I am currently researching a trip to Sri Lanka for December 2010, and I may try to squeeze in a short (2 or 3 day) visit to the Maldives. I have no interest in spending my time, however, in a fancy resort filled with Westerners (I have access to plenty of those in the Caribbean), but would prefer to stay in Male (I don't think I can visit any of the inhabited islands). If I were to stay in Male, can I do some snorkeling within an hour or so by boat from Male. Thanks

Male is really not a very nice city, and the hotels there are really crappy to be honest. The airport hotel is fine, but is not on Male, it is across the lagoon at the airport (which is why they can serve liquor, Male is dry, liquor is only served at island hotels in the Maldives). As it is an international-standard hotel (sort-of) it also won’t give you a really “local” feel (although the staff there is very nice and of course local for the most part.) The other hotels actually in Male are not very nice at all. But more importantly, I am not certain that you will get the “local” experience you are seeking by staying in Male, as it is the capital and only business city, and is full of MPs, lawyers and business people for the most part. It is a lot of high rise buildings, and very narrow streets and actually a good bit of traffic. There is nothing “charming” about it at all really and I think you will have little opportunity to meet local people. (There are also only about 4 restaurants, I kid you not.) I have spent a lot of time in Male in the last year or so, and I love the Maldivian people and find the parts of the Maldives I have seen to be utterly beautiful, but do not find anything about Male to recommend it to people as a tourist destination. It would be a shame, IMIO, to go to such a beautiful place and spend it in Male.

Yes, you could snorkel about an hour by boat from Male if you wanted; but overall I would not really recommend it as a part of staying in Male. (Maldivians would tell you that the water quality is poor that close to Male, but some of the better hotels are located that close too….)

If you go all the way south to GAN, however, that is a very different story, and I think you would have the more local experience I think you are seeking. Gan I relatively undeveloped and is a string of islands linked by bridges. You could bicycle along the whole chain and it is interspersed with beaches and little villages. The main “city” is really a village and has many of the old-style coral buildings left (Male has a few walls left in the one remaining part of the “old” town). There is one resort hotel in Gan, called Equator Village, see http://www.equatorvillage.com/; its got a lot of run down colonial charm actually and might not be a bad choice. (It is not a “a fancy resort filled with Westerners” although there are a good number of British guests lending that Somerset Maughm air to the place…) There may be guest houses in other parts of Gan village, you mighty try Lonely Planet, as you don’t give a price range, it is hard to give recommendations. You would have to fly to Male and switch planes, which may mean a lot of travel for 3-4 days, but should be doable.

A quite nice, 3/4 star low key-reosrt about 2- minutes by boat from Gan is Herathera Resort, see http://www.herathera.com. Would not call in fancy by Carribean standards, but nice and you could go into Gan easily for the day.

I have a vague recollection that there are islands which allowing camping, which might be a good experience as well, you might check the Lonely Planet for this.

Otherwise, you might want to just stay longer in Sri Lanka and spend more time experiencing the local culture there.

Sorry, Herathera is 20 minutes by boat from Gan city.

Sorry once again, I forgot that Herathera resort near Gan was recently sold and has a new name, J Resort Handhufushi, you may as well go right to their website at http://www.jhotelsandresorts.com/handhufushi/. That group operates other hotels, I don’t know anything about them, but you may want to consider them.

Thanks, I will check the Lonely Planet today. Equator Village seems nice, and I need to read up on Gan. That seems more of what I'm looking for -- price is not an object, but I don't want to be stuck in a five-star, anonymous resort, on an island that has no local village. From what I understand, most (if not all) of the five-star resorts are located on uninhabited islands.

Thanks, Michael

Here is a link to an article in The Times which you may find interesting:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle4782266.ece

There is a brand-new Shangri-La which will be opening next year on an island next to Gan as well, if you want to stay in a nicer resort and then also have a chance to spend time on Gan. The hotel would be bout 10 minutes by boat from Gan. I just am not sure what short of hotel you want. Equator Village is quite basic, but for a few days probably fine. (It does not really have a beach I have to say, but is close to nice ones.) But if you want a luxury experience, the Shangri-La is a better choice. (I have toured it during construction and it has a lovely beach, and they of course run great hotels. The sample villa I saw was very nice indeed; see http://www.shangri-la.com/en/propert...llingiliresort.) J Resort Handhufushi would be somewhere in the middle I would say.

