There are also some few private speedboats that connect some closeby islands to the Male International Airport. If we have any private speedboat ferries, you will see it under the province ferry schedules.
Note* These ferries are only operated in good weather, so incase the weather changes suddenly, these ferries can get cancelled without any prior notice. These ferries will only stops in inhabited islands, to go resorts you have to hire a private boat.
Maldives is one of the most dispersed country in the world, each island is sperated by the sea, therefore Maldives Transfers are one the most challenging part for the visitors and locals. There is no transportation system that connects the Maldives as a whole. A portion of the nation is connected by aircraft, while another is connected by water. A ferry boat or an aircraft transfer are required to access an island. One of the most used transportation in maldives the ferry boat transfers, as these are the cheapest maldives transfers (1-5$ PP), which are fine for a short distance and good weather. Boats take up to 3-24 hours to get from one atoll to another, even though a speed boat takes just 1-6 hours, and many boats are unable to proceed due to inclement weather. As a result, there are no reliable boats for cross-country transit. There is, however, an internal ferry network for each atoll, which runs one ferry daily in certain locations and one or two weekly in others (these internal ferry boats also take around 2-5hrs to the most distant islands in the atoll). there are some private speed boat transfers, which are fast and convenient, costs around (20-50$ PP) takes around 30-50 minutes to the most distant island in the atoll.
Keep in mind there are no Maldives resortS transfer service providers at the International Airport, where you can visit and book a transfer after you arrive. All your transfers need to be pre-arranged, to avoid un necessary waiting time.
To understand the Maldives public ferry schedules, you will have to fully understand the Atoll names and island names. You will find same island names in different Atolls. Each Atoll has an internal transportation ferry network, We call them (provincial ferries), and they function similarly to a metro system. The only difference is that our ferries are slower and can only make one voyage every day, but it works just the same. It starts from one island and it will make a round with stops to some islands on the way. The same ferry will return to the starting point after completing round.
Now you understood the internal ferry system, so you can view the above Maldives transfers ferry schedules and try to visit some islands, but the problem is, how do you travel from one Atoll to another atoll? Sadly there are very few public ferries connecting Atolls, mostly the domestic flights are operated to travel between Atolls and many airports are built on uninhabited islands, that sit separate from other islands, so again another boat is required to get to your island. There are 15 Airports operated across the Maldives and all of them will have daily scheduled flights connecting Male airport.
In Maldives, Speedboat transfers are the most convenient way to travel by the sea, however there are no scheduled boats in most part of the Maldives. it is mostly used for private hires. it is fast and comfertable and the ride it self is enjoyable during the calm sea.
There are only very few islands that can be visited by domestic planes. The Maldives flights are operated to transfer between Atolls, most of the domestic airports are located in uninhabited islands, then again from the domestic airport you will need another boat transfer to the islands located in the Atolls. There are 3 domestic maldives airlines operated and ticket price costs around 100-200$ per way per person. To book maldives flight tickets you can click on the above domestic transfers button
Taxi can be used from the Velana International Airport to visit Male city and Hulhumale city. Airport Taxi transfers are only available to these two lands and takes a 15-minute ride. The cost of the taxi is around 7$. The taxi queue will be in front of the speedboat jetty.
Maldives international Airport holds the biggest seaplane port in the world. Maldives Seaplane transfers are one of the most convenient ways for far distant resorts, as it can take off from international Airport and land directly to most resorts and islands. Private charters are also available. The cost for seaplane tickets depends on the travel destinations (to the nearest Atoll, maldives seaplane cost price is around 500-600$ PP) and private charter seaplane can be around 10000$ for the close by atolls.
No, everything needs to be pre arranged before your arrival. But if you are staying in Male or Hulhumale city yes you can grab a taxi from the airport. All other islands need either a speed boat or air transfer.
Thetotal 200 inhabited islands and 158 resorts are divided into 20 atolls and 15 atoll holds domestic airport on mostly unhabited islands, so again in many atolls you will require a speedboat transfer after you arrive to the domestic airport.
Mostly there are village hotels and city hotels with 3 star and 4 star services
No. Shared seaplane are operted on the request for some resorts only. So only those resorts have the rights to book these seaplanes, however we can arrange private seaplane to any island
I can tell you its safer than flights, you will have floating life jackets on speedboats, but during the stormy weather it is not recommended to travel by very very small boats. some incidents have occuered, but so far not with any toursit transfer. becaue we usually arrange bigger boats for toursits.
Because of the small populations and dispersity, its very difficult to organize daily schedules on different times for an island, and the speedboat consume a lot of fuel with high horse powered petrol engines to reduce the travel travel time.
During the North east monsoon its mostly very calm and flat sea (January to March) but during the other monsoon also we have many calm and quite days. It is very difficlut to predict a rough sea in advance.
