If you’ve decided not to stay at a resort, here’s the lowdown on how to travel around the Maldives by ferry or other public boats
While resort guests automatically have their speedboat or seaplane transfers arranged by their hosts, if you’re travelling around the Maldives independently then there’s a chance you may need to make some of the transport arrangements yourself. This is particularly pertinent if you’re planning on travelling between lots of inhabited islands. ‘Inhabited islands’ in the Maldives are defined as non-resort islands where Maldivians live – basically an island with a town or village on it. Luckily, the Maldives has a public ferry network and other public or private boat options to consider.
The easiest route
Before you arrive in the Maldives, the easiest option is to ask the staff at whichever guesthouse you have booked if they can give you details about transfers from the international airport. Most of them will either give you the price, times and route for a private transfer, or tell you which public ferry or speedboat to take. Asking the guesthouse first is your best option because planning your route or finding the correct departure jetty in Male’ can be difficult.
However, if you’ve decided to visit a lot of islands, or traverse several atolls, you may find that your guesthouse can’t assist. But the good news is that it is becoming easier to get around using a Maldivian ferry and public fastboats than it ever used to be due to the expansion of services and routes. The dhonis are quite slow but most routes cost just a few dollars.
The Maldivian ferry network
The Maldivian ferry (dhoni) network is run by MTCC and you can find the schedules here. The schedules can be hard to visualize if you’re unfamiliar with the Maldives and maps can be tricky to locate, so we’ve posted the latest ferry route map below.
Alternative options
If you don’t have the luxury of time, a scheduled fast boat or private speedboat provided by a local operators based on an inhabited island is another option, or you could check with a reputable online agent like Atoll Transfer.
