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Southern Atolls holidays
Although the Southern Atolls involve a trek from Malé airport, trust us, that’s all the more reason to go - the extra leg has kept touristic forces at bay. n return for your time, expect spectacular diving, powerful waves, pristine resorts and seclusion.
- Flight time
- 10h
- From London to Malé
- Currency
- Rf
- Rufiyaa
- Time zone
- GMT +5h
Getting to the Southern Atolls
The isolation of the southern atolls comes at a price: it takes 45 to 60 minutes by seaplane from Malé airport to reach the seaside resorts of Thaa and Dhaalu. That said, when you've come all that way, an extra hour makes little difference. In the air, you'll forget about the cost. We can think of few better ways to start a holiday than with a bird's eye view of the waterworld that will be your home for a week, and nothing quite conveys the remoteness of these atolls better than seeing all the turquoise that surrounds them.
For Laamu Atoll, transfers involve a short 35-minute domestic flight from Male to Kadhdhoo airport, before a 15-minute boat ride to the beach. It only takes an hour, and Six Senses Laamu has always had reps meeting guests at both airports to make sure everything runs without a hitch.
Even the southernmost Addu atoll is only a 70-minute domestic flight from Male to Gan Island, before a 10-minute speedboat ride to the resorts ̶ and if you’re staying at at the Shangri La Villingili, every second is worth it.
Average weather in Southern Atolls
- Temperature (°C)*
- Rainfall (Inches)*
Holidays in the Southern Atolls
From May to November, southeast winds prevail in the Southern atolls, bringing the wet season. That means more rain and cloud but still tons of sun and downpours that tend to come in short, sharp bursts, plus with discounts on resorts. The more popular dry season arrives in December when winds blow from the northeast. Lasting until April, this is when you get the best visibility for diving, often as far as 30 m and never below 20 m.
If you’re a beach bunny, the monsoons shouldn’t affect you all that much. Air temperatures barely change between seasons, with a blissful daily average max of 32 °C and min of 26 °C. Any time in the year, it’s also rare to find water temperatures stray far from 26 °C.
Surfers and divers should pay more attention to monsoon patterns affecting winds and where certain types of marine wildlife like to spend their time within the atolls. The wet season (specifically June to September) is best for surfing when resort surf teams will hold regular trips and lessons. Wet season (remember remember, it’s May to November) is also spectacular for dives in the western atolls and you can often run into schools of tuna, eagle rays and sharks. Visibility may not be as good in these months, but this means you can also often run into discounts too.
For an extra special time to visit Laamu atoll, aim to fly in for turtle hatching season, between July and October. The Six Senses Laamu has traditionally informed guests when hatching’s happening, so you can watch tiny turtles come into the world, one of the few places in the country this is possible.
No one flies to the Maldives expecting a week of all-night raves and jägerbombs, especially in the southern atolls. That doesn’t mean you won’t find a fair few DJs or the odd dance party. When, or if, you tire of stargazing from your hammock, the Niyama’s famed for its weekly underwater “Glow Party” in the submerged Subsix bar, where fish can peer in on guests getting groovy with glow sticks. The Maldives’ very first mixologist started shaking his thing at the Six Senses’ open-air Chill Bar, and the cocktails have lots to show for it, just what’s needed to get you grooving to whatever record the house DJ has on.
After an action-packed day on the water, sometimes all you need is a lie-down. To make the most of being horizontal, look out for the resorts with stunning outdoor cinema screens where you’ll be served champagne and popcorn while watching flicks beneath the stars and with the gentle lap of the waves.
If you’re not done exploring the atolls, hop on a sunset Dhoni cruise or strap snorkelling gear back on and rediscover the surrounding reefs by night. The COMO’s UV snorkel tour, if still available, is a great way to see the house reef in a whole new light.
For young adventurers, DVDs and Xboxes in resort lounges are a good way to wind down, while kids’ clubs often run evening activities, so the grown-ups can enjoy cocktail menus in peace. The Laamu Six Senses’ club draws lots of families from over the seas for activities like kids’ Zumba (not to worry though, the resort’s split between two child-friendly and adult-friendly islands, avoiding being overrun with infants).
Taste buds will be tempted and belts thrown into lagoons in the southern atolls, where resorts can have up to six restaurants each, none putting a foot wrong. Seafood fresh off the boat and local curries are must-tries, but we don't see any need to limit yourself to Maldivian meals, with everything from teppanyaki to modern African “campsite dining”.
