Need expert help?
Piper is the founder of honeymoon specialty travel company Remarkable Honeymoons, and an award-winning agent with almost 30 years experience.
She's a Virtuoso agent, and winner of WeddingWire's Couples Choice awards every year from 2014-2022.
She is well versed in international travel after having visited dozens of countries in her career, and also through her studies abroad living in both Mexico and France. From the Orient Express, to tenting in Nepal, to flying the Concord, she's had many wonderful travel experiences.
|
Best Time of Year to Visit the MaldivesExplore > Travel Planning Articles > Best Time of Year to Visit the MaldivesDate published: 2023-05-07
Photo courtesy Jon Haase.
Skip to:
Where are the Maldives?The Maldives are a coveted vacation spot as the smallest country in Asia (regarding both size and population). This beautiful destination has historically been known under different names in the Sanskrit language, translated as "Necklace Islands," "Garland of Islands," and "Hundred Thousand Islands." JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa 5 nights from 5,088 per person  Discover the warm and inviting hospitality that awaits you at the luxury JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, situated on a private island in Shaviyani Atoll. Stylish overwater villas and beach villas offer guests their own private pools and decks with stunning views across the Indian Ocean, plush bedding and free Wi-Fi. Guests wishing to leave their own private haven will discover a wide variety of activities available including snorkeling, scuba diving, jet-skiing and sailing, while children can enjoy their own adventures in the Maldives at our Little Griffins kid's club. Further relaxation can be found at our resort's rejuvenating spa where a variety of treatments are on offer, while those wishing to stay fit on vacation can take advantage of our state-of-the-art gym and fitness classes. Sample the flavors of the world at our international restaurants, including treetop dining, buffet breakfasts and authentic Italian and Japanese restaurants. Enrich your Maldives experience with a stay at our luxury resort.
Wedding pavilion at Angsana Resort & Spa Ihuru. Photo courtesy the resort. As a cluster of small islands in the Indian ocean, the Maldives are made up mostly of the water in between its 1,190 islands, about 90 of which are developed as tourist resorts. Their unique layout into a double chain of 26 atolls spread out over roughly 35,000 square miles. Each atoll adds to a variety of vibrant coral reefs teeming with lush underwater life including fish, sea turtles, whales, and dolphins. Raffles Maldives Meradhoo Resort 5 nights from 6,355 per person  Raffles Maldives Meradhoo is a rare haven. In its remote location on the southern tip of the Maldives archipelago, it is as far away from the rhythm of everyday life as can be. Here, guests find their own rhythm. In harmony with nature, they relax, reconnect and realign. Surrounded by crystalline Indian Ocean waters home to unspoiled house reefs and their incredible inhabitants, it is easy to forget the world outside.Set on 2 private islands in the Indian Ocean, this high-end resort is accessible by seaplane from Male. Thinadhoo is the nearest island. On the beach or over water, the luxurious villas feature private pools, terraces, living areas, marble bathrooms and 4-poster beds. All provide free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, safes, minibars and Nespresso machines. Upgraded villas add gardens; some sleep up to 8 guests. Butler service is offered 24/7. Amenities include 3 upscale restaurants with terraces, and 2 chic bars, as well as a premium spa and a gym. Water sports facilities are available. The place is tranquil, beautiful and pure. The service is discreet, intuitive and gracious. The life is true Raffles luxury. This is elegance at its most natural. 
Maldivian beach villas. Photo courtesy Jon Haase. Typical airfares from New York (JFK) to Male, Republic of the MaldivesSee & compare all resorts in the Maldives atollsIf you're trying to decide where to stay on Ari Atoll, Lhaviyani Atoll, Male, North Male Atoll, North Baa Atoll, or South Male Atolls, we can help! For the 28 resorts there, we've got nearly 500 high-resolution photos, 7 videos, and 13 virtual tours to help you find your Maldivian dream resort. Click here to use our Visual Explorer to check out all of them. 
Photo courtesy Jon Haase. The Nautilus Maldives 5 nights from 10,248 per person  A tantalising slice of freedom in the Maldives’ stunning Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, The Nautilus Maldives 5 star resort offers life unbound. Every visitor to our shores discovers life’s rarest treasures. Gifts that money cannot buy – time, freedom, refuge.This collection of 26 immensely private beach and ocean houses exists beyond the bounds of time. Our private Villas in the Maldives is a place where nothing is fixed, and anything is possible. Where you are free to set your own beat. Free to do – and to be – as you please. A celebration of the individual spirit, The Nautilus offers liberation. Freedom unconditional. Space to share, to meet, to be yourself and shape your own personal journey. And, most of all, to celebrate the people you’re with, in any way you choose. Because in the end, it’s these simple, elemental pleasures – that ability to simply be – that form the greatest luxury of all. Best time of year to go to the MaldivesAs a tropical monsoon climate, the Maldives have two dominating seasons: a dry season (associated with dry northeast winter monsoons) and a wet season (associated with moist southwest monsoons and strong winds and storms). The dry season has little rain and lower humidity; it lasts from December-April. The wet season is (you guessed it) wetter, characterized by stronger winds and rain; it lasts from May-November. For divers, both the dry and wet seasons have their advantages: during the dry season, visibility is superb, due to currents beginning to flow in November from the northeast; the currents start to weaken in February. During the wet season, the water temperatures are a couple of degrees lower, and this seems to inspire larger numbers of hammerhead sharks and reef sharks to congregate, and to do so in shallower waters than in the dry season. Visibility isn't as good, however, as the currents are less. 
