Maldives Transportation - ferry & Speedboat Transfer Schedules
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 (province ferries), this works just like a metro system. The difference is our ferries are slow and they can go one round per 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 below Maldives transportation 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 no public ferries connecting Atolls except the north central province, only 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 18 Airports operated across the Maldives and all of them will have daily scheduled flights connecting Male airport.
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 Speedboat Transfers
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 network that connects the entire Maldives. Part of the country is connected by planes and another part is connected by sea transportation. To visit an island, you need either a ferry boat or a plane transfer. The most used transportation is the ferry boat transfers as these are the cheapest (1-5$ PP), which are fine for a short distance and good weather. To travel from one atoll to another atoll the boats will take up to 3-24 hours even the speed boat takes 1-6 hours and during the bad weather, many boats will not travel. That’s why there are no reliable boats to travel across the country. However, there is an internal ferry network for each atoll, which in some regions operates daily one ferry, and some regions weekly one or two (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 30-50mn to the most distant island in the atoll.
Domestic Flights
There are only very few islands that can be visited by domestic planes. The domestic 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.
Taxi
Taxi can be used from the Velana International Airport to visit Male city and Hulhumale city. Taxi transfers are only available to these two lands and take a 15-minute ride. The cost of the taxi is around 7$. The taxi queue will be in front of the speedboat jetty.
Seaplane
Maldives international Airport holds the biggest seaplane port in the world. Seaplane is one of the most convenient ways for far distant resorts as it can take off from international Airport and land directly to most resorts and islands. Private charters are also available. The cost for tickets depends on the travel destinations (to the nearest Atoll is around 500-600$ PP) and private charter seaplane can be around 10000$ for the close by atolls.
Speedboat
Speedboat transfers are the most convenient way to travel by the sea, however there are no scheduled boats in most of the areas. it is mostly used for private hires. it is fast and comfertable and the ride is enjoyable.
