What Are the Best Things to See and Do in the Maldives?

What's going on everybody this is Island Hopper TV and today we're coming to you from Maldives with the best things to do. First up here we are looking at overwater bungalows. So when you come to Maldives many of you are coming here because you're looking for these luxury hotels that have these overwater bungalows. Now these are scattered all throughout the islands. In fact in Maldives there's 1192 coral islands. 200 of them are actually inhabited and many of these islands with resorts have actually become man-made artificial islands. So they're really kind of set up for these beautiful resorts and lagoon areas. Now the prices vary. Bungalows can be expensive. I personally stayed at the Curio nearby the Hard Rock and that cost me around $500 a night and some of the most famous ones are going to be Seneva Johnny. But I talked to some locals they were telling me that their favorite was Waldorf Astoria. They said that's the big ticket in town. Just depends on where you want to stay since there is about 38 different hotels with overwater bungalows in Maldives. Now we're actually going to do some activities. This here is surfing. Surfing is one of the most popular activities people like to do in Maldives because right here in the middle of the Indian Ocean they get some really great swells. And when you're trying to find out where the best surf spots are it just depends on your skill level. But the northern atolls they get some really nice swells. The southern atolls and the central atolls. And another popular activity is scuba diving. You'll see so much marine life and coral under the Maldives because the ocean water is very clear so coral really grows good and lots of marine life like this manta ray. Also if you don't like diving you can do snorkeling. Now when I was at my hotel that's what people were doing all around the lagoon. They literally would go all around the hotel island snorkeling and it's beautiful water. You never know what you'll see in there but most of it was manta rays or smaller stingrays. Every once in a while you may come across a black tip reef shark. Also if you go out a little bit further you can see whale sharks. And water sports are really popular out here doing paragliding or getting on some jet skis. Good activities and good fun out here in the Maldives. And before selecting a hotel I highly recommend you check out what kind of activities they offer for on-scene recreation. You have to keep in mind most of your resorts that you're staying at are going to be private islands. So they're like little villages or towns in and of themselves. And while you're here sun gazing is something that people like to do especially at night. So try to get that room that faces the sunset or at least has a nice restaurant view of the sunset. As you can see I arrived in Maldives at sunset. Also here you have dolphin safaris. So if you love dolphins and you want to get out there and see dolphins in the wild. And these dolphin tours they'll actually let you get in the water with the dolphins and swim with them. I have done this before and nothing quite as amazing as being in the water with a pot of dolphins. But of course always take precautions when in the water with wild animals. Don't get too close. Now along with having all the coral reef atolls they also have sandbanks. And you can get a tour that'll take you out to sandbanks, sandbars. It all depends on the actual tide. If it's up or down how big the sandbank will be. Or if it's even existing at the moment. Because some of them go underwater and then reveal themselves when the tide goes low. But these tours are really awesome for just hanging out and wading in the water. Now when I was there in January of 2025 the water was a bit colder than I expected. I mean if you look at it right now you would say it's got to be warm right? Well it wasn't as warm as I had thought. But it was still a good temperature. And if you wanted to get one of these tours like a sandbar tour, a dolphin safari, just talk to the front desk of your hotel and they should be able to arrange that for you quite easily. Now if you didn't want to go to a sandbar and wade in the water or just hop around these sandbars and these sandbanks. You can also check out private islands aside from the private island that you're actually staying at. So they might have a beach club or they might have a pool or some other activity that you can do at one of these private islands. Because remember that's what Maldives is. It's a chain of very small islands. Most of them are inhabited with just a resort only on them. Now not all islands in the Maldives are resorts. There are several bigger islands where they actually have like a village or a town. And Maafushi Island is actually one of the best islands. Many people know about Malé which we'll be telling you about in a little bit. But Maafushi is a nice island to go to if you want more of that cultural community vibe. And this is where you can find more affordable priced hotels for those of you are looking to come to Maldives without spending a lot. Now we're going to an underwater restaurant. There are a few here in the Maldives. This one here is called 5.8 Under Sea. There's also a underwater restaurant