Fighting temptation’s a full-time job at the Six Senses Laamu, where last time we checked the Chocolate Studio had 45+ types of complimentary ice cream. The Niyama’s tree-top NEST restaurant is no less of a hit with the youngsters, and this resort’s traditional whisky and chocolate spirit masterclasses or mixologist sessions are great for teaching grown-ups important life skills…
When the gorgeous grub starts taking its toll on the waistline, lighter options are readily available, like sushi, salads and grilled fish, plus fresh juices that flow like spring water. The Six Senses Laamu has even been known to grow all its ingredients in its organic island garden. See if sessions with their in-house nutritionist are still available too, to show you if and where your diet’s been going wrong.
If you plan to explore in the afternoons, half-board packages with these resorts are ideal, providing breakfast and dinner, letting you try local grub or pay for picnics. If you’re here to live it up, full-board extravagance will make sure you eat in each of the resort restaurants more than once.
When it comes to shopping in the southern atolls, quality and certainly not quantity is the theme. As stylish as the island wear in a handful of resort boutiques is (think: smart polos, carry-alls and sandals), shopping addicts may feel a bit like they’ve gone cold turkey. In sartorial emergencies, the shopping streets in Malé are just an hour’s domestic flight away... But it might be better to see what you can dig up on local islands first. In the Laamu atoll’s Gan, you’ll find the IQuest shopping centre for new threads for the beach and plenty of gift shops to go around if you’re itching for trinkets and souvenirs.
If you join a resort excursion to one of the numerous villages all over the atolls, a village shop will almost always be on hand selling charming local knick-knacks with more variety than those in resort. Check out Kudahuvadhoo island in Dhaalu, Dhiyamigili in Thaa, and Gan in Addu atoll for the widest range.
Activities in the Southern Atolls
These secluded islands offer so much more than beautiful beachful bliss. Attack the warm waves on a surfboard, take a kitesurfing class, set sail on a Hobie Cat over crystal clear waters or play a game of beach volleyball as the sunsets. Discover all of the awesome activities you can do in Southern Atolls, water, or land - they’re waiting for you!
Watersports
Diving in the Southern Atolls
Whether you’ve yet to wriggle into a wetsuit for the first time or earned your diving licence decades ago, the southern atolls have dreamy dive sites and plenty of PADI-accredited instructors to bring you up to snuff. Starting in special training pools, these teach you basics like 5-point descents and frog kicking, before taking you out to shallow drift dives and reefs with gentle currents. Last time we checked, the COMO Cocoa Island, Niyama in Dhaalu and Laamu Six Senses all offered special kids’ diving “Bubble Maker” courses so the little ones can join in the fun too, plus specials like underwater photography courses.
Once you’ve got your diving certificate, a world of soaring underwater rock formations, channels, underwater islands “thilas” and the famed Maldivian manta rays await. The Thaa, Dhaalu and Laamu atolls haven’t been as widely dived as the Malé and northern atolls, meaning significant new dive sites are uncovered all the time. COMO Cocoa Island has previously offered everything from drift and boat dives to night dives to make sure you can see it all. No matter how many descents you make, if you stay at COMO, be sure to check out their Kandooma caves and shark “cleaning station” at Cocoa Thila.
Of the southern atolls, Laamu has the sites scuba divers sing about most, with lots of friendly dives that let the less experienced in on the Maldives’ underwater wonders. Fushi Kandi is a shallow drift dive (15m) stretching 820 ft, where friendly white-tipped reef sharks and the huge Napoleon Wrasse like to hang out. Hithadhoo Corner in the south of the atoll is another top spot and a good bet for manta sightings. The Six Senses’ Deep Blue Divers has all the courses, equipment and excursions you’ll need to make the most of the area and have traditionally offered special outings like early morning dives to see what the fish get up to before breakfast.
Not to be missed if you’re in Thaa, Caribbean Garden is a classic example of a Maldivian “thila” and accessible to all, while the Gorgonian Garden is known as a great reef for running into turtles, though best left to those with diving experience as currents can be strong.
If you get cold feet at the prospect of diving, snorkelling’s another great way to meet the Maldives’ underwater residents and the resorts usually offer complimentary equipment for guests to get to know the house reefs. For a special evening, COMO Cocoa Island has often offered night snorkelling sessions using UV torches to illuminate…. Alternatively, check whether the COMO, Niyama or Laamu Six Senses still offer discovery sessions with their marine biologists.
