Atoll guide

The atolls of the Maldives.

The country is a chain of coral atolls strung north to south across the Indian Ocean. Here are the 22 with a listed property — their character, their house-reef medians, and everything within them.

Addu

20 properties · 9 reefs scored · median 5.6

Addu — Seenu — is the country's southernmost atoll, a heart-shaped ring below the equator whose islands are joined by the longest causeway in the Maldives. A British RAF staging base on Gan left a lasting imprint and a distinct southern dialect.

3 resorts · 1 hotel · 16 guesthouses View atoll →

Baa Atoll

90 properties · 28 reefs scored · median 6.0

Baa — historically South Maalhosmadulu — is the cultural home of Maldivian lacquer-work and fine mat-weaving, and the country's only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, anchored by the manta gatherings of Hanifaru Bay.

16 resorts · 1 hotel · 73 guesthouses View atoll →

Dhaalu Atoll

17 properties · 12 reefs scored · median 5.6

Dhaalu — South Nilandhe — built its name on craftsmanship: the island of Ribudhoo is famed for generations of goldsmiths, and the atoll sat on the old cowrie-shell routes that carried Maldivian shell money across the Indian Ocean.

9 resorts · 8 guesthouses View atoll →

Faafu Atoll

7 properties · 3 reefs scored · median 4.9

Faafu — North Nilandhe — holds Nilandhoo, site of the ancient Aasaari Miskiy mosque and pre-Islamic ruins linked to an early Buddhist past. It remains one of the least-developed atolls, with only a handful of resorts.

1 resort · 6 guesthouses View atoll →

Gaafu Alifu

21 properties · 13 reefs scored · median 6.1

Gaafu Alifu is the northern half of Huvadhoo, one of the largest coral atolls on Earth, cut off from the central Maldives by the wide Equatorial Channel — an isolation that bred a distinct dialect and, briefly, a breakaway republic.

6 resorts · 1 hotel · 14 guesthouses View atoll →

Gaafu Dhaalu

11 properties · 6 reefs scored · median 6.0

Gaafu Dhaalu is the southern half of vast Huvadhoo Atoll, across the Equatorial Channel. Its capital Thinadhoo was the seat of the breakaway United Suvadive Republic, and the atoll keeps a distinct dialect and a deep fishing tradition.

2 resorts · 9 guesthouses View atoll →

Gnaviyani

22 properties · 1 reef scored · median 7.7

Fuvahmulah is a one-island atoll of its own, unusual in the Maldives for its freshwater lakes and fertile soil. Its open-ocean position makes it the most reliable place on Earth to dive with tiger sharks.

22 guesthouses View atoll →

Haa Alifu Atoll

22 properties · 7 reefs scored · median 6.3

Haa Alifu — North Thiladhunmathi — is one of the northernmost atolls, best known as the home of Utheemu, birthplace of Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu, the national hero who drove out Portuguese occupiers in 1573.

1 resort · 21 guesthouses View atoll →

Haa Dhaalu Atoll

11 properties · 6 reefs scored · median 6.0

Haa Dhaalu — South Thiladhunmathi — is anchored by Kulhudhuffushi, the commercial hub of the north, with a long heritage of shark fishing and coir rope-making, and reefs that open onto the ocean at the top of the archipelago.

2 resorts · 1 hotel · 8 guesthouses View atoll →

Laamu Atoll

8 properties · 4 reefs scored · median 5.6

Laamu — Hahdhunmathi — carries some of the deepest history in the Maldives: Buddhist stupas and mounds at Isdhoo and Gan predate the twelfth-century conversion to Islam. Today a chain of its islands is joined by one of the longest causeways in the country.

2 resorts · 6 guesthouses View atoll →

Lhaviyani

15 properties · 11 reefs scored · median 5.7

Lhaviyani — Faadhippolhu — is a compact northern atoll long tied to the pole-and-line tuna fishery, and home to some of the largest and best-established resort house reefs in the country.

12 resorts · 3 guesthouses View atoll →

Malé Atoll

342 properties · 55 reefs scored · median 6.0

The atoll wrapped around the capital, Malé — administratively Kaafu — is where Maldivian tourism began, with the country's first resort opening on Kurumba in 1972. Its closeness to the international airport keeps it the most-visited waters in the country.

54 resorts · 9 hotels · 279 guesthouses View atoll →

Meemu Atoll

9 properties · 6 reefs scored · median 6.7

Meemu — Mulaku — is a quiet central atoll of fishing islands and a handful of resorts, known for the ancient mosque and Buddhist-era remains on Mulah, and for reefs that see far fewer visitors than the atolls nearer the capital.

3 resorts · 6 guesthouses View atoll →

Noonu Atoll

27 properties · 13 reefs scored · median 6.4

Noonu — South Miladhunmadulu — pairs deep history, including the ancient mound at Landhoo, with some of the country's most exclusive modern resorts, set among sheltered lagoons that make prime manta and reef territory.

