Attractions

Male

About 2km (1.2mi) long and 1km (0.62mi) wide, Malé is small, quaint, and densely settled. Though not spectacular, it is quite unique as a capital city. It's clean and tidy, with mosques, markets, a maze of small streets and a certain, sometimes sleepy, charm all its own.

Malé is packed to the edges with buildings, roads and a few well-used open spaces. Officially, the population is around 65,000, but with foreign workers and short-term visitors from other islands, there may be as many as 100,000 people in town - it certainly feels like it.

Resorts

The vast majority of visitors come to the Maldives on package tours, staying at one of the 70-plus resort islands. Most resorts are in the three atolls closest to the capital - North Malé Atoll, South Malé Atoll and Ari Atoll. Despite their apparent similarity, however, they differ considerably.

Judging by the brochures, all the resorts are beautiful and are blessed with white sand, blue sea and swaying palm trees, and they all promise great diving. But they can vary distinctly in their comfort, cuisine, clientele, character and their suitability for various excursions and activities.

Seenu (Addu Atoll)

This is the 'second city' of the Maldives, and the resort here is the best base from which to visit traditional Maldivian island communities. The Addu people are fiercely independent, speak differently from folk in the capital and at one time even tried to secede from the republic.

Tourist development in Addu has been slow to start, but a resort has been established in the old RAF buildings on Gan. Gan is linked by causeways to the adjacent islands, and it's easy to get around them by bicycle, giving unmatched opportunities to visit the local villages and see village life.