and the only way to get from there to Male is by boat. From the beach in the south of the island you can see lots of airplanes landing and starting from there all day long, as this is also the main airport for all maledives Islands. Smaller planes will take the passengers to the smaller islands from there as well.
And when you enlarge my photo you will also see the main problem of the Maledives : The islands are totally flat and with increasing waterlevel these islands will totally disappear some day !

I came to Male Island by a german cruiseship called Delphin Voyager and like every cruiseship we had to anchor off the island and take our tenderboats in order to go ashore. The port for the tenderboats is directely in the towncentre, opporite of the shiny mosque and the sultans garden.
It is just about 200 meters to walk to the former sultans palace from there and in general you could spend the whole day on your own in this town without booking a guided tour.
Our cruiseship offered panorama-flights in small water-airplanes and a stay at a small island & Catamaran-tour.
There are even some public beaches on Male Island, but the water is quite flat there and there are no facilities on these beaches.

If you're staying the airport hotel, or you're looking for a cheap transfer to Male from Hulhule (the airport island), then look no further than the Hulhule Airport Hotel dhoni. It departs from opposite the domestic terminal at the airport and takes only 10 minutes to transfer to Male.

No one checked that I was a resident at the hotel at either ends of the return transfers.

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This is the best way to reach the island resort; fast convenient and the oly means of travel to atleast few islands located far away from Male.

Your hotel/ travel agent should assist you to find a convenient one

This is the best way to reach the island resort; fast convenient and the oly means of travel to atleast few islands located far away from Male.

Your hotel/ travel agent should assist you to find a convenient one

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Male airport is built on Hulhulé Island which is a short ferry ride from the main town. Possibly the only way to travel to town and back to the airport is by ferry or as the locals call it, the dhoni.
Dhonis that connect these two islands ply regularly at about 10-15 min intervals, and charge a fixed fare of 10 rufiyaas per passenger. You can get on board with your luggage, which is secured in the luggage hold area in the middle of the boat. The trip itself takes between 10 and 15 mins.

Male is not a huge island. From end to end, it dosnt take much time to travel. Yet, the traffic can be busy at best, since the cobbled roads are fairly narrow and theres really not much space to expand them.
The best way to travel around is to get a cab. They`re pretty comfortable, air-conditioned and relatively inexpensive. In my limited experience, they seemed fairly reliable too.
Theres a fixed point-to-point fare for any distance on the island- 15 rufiyaa, which is about a dollar.

Arriving in the Maledives you will land on a seperate island - Malé International Airport is on adjacent Hulhule Island which includes a seaplane base for internal transportation. Once you have cleared all formalities you will have to continue your journey either by boat or sea plane since the island stands on its own and is not connected to the capital city.