8 resorts · 19 guesthouses View atoll →

North Ari

162 properties · 20 reefs scored · median 6.2

Ari Atoll — Alif in the administrative alphabet — is one of the country's largest and among the first opened to tourism beyond Malé. Its western channels and coral thilas made the north early and enduring dive territory.

12 resorts · 150 guesthouses View atoll →

North Malé

4 properties · 4 reefs scored · median 6.8

North Malé — part of Kaafu — is the birthplace of Maldivian tourism and, for centuries, the political and trading heart of the sultanate. Its proximity to the airport keeps it the busiest resort waters in the country.

4 resorts View atoll →

Raa Atoll

23 properties · 22 reefs scored · median 5.9

Raa — North Maalhosmadulu — is the traditional heart of Maldivian boat-building, where the island of Alifushi still crafts the wooden dhoni. Long a productive fishing atoll, its reefs opened to tourism relatively recently and stay comparatively quiet.

17 resorts · 1 hotel · 5 guesthouses View atoll →

Shaviyani Atoll

10 properties · 8 reefs scored · median 7.5

Shaviyani — North Miladhunmadulu — is a northern fishing atoll of long fringing reefs and quiet islands, its seat at Funadhoo. Tourism has come late and lightly, leaving its reefs among the least-visited in the country.

2 resorts · 8 guesthouses View atoll →

South Ari

142 properties · 26 reefs scored · median 6.6

South Ari — Alifu Dhaalu — shares Ari's tuna-fishing heritage but is best known for the whale sharks that patrol its waters year-round, protected since 2009 by one of the first marine areas set aside specifically to safeguard them.

17 resorts · 1 hotel · 124 guesthouses View atoll →

South Malé

1 property · 1 reef scored · median 6.1

South Malé — part of Kaafu, just south of the capital across the Vaadhoo Channel — shares in the birthplace of Maldivian tourism, its fast tidal channels among the earliest dive grounds developed in the 1970s and '80s.

1 resort View atoll →

Thaa Atoll

13 properties · 7 reefs scored · median 5.4

Thaa — Kolhumadulu — is one of the largest single-ring atolls in the world, a broad circle of fishing islands with Buddhist-era remains and a strong boat-building and reef-fishing heritage. Resort development remains sparse.

1 resort · 12 guesthouses View atoll →

Vaavu Atoll

60 properties · 10 reefs scored · median 6.0

Vaavu — Felidhu — is the least-populated atoll in the country but a giant among divers: its channels, including the celebrated Fotteyo Kandu, draw sharks and schooling fish, and the night-time nurse-shark gatherings off Alimatha are legendary.

5 resorts · 1 hotel · 54 guesthouses View atoll →
Atoll Properties Reefs scored Median Breakdown
Addu 20 9 5.6 3 resorts · 1 hotel · 16 guesthouses
Baa Atoll 90 28 6.0 16 resorts · 1 hotel · 73 guesthouses
Dhaalu Atoll 17 12 5.6 9 resorts · 8 guesthouses
Faafu Atoll 7 3 4.9 1 resort · 6 guesthouses
Gaafu Alifu 21 13 6.1 6 resorts · 1 hotel · 14 guesthouses
Gaafu Dhaalu 11 6 6.0 2 resorts · 9 guesthouses
Gnaviyani 22 1 7.7 22 guesthouses
Haa Alifu Atoll 22 7 6.3 1 resort · 21 guesthouses
Haa Dhaalu Atoll 11 6 6.0 2 resorts · 1 hotel · 8 guesthouses
Laamu Atoll 8 4 5.6 2 resorts · 6 guesthouses
Lhaviyani 15 11 5.7 12 resorts · 3 guesthouses
Malé Atoll 342 55 6.0 54 resorts · 9 hotels · 279 guesthouses
Meemu Atoll 9 6 6.7 3 resorts · 6 guesthouses
Noonu Atoll 27 13 6.4 8 resorts · 19 guesthouses
North Ari 162 20 6.2 12 resorts · 150 guesthouses
North Malé 4 4 6.8 4 resorts
Raa Atoll 23 22 5.9 17 resorts · 1 hotel · 5 guesthouses
Shaviyani Atoll 10 8 7.5 2 resorts · 8 guesthouses
South Ari 142 26 6.6 17 resorts · 1 hotel · 124 guesthouses
South Malé 1 1 6.1 1 resort
Thaa Atoll 13 7 5.4 1 resort · 12 guesthouses
Vaavu Atoll 60 10 6.0 5 resorts · 1 hotel · 54 guesthouses
Measured from open data — check it yourself
MaldivesMinistry of Tourism registry
Allen Coral AtlasBenthic & geomorphic maps · CC BY 4.0 NOAA Coral Reef WatchHeat-stress record · public domain How we scoreThe method, and its limits