at the Conrad and several others like H2O. And there's not many of these around the world actually. Now here we are at the fish market. This is located on Malé. So you can see they bring in a lot of fish here. Actually the number two most important industry in Maldives is fishing. And I saw lots of tuna. You can see some yellowfin tuna there. But if you wanted to go out and do a fishing trip those are available as well. Now let's talk about the potential for island hopping. So getting around to many different islands. It just depends on how well versed you want to be knowing Maldives since there is over 50 inhabited islands. I mean the more islands you get to the more of an expert you become. I only went to a few because it's not easy to get around. But island hopping for those of you who are feeling ambitious just going around from location to location. Just remember there's north south and central. And pretty much right when you get to the Maldives you're already island hopping. Whether you're going out to Malé or you're going over to your resort. Another way to island hop is by seaplane. So if you're trying to go to the far northern atolls you might end up having to take a seaplane or the south. So these seaplanes are an excellent way to get around. And for some of the hotels this is the only way to actually get to them is by seaplane. Now we're going to talk about doing yoga. A lot of people come to the Maldives to relax and do yoga meditation. And that's a big thing at a lot of these resorts I noticed when I was going around. I personally did a solo trip to the Maldives and I would say that if you're someone who's looking to do some deep thinking meditation relaxing that's what you'll find in the Maldives. There's not a lot of noise pollution out here or light pollution. So if you want to look at the stars that's what makes it really nice. If you're someone who's looking for nightlife you're not really going to find that here in the Maldives. Now here we are talking about pool day. So alongside the yoga and relaxation plan to be lounging around the pool and just hanging out. The pool right next to the ocean. I mean you're going to be tempted to do both. It just depends on what your tolerance is or what your relaxation level desires are. And the other option being the beach day. You could do beach and pool day but if you head out to some of these beaches you get a lounger. Might as well get the whole day lounger and just really chill out. Play the water sports. Whatever offers they have at your hotel. Really a nice relaxing way to live. And of course swimming in the ocean. The good news is if you're at a private beach they do legalize alcohol whereas it is illegal in Malé. There's no bars. And you can see the water here. Very nice. That's what people come here for. That crystal clear blue aquamarine colored Gatorade water. I mean it's translucent. It changes colors too. They also have bioluminescent beaches like Vaadloo Beach. That's glow at night due to bioluminescent plankton. And with plankton by the way that means there's going to be whale sharks out here. Some people go diving with whale sharks or swimming with them. But it's known for having the world's largest population of whale sharks. Also a hot spot for sea turtles, reef sharks and spotting dolphins as we talked about earlier. And as far as being in the water you can see here it's quite clear. It's got that beautiful translucent blue water. It is a little bit colder than I thought. Although once you're in it for about a minute it feels warmer. Yeah after you go for a swim you can definitely take a bike ride. In that case I was over at the Curio and then I rode the bike across the bridge to the Hard Rock. And that's a relaxing experience. Great way to get some exercise while you're out here. And I really just rode the bike all around both resorts just seeing what's out here. By the way if you guys want to see those resorts in detail check out IslandHopperTV Hotels for those videos. And if you like to see hotels ahead of time you definitely need to check out that channel because we've reviewed a lot from all these destinations that we go to. And now here we are at the capital. This is Malé and you can see there's a big mosque right there right along the waterfront. It is the most densely populated urban area or residential area in the world. So it's really densely populated on this very small island here with almost 150,000 people. I did spend a night on Malé just because I wanted to see what it's like. It was raining while I was there but I did walk around at night. They have a lot of options for restaurants. They pretty much have any modern convenience you could possibly need here. So that's a good thing. But you can see as I was walking around it was raining. And that leads me to my final point. People always say when's the best time to visit Maldives. And I talked to a local about this and he said really any time is a good time to visit because it could rain or shine any time throughout the year. I was here in January which was supposedly the best time of year and it rained the whole time. But you could show up in August and they say it's rainy season and there won't be any rain. So anyway see you guys on the next one from Maldives and Sri Lanka.