Surfing in Southern Atolls
What the waves in the southern atolls lack in size compared to the Malé atolls, they make up for in lack of crowds, and you can still expect consistent surf and pristine barrels, as is the Maldivian way. Intermediate surfers who can handle themselves on a board will get the most out of this region, but there’s plenty for all levels, perhaps the best around Laamu.
No wonder the senior management at Six Senses Laamu are PADI dive masters, previously offering all kinds of programs through their Tropicsurf team to help guests make the most of the waves here. Aside from several quick, rippable lefts on the Six Senses house reef, beginners also have an ideal right wave right off the beach. In view of the resort, the forceful Yin Yang can be one of the most powerful right-hand barrels in the country. But the atoll contains plenty of other waves if you’re not ready for this one yet – some close, others reached by a 30-minute boat trip. The majority are speedy, challenging barrels, best suited to intermediate surfers.
In Thaa Atoll, as far as perfect barrels go, Inside Mikado gives Laamu’s Yin Yang a run for its money. This one can make a surf trip, in the right conditions, a high tide and south to southwest swell. While you’re waiting for Inside Mikado to warm up, the COMO’s Tropicsurf guides will help you improve your technique in the Farms reef.
Dhaalu may be less lauded for its surf than the Laamu and Thaa atolls, but it also has plenty going on. The only wind direction hostile and onshore to all surf spots is a South to South Westerly wind, when you can decamp to Thaa’s Inside Mikado, 60 minutes away by speedboat. Or you can put your feet up and think back on all the awesome waves you’ve ridden here so far. If you’re staying with the Niyama Private Islands, there are two waves right off the resort – a challenging left-hander in paddling distance, Vodi’s, and a right-hander which breaks just off the island, Mauroof's. 10 minutes from the resort, Kasabu is a perfect reef with world-class right hand waves suited for all levels, while 35 minutes in a speedboat puts you onto Mad and Swirl on the atoll’s western edge. Niyama’s watersports centre, Float, has always offered on-demand transfers to the best spots, and their “Professional Surf Dude” has been known to use video analysis to help intermediates improve their form.
Windsurfing & kitesurfing in the Southern Atolls
Professional wind or kitesurf schools are few and far between in the Maldives, and not many islands offer lagoons both unobstructed and facing the prevailing wind direction. That doesn’t mean there aren’t several wind and kite surfing sweet spots. To make sure you have winds to work with, the low season (May to October) is the best time to visit, when breezes blow strongest, between 15 and 20 knots, from the southwest.
What’s great about the remoteness of the southern atolls is that you don’t have to worry about getting tangled up with other watersports fans…
Windsurfers have it best here. If you’ve already earned your surfing certification, resorts like COMO Cocoa Island have even previously offered complimentary windsurfing equipment to guests, for use on the expansive flats around Cocoa and Maalifushi islands.
To help get you up and away, the Niyama’s Float Centre has traditionally offered a cracking range of kite and windsurfing courses – from early introductions to equipment and wind direction to pulling off loops, rotations and raleys…
Sailing in the Southern Atolls
Sailing excursions reach a whole new level of serenity in the southern atolls, where you can often spend a day on the high seas without bumping into a soul. When you’re focusing on the journey, not the destination, slow Maldivian dhonis are a wonderful mode of transport, beautifully traditional with curved prows, thatched roofs and billowing sails, plus helpful crews to see to your needs.
The sailing opportunities in the southern atolls haven’t been lost on the resorts here and practically all offer dolphin cruises, sunset sails, night watches, glass-bottomed boat trips and some even special treats like champagne sunrises.
For a sailing experience for the books, it’s not hard to find yachts and speedboats available for private charter in these parts, on last count the Niyama Private islands had four… these will take you on luxurious snorkelling or fishing sessions or private dinners on the water and can be affordable when shared with new friends from your resort... No less exciting, small zippy catamarans are also avialable from most resorts, with captains to steer you to local islands for picnics or lagoons for snorkelling sessions. If you’re a sailor already, you can take a catamaran out to whichever of the southern atolls’ 200 islands you please, often free of charge.
