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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.
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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." Velaa Private Island 5 nights from 14,849 per person  Velaa Private Island is the realisation of a dream to create a ‘beyond luxury’ exclusive boutique hideaway. This unique destination was developed to embody the very best of this unique archipelago, bathed by azure skies in the aquamarinewaters of the Indian Ocean. Located in the gorgeous Noonu Atoll, 187 kilometres north of Male, Velaa. Private Island is an exceptional luxury retreat where our guests are treated like royalty. Velaa Private Island has been designed and curated with privacy and comfort as the guiding principles while allowing the Indian Ocean to take centre stage. At one with nature, each of the private retreats is built using local materials, combining contemporary flourishes with interiors designed for sensory exploration. 
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. Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru 5 nights from 12,646 per person  Combining innovation, wellness and conservation, Landaa Giraavaru is a 44 acre, 103 villa wonderland in the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve – a 30-minute seaplane flight from Malé. Its sister property, Kuda Huraa, lies to the south: an enchanting garden island complete with Island Spa sea sanctuary and Tropicsurf coaches and guides. The luxury catamaran, Four Seasons Explorer, connects the two via 3, 4 and 7-night cruises, plus private leisure, surf and manta ray charters. The latest addition to the Maldives collection, Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah, Baa Atoll, opens late 2016 as the group’s first exclusive-use private island: off limits to everyone else, limitless to you.Learn more about Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru Price includes hotel stay and all taxes and fees. 
Maldivian beach villas. Photo courtesy Jon Haase. Typical airfares from New York (JFK) to Male, Republic of the MaldivesRangali Island 5 nights from 22,383 per person  The 5-star Conrad Maldives Rangali Island is a combination of three distinct resort experiences on two islands surrounded by a coral reef and lagoon. It's also home to two spas, seven restaurants - including the world's only all-glass undersea restaurant - and three bars, as well as kilometers of white sand beaches, outstanding diving and snorkeling, and a wealth of other sports. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island combines exceptional services and amenities with world-class hospitality in one of the world's most beautiful locations. Food lovers and wine connoisseurs will love the seven outstanding restaurants and four bars set in spectacular Maldivian beach settings and the unique dining experience of the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant, the Ithaa, 16 feet below sea level. The Atoll Market restaurant serves world cuisine from eight international kitchens. Choose the Koko Grill Restaurant for a nine-course Japanese feast. Fine wines await discovery six feet underwater in The Wine Cellar serving degustation wine dinners. Book a private beach dinner with your own chef and waiter or a sensational beachside feast with fresh lobsters and champagne. Indulge in spa therapies at the two stunning spas on stilts over the Indian Ocean offering luxury treatments in glass-floored treatment rooms. Exercise in the fully equipped fitness center. Swim in the two infinite view swimming pools and play tennis by the ocean. Do business in the 24-hour business center. Spectacular scenery makes this resort the perfect location for weddings and honeymoons. Buy something special in the resort's three boutiques offering Italian designer wear, jewellery and gift items. This amazing resort has a Dive Center and Watersports Center and a "Nemo" style mini submarine to take two passengers on a 30-minute ride of a lifetime to see the resort's coral reef. See & 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. 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. 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. Six Senses Laamu 5 nights from 7,571 per person  Beautifully remote, yet easily accessible by plane and boat from Malé, Six Senses Laamu is set in a lagoon where dolphins swim along the sandy shoreline. With villas set over-water and on the palm-fringed island, there are all the creature comforts, plus a choice of overwater lounges and restaurants and amazing excursion experiences. Six Senses Laamu is the only resort in the Laamu Atoll, deep in the Indian Ocean. The resort is a combination of on-land and over-water villas constructed of sustainable materials and set around the palm-fringed paradise.Sea breezes drift among the rustic woods under high palm-thatched roofs at Laamu’s six bars and restaurants, most set over water. Edible memories at each venue are enhanced by enchanting tropical vistas, from inspiring equatorial sunrises above the translucent turquoise lagoon waters to romantic rose-coloured sunsets that dissolve into the evening sea. Set right on the beach, Six Senses Spa offers four uniquely designed couple's treatment nests, four secluded couple's treatment pavilions plus one Ayurvedic treatment pavilion, all within the island’s natural vegetation. Highly skilled therapists use a variety of natural products to provide a comprehensive range of award-winning signature treatments, and rejuvenation and wellness specialties of the region. Some of the best visiting practitioners offer guests personal consultations and holistic therapies to achieve a better state of mind and more fulfilling life experiences. Dolphins swim along the seashell dappled shores of Six Senses Laamu, the only resort in Laamu Atoll and just five degrees north of the Equator. Guest snorkel in Laamu’s coral rich house reef among Oriental Sweetlips, parrotfish and even green turtles. Yin Yang, the Maldives’ most famous surfing wave that breaks just offshore is an impressive attraction. The waters have so much to offer for fun activities. Six Senses Laamu is a children-friendly resort. On site we have a our children's club called, The Den, which is a professionally managed children's club with a wide range of activities and games. Babysitting services are on request. Around the resort and in the villa: Children toys, baby chairs at restaurant, baby cots, family activities, hammocks. With sunshine and sand, children will enjoy a great outing. They have a choice of outdoor and indoor games. If they are able to swim well, and with the permission of the parents, they can go snorkeling to see the wide variety of sea creatures in our house reef. A wedding to remember for always can be beautifully catered for at Six Senses Laamu. We cherish this and provide you a location and services that dream weddings are made of. We offer unique locations, either on land or over water to affirm your love with a private or small ceremony. Reconfirm you commitment of love against a backdrop of some of the most beautiful natural scenery anywhere in the world. Let your creativity, with that of our Experiences team, plan something really special, either over water or on land. Everything is possible. 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. Baros Maldives 5 nights from 3,651 per person  At Baros you will find service dedicated to the desires of each guest, architecture that celebrates and preserves the beauty of nature, and luxurious, intimate villas created with natural materials such as wood, stone and coconut thatch. Baros was chosen to be a special resort because it was small, unspoilt and idyllically located in the centre of the atoll, with its own reef encircling a pristine lagoon and untouched sandy shores. To conserve the island's intrinsic beauty, the Maldivian family who leased it from the government and still operate it today, resolved to keep Baros pure. Accommodation at first consisted of 56 beds in round cabanas with conical-shaped palm thatched roofs and rough coral walls. There was no air-conditioning. By 1983 the resort had expanded to 100 beds but even then only some of the rooms were air-conditioned. Ten years later 12 wooden, thatched octagonal cottages built on columns over the lagoon were added. Because of the inherent hospitality of Maldivians, from its opening the resort gained a reputation for its friendly informality and caring, personalised service. Over four decades this has been enhanced with attention to detail, leading to Baros Maldives becoming the hallmark of top quality Maldivian holiday hospitality. 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. Velaa Private Island 5 nights from 14,849 per person Velaa Private Island is the realisation of a dream to create a ‘beyond luxury’ exclusive boutique hideaway. This unique destination was developed to embody the very best of this unique archipelago, bathed by azure skies in the aquamarinewaters of the Indian Ocean. Located in the gorgeous Noonu Atoll, 187 kilometres north of Male, Velaa. Private Island is an exceptional luxury retreat where our guests are treated like royalty. Velaa Private Island has been designed and curated with privacy and comfort as the guiding principles while allowing the Indian Ocean to take centre stage. At one with nature, each of the private retreats is built using local materials, combining contemporary flourishes with interiors designed for sensory exploration. 
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): 
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