Why go
The water is the reason. Lagoons are shallow, pale and calm, the sea is about 28 degrees in every month, and on a good house reef you can swim with turtles, rays and reef sharks a few metres from your villa. Divers come for manta rays and whale sharks.
It is also the home of the overwater villa, and nowhere does private, do-nothing luxury better. Each resort has an island to itself, so there are no crowds, no traffic and no reason to wear shoes.
When to go
December to April is the dry season, with the calmest seas, the most sunshine and the highest prices. Christmas, New Year and February are the peak.
May to November is wetter and windier, with showers that often pass in an hour or two and rates that can be a third lower. It is also manta season in Baa Atoll, where the rays gather to feed at Hanifaru Bay from about June to November.
Where to base yourself
The choice of island matters more than the choice of atoll. North and South Male Atolls are reached by speedboat or yacht straight from the airport, which suits short stays and late flights. Baa and Noonu, to the north, have many of the best resorts and need a seaplane of 30 to 45 minutes.
The far south, including Dhaalu and Gaafu Alifu, is quieter, with healthier reefs and longer transfers. Decide first whether you care most about the reef, the beach, the food or the villa, because very few islands are the best at all four.
What we would build into your trip
A guided snorkel on the house reef on your first morning, a sunset dolphin cruise, and one dinner on a sandbank with nobody else in sight. In season we add a manta trip to Hanifaru Bay or a whale shark day in South Ari Atoll.
For a week or more, we like to split the stay between two islands with different characters, or pair the Maldives with a few days in Sri Lanka.
Good to know
Seaplanes fly only in daylight, so an international arrival after mid-afternoon usually means a night near the airport before you reach your island. Transfers are charged on top of the room and can run to several hundred dollars a person, so we price them in from the start.
Almost everything is imported and resort food and drink are expensive, which makes half board or a dining credit worth having. Alcohol is served on resort islands but cannot be brought into the country. On inhabited local islands, dress modestly away from the beach.