Yes by law, all resorts in the Maldives have to be on self-contained islands and not inhabited islands. Equator Village is an exception as it is in a former British army mess or something similar; also it is in Gan, in the south, and the southern Maldivians try to do their own thing and are somewhat less conservative than the northern people who have the political power (for a small country, there is a huge amount going on politically, you may have heard about the recent presidential elections). Anyway, most hotels can arrange for you to take day trips to a local inhabited island if you want to do that; so that is sort of a way to “see” local life. However, if you can do it, I think the preferable option is to stay in the Gan area and then spend time on Gan as it is the largest string of islands and has a good-size population; many of the other inhabited islands are quite tiny and on the day trips you really are just going and sort of gawking at them, it’s rather awkward, IMO. With Gan, you can go on your own and ride a bike, go the beaches, browse in the little shops and have a meal and feel like you are part of the island life, not just observing it by coming in on a boat for a few hours with a guide. There is also excellent diving and scuba in the south. The flight down to Gan is by the way spectacular and be sure to do it at least one way during the day to appreciate the views. Its like flying over emerald and sapphire jewelery.

Thanks for the info. I read the Bradt and Lonely Planet guides, and I think I am leaning to staying on Male (mosques, museums, some historic structures, fish and produce markets, and local people). I looked at Gan, but I think I would need to be back at Equator Village at night, and it seems a bit too structured and limiting. It may be uncommon, but I think I am planning on spending my time in Male.

I don't care much about the quality of the hotel, so long as its relatively clean, and it looks like there are plenty to select from.

Thanks again, Michael

I think you may be expecting there to be more to Male than there is. Guidebooks don't really give it an accurate picture IMO. I too had read them before my first visit and when I got there, was surprised by what I found. You can walk the entire city in about 2 hours. The museum may disappoint you, it is not particularly well-curated. You will most likely be back in your hotel in Male at night too, as there very is little going on at night. Yes there are a few local markets esp along the waterfront, and there is an old town quarter that does have some interesting buildings, but that is a high price to pay, IMO, for an otherwise uninteresting experience. Other than the main mosque, you cannot go in the other mosques, and to me, none of the mosques are of particular beauty compared to examples elsewhere. (And there is a mosque on <i>every</i> inhabited island, even every hotel island, as required by law; you can ask to see the hotel’s mosque if you stay on an island, they are very simple. There are mosques on the islands in Gan too.) The main issue for me is that Male is mainly high rise buildings, and is so tiny and congested (and can be pretty hot with no sea breezes due to the high rises) and there are no real beaches and hardly any trees. While the water colour in the lagoon is pretty, that's about all you can say. It is a lot like staying in Newark when trying to experience the Jersey shore (minus the crime of course.) I also think that locals there will be somewhat more reluctant to speak with you, which you would not find in Gan where children will come speak with you as well as adults. People in Male are there to work for the most part, and see tourists often and don't quite have the same attitude as in the other inhabited islands. They are friendly, but it is different, at least that has been my experience. I hope that this turns out to be the holiday you expected.

I would suggest that you plan your itin so you are not in Male on a Friday, as shops, the museum (and virtually every restaurant) will be closed; although some things open up in the earling evening.

Thanks, it looks like Qatar Airways will have daily flights during the month of my visit, so I'll likely fly from Doha on the weekend. I'm combining a visit to the Maldives in between longer vacation in Qatar/Kuwait and Sri Lanka, so the Maldives is really just an add-on.

Thanks for the input, and I may need to re-think my plans, but I'll only have a short stay, so I likely will base myself in Male. I've been to lots of nice tropical islands in the last year (Cook Islands, Bora Bora, St. Barths) and will be in Palau and Yap (to snorkel) over Christmas, so I'm not starved for an island vacation. I think, at least for my first visit to the Maldives, I will need to focus on Male and its nearby islands.

Wow, my first post to make the Forum homepage!