The Maldives is renowned as a luxury vacation destination, providing year-round warm weather, beautiful scenery and a high degree of safety. It’s now becoming increasingly popular as a spot to build your holiday villa.
Over the past 40 years, the Maldives has rocketed from being classed as a ‘developing country’ to an ‘upper-middle-income country’, driven by the rapid growth of its tourism and fisheries sector); offering decent standards of living, excellent internet and telecommunications, low rates of disease, a high literacy rate and good schools (including an international school). So it’s not surprising that international investors are eyeing opportunities to purchase a vacation home in the Maldives.
One of the unique appeals of the archipelago is the small size of the islands and their geographic isolation means the majority of them (except for the capital city island and neighboring commuter islands) offer an unparalleled sense of serenity – the antithesis of western urban life. This is a magical place where time slows down.
If you’re still unsure if the Maldives is for you, let’s take a look at what kinds of people are drawn to spending time in the Maldives and how they enjoy this beautiful island nation.
Perhaps this is the most obvious one to start with but for beach aficionados, the Maldives is the ultimate beach destination. You’ve probably visited some nice beaches before around the world. But stepping onto the powder-soft, pure white coral sand of the Maldives is a completely different experience. As your bare feet sink two inches deep into the powdered sugar beach, you realize nothing else will ever rival this. And what’s more is, there’s almost nobody else on the sand but you! Forget the crowded beaches of Miami, Barcelona and Bondi – a beach in the Maldives feels like having your own private beach.
While we’re talking about beaches, let’s also remember that you can take trips from your vacation home to spend a day on a remote Robinson Crusoe sandbank surrounded by azure water, relax on the beaches of a ‘picnic island’ (a protected island with no dwellings on it, rather like a tiny national park) or arrange a day trip to a resort beach where you can be waited on hand and foot.
With an average of 200-250 hours of sunshine per month all year round and the temperature never falling below 77°F/25°C, almost any time is a good time to be in the Maldives. The so-called wet season falls during the northern hemisphere’s summer, when most travelers choose to explore other regions anyway, but if you did decide to visit during those months you’d still have a good chance of experiencing many days of sunshine (although with a possibilitypossibly of some rain overnight or a few damp days but nothing compared to neighboring India’s or Sri Lanka’s monsoons).
However, the northern hemisphere’s winter is peak season in the Maldives. If you’re a ‘snow bird’ who likes to escape the winter in search of summer sun you’ve probably already fled to Cabo, the Whitsundays or Red Sea Riviera during winter but if you head to the Maldives you’ll love the brilliant sunshine and stable warmth offered every day throughout the Festive Season and beyond.
The Maldives is one of the best scuba diving locations in the world. With visibility of up to 130ft, all kinds of terrain from caves to thilas (submerged pinnacles), schools of colorful reef fish in every direction and frequent sightings of large species like reef sharks, manta rays, stingrays and even whale sharks, it’s not surprising the Maldives is a bucket list destination for so many divers.
Almost every island has a house reef – so if you’re a hardcore diver with your own gear, imagine waking up in the morning, getting kitted up and walking straight into the sea with your dive buddy whenever you feel like it. Many islands also have a dive center, if you’d prefer to book a trip with dive professionals who can provide gear and show you the highlights of the atoll. You can also hop on a liveaboard very easily to do a one-week intense dive cruise with three dives per day.
We know the Maldives is famed for its glassy lagoons but did you know there are also quite a lot of good surf spots for intermediate-level surfers around the country. If surfing is your thing, we can advise you which would be the best islands for a holiday home with a surf point nearby. All the breaks are coral breaks and some are public whereas others are on private island resorts (again, you can always contact them to request access). A few islands also offer surf camps and if you’d like to watch the experts catching the waves then check out the annual Four Seasons Surfing Champions event, which sees former World Champion Surfers competing in a series of rounds.
Whether you’re a yacht skipper or simply enjoy taking a mini catamaran out for kicks, the Maldives is just perfect for sailing. If you own a boat (or are thinking of buying one) we can recommend islands with marinas or harbors suitable for your vessel, so you can keep it nearby while you’re in residence at your vacation home.
A staggering 99% of the Maldives territory is made up of water. It’s the perfect aquatic playground for sailors. Drop anchor in a shimmering lagoon and dive off the back into the crystal clear water. Or perhaps you want to explore your atoll, passing by uninhabited islands. Maybe you’ll cruise to the Maldives via the Red Sea, Gulf of Arden, Sri Lanka or Thailand – following in the footsteps of ancient traders, mariners and pirates in the Silk Route. However you choose to spend your holidays in the Maldives, you’ll never get bored of the sailing opportunities.
If you’re buying a holiday home in the Maldives, one of the unique advantages over buying one on private property rather than on a resort island is that you’ll be able to stay amongst the community. This will offer you unique cultural insights as well as opportunities for friendships and discovery.