Fishing in Southern Atolls
The waters around the southern atolls are chock-full of tuna, groupers, trevally, jigs and snappers and so free of boats that fishing lines do double-time reeling in all the unsuspecting fish. Traditional sunset fishing’s one of the most popular angling activities, where you’ll be taught line-fishing techniques from a local expert aboard an exotic looking “dhoni”. On these trips, anything you catch fish can often be served the next day for lunch or dinner.
For avid anglers, a range of fishing adventures are available, with the thrill of chasing (tagging and releasing) trophy hauls like yellowfin tuna or the massive blue marlin. Though notoriously expensive to charter a boat, this can be made more affordable by banding together with fishing friends. Specials include all-day big game fishing trips where you can take on the Indian Ocean challenge of catching a majestic sailfish.
Last time we checked COMO Cocoa Island had some of the best-developed fishing plans in the region, with half, full and overnight options around COMO’s two resorts, Cocoa Island and Maalifushi. Most of the main fishing sites are within 30 minutes of the resort, but day trips covering 150km of virgin flats are also an option for the fish trip of a lifetime.
Canoeing & kayaking in the Southern Atolls
Gliding around in a kayak’s a great way to get to know a local lagoon and resorts usually offer these for at least an hour free of charge to guests. The lagoons around Laamu, Thaa and Dhaalu are all shallow and clear, meaning miles of that mouth-watering turquoise water of brochures, instead of the deeper, less scenic blue of more exposed regions. To make the most of this, some resorts in the southern atolls offer special glass kayaks, letting you see between your knees to the very seafloor. The COMO Maalifushi hasn’t just got a beautiful bay for kayaking, but also the private island Lavadhoo off the coast, a great goal post for kayak races.
Once you’ve exhausted your local kayaking possibilities, “seabobs” are step up on the excitement scale and widely available. Gripping tightly onto motorised “bobs”, you can race about underwater and burst to the surface at speeds of up to 20km/hr – a sure hit with water babes.
Land activities
Golf in the Southern Atolls
If you’re looking for sun-soaked championship courses, other corners of the Indian Ocean will likely have more for you. Golf has yet to catch on in the Maldives. Probably something to do with the fact the country is 98% water….
If you’re set on a trip to the Maldives but hanging up your irons for a week triggers withdrawal symptoms, the many golf simulators you’ll find around resorts in the southern atolls may be a healthy compromise. Last time we checked, the Niyama, Six Senses Laamu and the St Regis all had virtual golf facilities, where you can work on your swing without needing sunscreen.
Alternatively, the Shangri La Villingili in southerly Addu atoll has one of the few golf courses in the land, a short but very sweet 9-hole par 30 course that looks out over the lagoon.
Cycling & mountain biking in the Southern Atolls
You’re unlikely to ride into any Olympic cycling teams in the Maldives, but short scenic routes and trusty, old-fashioned cycles there are plenty, a relaxing way to get from beach to bath to bar. Six Senses and St Regis resorts in the southern atolls have all been known to offer complimentary cycles to guests, some to even put your initials on the seat... Just remember that you have to pedal backwards to brake on these bikes and biking about on these islands is a breeze.
If you catch the biking bug at your resort, you can head further afield for your next fix. You’ll find the longest stretch of land in the country in this neighbourhood (in the Laamu atoll), with the 18km causeway connecting Gan, Maandhoo, Kadhdhoo and Fonadhoo islands. Arrange a transfer to Gan’s harbour through your resort and you can sort out bike rental through local guesthouses like the Reveries Diving Village. Then you’re off on a dreamy coastal road past cottages made of coral and roadside mango and coconut carts (good, cheap fuel for the journey).
Further south, on the Addu atoll island of Gan, another long causeway connects the colonial-feel town and former RAF base with the island of Hithadhoo. Guests staying in the Shangri La Villingili have previously been provided with transfers and bikes to make the most of this scenic route, for a day pedalling beneath the palms.
Walking & hiking in the Southern Atolls
If you’re into bracing mountain climbs and never-ending treks, the world’s flattest country might not be for you. But if soul-searching walks on the beach will do, look no further.
The Laamu Six Senses’ historic no-shoe policy means walks on Olhuveli island are leisurely by necessity, and you’ll want to take your time on these shores. This island is famed for its turtle hatchings, and if you don’t run into carefully covered turtle nests, you’re sure to turn up pieces of coral and spectacular shells. Be sure to look rather than touch. The island’s crab population often make homes from these conches and the Six Senses is big on keeping local wildlife happy and the environment pristine.