Aerial view of Sheraton Full Moon Maldives. Photo courtesy the resort. Average temperatures in the MaldivesThe temperature remains fairly consistent year-round, ranging only from the low- to mid-80's (Fahrenheit). September-January tend to hover around the 80 degree mark, and February-August tend to reach a little higher around the mid-80's. Chances are any time you decide to visit, the Maldives will be pleasantly warm. Raffles Maldives Meradhoo Resort 5 nights from 6,355 per person Raffles Maldives Meradhoo is a rare haven. In its remote location on the southern tip of the Maldives archipelago, it is as far away from the rhythm of everyday life as can be. Here, guests find their own rhythm. In harmony with nature, they relax, reconnect and realign. Surrounded by crystalline Indian Ocean waters home to unspoiled house reefs and their incredible inhabitants, it is easy to forget the world outside.Set on 2 private islands in the Indian Ocean, this high-end resort is accessible by seaplane from Male. Thinadhoo is the nearest island. On the beach or over water, the luxurious villas feature private pools, terraces, living areas, marble bathrooms and 4-poster beds. All provide free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, safes, minibars and Nespresso machines. Upgraded villas add gardens; some sleep up to 8 guests. Butler service is offered 24/7. Amenities include 3 upscale restaurants with terraces, and 2 chic bars, as well as a premium spa and a gym. Water sports facilities are available. The place is tranquil, beautiful and pure. The service is discreet, intuitive and gracious. The life is true Raffles luxury. This is elegance at its most natural. Storms in the MaldivesDuring the winter rainy season, afternoon showers occur with frequency. In the case of a tropical storm or cyclone, residents and travelers are relocated to safe areas. Fortunately, the Maldives are not as prone to cyclones as other islands; only 11 cyclones have affected the Maldives in over 128 years. 
Overwater villas in the Maldives. Photo courtesy Jon Haase. Angsana Velavaru – All Inclusive SELECT 5 nights from 3,513 per person  WELCOME TO ANGSANA VELAVARUWhere Waters Dance In Shades Of Shimmering Blue Take a seaplane to a fairytale lagoon. Walk on fine sand the colour of icing sugar and feel it tickle your soles. Learn to navigate a coral reef and relish your Maldivian adventure with dolphins and turtles. Live in ocean villas suspended over jewelled waters or stay in land villas with sublime ocean views – the choice is yours at Angsana Velavaru resort. Feast on Asian and Mediterranean cuisines touched with a hint of Maldivian flavour and unwind at our spa with our classic offerings to knead your tension away. What's special about the Maldives?Tourism is relatively recent here--really, it all started for the Maldives in 1972 with just 2 resorts. It's grown to over 80 resorts today. It's the lowest country in the world (yes, it's in the record books) with an average altitude of only about 5 feet above sea level. You're going to get fabulous lagoons protected by coral reefs and other atolls, and gorgeous beaches. But you won't get the knife-edge mountain backdrops you'd see somewhere like Bora Bora, or jungle hikes to waterfalls like you'd get in Hawaii, Fiji, or the Seychelles. 
Infinity pool at the Four Seasons Resort at Kuda Huraa. Photo courtesy the resort. Certainly it's famous for fantastic snorkeling, scuba diving, and above-water sports too. Like the Seychelles, you're going to be a long ways from a major land mass, which means dense schools of fish, less pollution, and more privacy. The roughly 1200 islands are all quite small, with none of them larger than 5 miles across. Each atoll has on average about a half dozen inhabited islands, plus 20 to 60 that are uninhabited. JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa 5 nights from 5,088 per person Discover the warm and inviting hospitality that awaits you at the luxury JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa, situated on a private island in Shaviyani Atoll. Stylish overwater villas and beach villas offer guests their own private pools and decks with stunning views across the Indian Ocean, plush bedding and free Wi-Fi. Guests wishing to leave their own private haven will discover a wide variety of activities available including snorkeling, scuba diving, jet-skiing and sailing, while children can enjoy their own adventures in the Maldives at our Little Griffins kid's club. Further relaxation can be found at our resort's rejuvenating spa where a variety of treatments are on offer, while those wishing to stay fit on vacation can take advantage of our state-of-the-art gym and fitness classes. Sample the flavors of the world at our international restaurants, including treetop dining, buffet breakfasts and authentic Italian and Japanese restaurants. Enrich your Maldives experience with a stay at our luxury resort.
Underground wine cellar and chocolate cave at Gili Lankanfushi, North Male Atoll, Maldives. Photo courtesy the resort. Traditional Maldivian cuisine is based on coconuts, fish, and starches. Skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, frigate tuna and wahoo are common in Maldivian cuisine. As well, a thick brown paste made from tuna, called Rihaakuru, is an essential part of many dishes. Maldivians don't eat raw fish, however (but that doesn't mean you won't ever find sushi in resort restaurants). Their starches are typically rice, taro (the root ingredient of Hawaii's poi), sweet potato, and cassava. You'll find a strong Indian influence--not surprising, given the proximity--and a plethora of different curries. As a tourist in the resorts, expect to find Indian and Maldivian options, but also food styles from around the world. The resorts are well aware that many guests will want to what what's familiar to them. Check this video overview of the Maldives, courtesy Maldives Tourist Promotion Board (MTPB): 
How we work with you to plan the perfect trip:
Map of all Resorts in the Maldives |
|
