Maldives Things to Do Tips by call_me_rhia

Bathala island

Bathala is a beautiful island in the north Ari atoll, about 56 kilometres from the airport. You can reach it by speedboat in 90 minutes or by seaplane in 20 minutes. Bathala, in particular is a natural island: no trees were cut to make room for the beach - no nasty walls were built to protect the beach from the sea. And It's tiny: it takes seven minutes to walk its perimeter. What did I like best? The white soft beaches, the different colours of the sea and especially the fishes: I spent the best part of my days with my head underwater, snorkeling. Wonderful, colourful, amazing, curious and friendly little fishes.

Address: Bathala island

Directions: 20 minutes by seaplane from the airport

Hulhule Island

Hulhule Island is not exactly an island - well it is, but it has only one purpose... to let planes land and take off. This island is the international airport... it's just long enough to host a runway and very little else. There's a tiny pier where dhonis and boats dock, so that you can be transported to your resort island or to male, a piece of sea where seaplanes arrive and depart from, and an overpriced hotel used mainly by airline cew and those people who have a really early plane to catch. Hulhule is real concrete.

Address: Hulhule island

Directions: it's where you'll land

Male island

Male - the capital. A tiny island, about 2 km long and 1 km large - and 65000 people inhabiting it. Of course this causes traffic jams... which is not exactly your idea of a maldivian island. male is the "other" Maldives: tall white concrete buildings, hundreds of little streets, one beach - artificial by the way. Definitely not pretty, but truly intriguing, clean and tidy. There isn't much to see, but the islamic centre and mosque are delightful^and worth a little visit.

Address: male island

Directions: 10 minutes by dhoni from the airport

Halaveli island

Halaveli is the island in the distance... it was very near Bathala, yet far enough to reach it. Too far to swim the distance, and no one ever thought to organize a tour there for us. It remained our unreacheable neighbour: each night we watched the sun set behind it. From the information I could gather, however, halaveli is very similar to Bathala in its look - small, natural and with few bugalows. Apparently there's slightly much more nighlife there...

Address: Halaveli

Directions: about 20 minutes by seaplane from the airport

Website: http://www.halaveli.com