Any true traveler is intrigued by how other people around the world live. In the Maldives, it has only been possible for travelers to mingle directly in the local communities for a decade (when guesthouse tourism was first introduced. Before that every foreigner stayed on the resort islands). So you’ll be seeing a side of the Maldives that was completely closed off until recently. Experience local tea shops where you can try ‘hedika’ (Maldivan tapas), or sit in a ‘joli’ (Maldivian hammock-chair) and swap stories with a new friend. Maybe even try your hand at ‘bashi’ on the village court (a national sport). And if you’re lucky you might be able to catch a traditional ‘bodu beru’ drumming performance. You can even hire a speedboat or take advantage of the ever-growing ferry network to explore other islands.
Perhaps this is the most obvious one to start with but for beach aficionados, the Maldives is the ultimate beach destination. You’ve probably visited some nice beaches before around the world. But stepping onto the powder-soft, pure white coral sand of the Maldives is a completely different experience. As your bare feet sink two inches deep into the powdered sugar beach, you realize nothing else will ever rival this. And what’s more is, there’s almost nobody else on the sand but you! Forget the crowded beaches of Miami, Barcelona and Bondi – a beach in the Maldives feels like having your own private beach.
While we’re talking about beaches, let’s also remember that you can take trips from your vacation home to spend a day on a remote Robinson Crusoe sandbank surrounded by azure water, relax on the beaches of a ‘picnic island’ (a protected island with no dwellings on it, rather like a tiny national park) or arrange a day trip to a resort beach where you can be waited on hand and foot.
With an average of 200-250 hours of sunshine per month all year round and the temperature never falling below 77°F/25°C, almost any time is a good time to be in the Maldives. The so-called wet season falls during the northern hemisphere’s summer, when most travelers choose to explore other regions anyway, but if you did decide to visit during those months you’d still have a good chance of experiencing many days of sunshine (although with a possibilitypossibly of some rain overnight or a few damp days but nothing compared to neighboring India’s or Sri Lanka’s monsoons).
However, the northern hemisphere’s winter is peak season in the Maldives. If you’re a ‘snow bird’ who likes to escape the winter in search of summer sun you’ve probably already fled to Cabo, the Whitsundays or Red Sea Riviera during winter but if you head to the Maldives you’ll love the brilliant sunshine and stable warmth offered every day throughout the Festive Season and beyond.
The Maldives is one of the best scuba diving locations in the world. With visibility of up to 130ft, all kinds of terrain from caves to thilas (submerged pinnacles), schools of colorful reef fish in every direction and frequent sightings of large species like reef sharks, manta rays, stingrays and even whale sharks, it’s not surprising the Maldives is a bucket list destination for so many divers.
Almost every island has a house reef – so if you’re a hardcore diver with your own gear, imagine waking up in the morning, getting kitted up and walking straight into the sea with your dive buddy whenever you feel like it. Many islands also have a dive center, if you’d prefer to book a trip with dive professionals who can provide gear and show you the highlights of the atoll. You can also hop on a liveaboard very easily to do a one-week intense dive cruise with three dives per day.
We know the Maldives is famed for its glassy lagoons but did you know there are also quite a lot of good surf spots for intermediate-level surfers around the country. If surfing is your thing, we can advise you which would be the best islands for a holiday home with a surf point nearby. All the breaks are coral breaks and some are public whereas others are on private island resorts (again, you can always contact them to request access). A few islands also offer surf camps and if you’d like to watch the experts catching the waves then check out the annual Four Seasons Surfing Champions event, which sees former World Champion Surfers competing in a series of rounds.
Whether you’re a yacht skipper or simply enjoy taking a mini catamaran out for kicks, the Maldives is just perfect for sailing. If you own a boat (or are thinking of buying one) we can recommend islands with marinas or harbors suitable for your vessel, so you can keep it nearby while you’re in residence at your vacation home.
A staggering 99% of the Maldives territory is made up of water. It’s the perfect aquatic playground for sailors. Drop anchor in a shimmering lagoon and dive off the back into the crystal clear water. Or perhaps you want to explore your atoll, passing by uninhabited islands. Maybe you’ll cruise to the Maldives via the Red Sea, Gulf of Arden, Sri Lanka or Thailand – following in the footsteps of ancient traders, mariners and pirates in the Silk Route. However you choose to spend your holidays in the Maldives, you’ll never get bored of the sailing opportunities.
If you’re buying a holiday home in the Maldives, one of the unique advantages over buying one on private property rather than on a resort island is that you’ll be able to stay amongst the community. This will offer you unique cultural insights as well as opportunities for friendships and discovery.
Any true traveler is intrigued by how other people around the world live. In the Maldives, it has only been possible for travelers to mingle directly in the local communities for a decade (when guesthouse tourism was first introduced. Before that every foreigner stayed on the resort islands). So you’ll be seeing a side of the Maldives that was completely closed off until recently. Experience local tea shops where you can try ‘hedika’ (Maldivan tapas), or sit in a ‘joli’ (Maldivian hammock-chair) and swap stories with a new friend. Maybe even try your hand at ‘bashi’ on the village court (a national sport). And if you’re lucky you might be able to catch a traditional ‘bodu beru’ drumming performance. You can even hire a speedboat or take advantage of the ever-growing ferry network to explore other islands.
Meerubahuruge Aage (2F), Henveiru, Male, Maldives 20077
150 Spear St. San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
