1,190 islands organised into 26 natural atolls. Each with its own reef system, house-reef character, transfer logic and resort personality. Start with geography; the rest follows.
Adults-only privacy, overwater villas, sunset romance.
Most contracted
The most accessible atoll with iconic luxury resorts minutes from the airport.
Dramatic thila diving, night sharks at Maaya and luxury resorts on Halaveli and Fesdu.
Renowned for surfing, diving, and a more tranquil resort experience.
A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where the world's largest reef manta aggregations gather each monsoon season at Hanifaru Bay.
The complete archive
16 more atolls
The whale shark capital of the Maldives, anchored by SAMPA and iconic luxury resorts.
Southernmost atoll straddling the equator, connected by 14 km of British-built causeway.
The Maldives' least populous atoll, with world-class channel diving and almost no boat traffic.
A far-north frontier destination with uncharted dive sites and pioneering resorts.
Single-island atoll at the equator — year-round tiger sharks, freshwater lakes, and the Maldives' only true pelagic dive pilgrimage.
An ultra-exclusive northern atoll served by its own international airport, home to Soneva Jani, Cheval Blanc and Velaa.
A central atoll mixing headline-luxury resorts with macro diving and working jewellery-making villages.
A quiet northern atoll with year-round manta encounters and design-led resorts spread across sparsely populated reef.
Drift channels, shipwreck dives and the world's largest all-glass undersea restaurant, a short seaplane north of Malé.
Quiet and undeveloped with exceptional marine biodiversity and manta rays.
Deep south atoll with pristine marine environments and big-animal diving.
Remote southern luxury in the Maldives' deepest atoll, with world-class pelagic diving.
An underdeveloped central atoll with manta cleaning stations and channel dives almost entirely free of boat traffic.
A small, exclusive atoll with vibrant coral reefs and superb visibility.
A remote, eco-conscious destination with unique mangrove ecosystems.
A remote northern atoll of pristine reefs and two pioneering luxury resorts, home to the world's first semi-submerged sculpture gallery.