1 destination · 10 things to do

Maldives

The Maldives is a nation of coral rings scattered across the Indian Ocean, and the way in is a short hop from the runway at Velana to Malé, the most densely packed capital island on earth, and from there by speedboat, ferry or seaplane to a world of lagoons, sandbanks and reefs. This guide books the Maldives properly for visitors who want more than a resort pontoon: a sandbank snorkel with a sunset dolphin cruise from Hulhumalé, a three-site snorkel safari, an all-day boat adventure through the Himmafushi sandbank and a local island lunch, shipwreck and nurse shark snorkelling off Maafushi, a full day of island hopping, and Malé itself on a walking tour of the fish market, Sultan Park and the coral-stone Friday Mosque. It adds the National Museum, Hulhumalé and Vilimalé, and the diving and whale shark season of the wider atolls. Then it matches you to a bed, from an overwater villa at Gili Lankanfushi to a water-villa island at Sun Siyam Olhuveli, a ten-minute speedboat resort, a city hotel a short walk from Sultan Park and a beach guesthouse on Maafushi, because in the Maldives where you sleep decides almost everything you can do.