WHATSINPORT.COM: YOUR CRUISE GUIDE TO 1200 PORTS OF CALL
Interactive World Cruise Map
Home | Cruise Ships | Port Expenses | Hints and Tips
Male Maldives Cruise Port Guide
Location:
As ships are moored or anchored in this port, you will be tendered ashore.
The tender will drop you off in the center of town within walking distance of the large mosque, the very interesting fish market and local farmer's market.
Printable map to take along.
Cruise calendar for this port.
Watch a destination video.
Live Nautical Chart with Wikipedia Markers
Monthly Climate Averages for Male Maldives
Sightseeing:
The Maldives is a chain of almost 1200 low-lying islands, located 220 miles South West of India. The Maldives is a beautiful travel destination with its tropical hot climate, and the oustanding natural beauty of the white sand islands surrounded by coral reefs.
Though Male is the capital of the Maldives and a place where visitors almost exclusively arrive into and leave from the country, it's interesting that many visitors do not spend a single night in Male. This is because most visitors go directly to their resort island and spend most of their time there.
For its land mass, Male Maldives is pretty densely populated with around a 70,000 strong population. There are ongoing land reclamation projects in progress to increase the amount of space on the island. Male Maldives, despite being a small city, still offers the kind of services you would come to expect from any capital including books, post office, internet access, bookshop, travel agents, a myriad of eateries and so on. There are a few points of interest for those who venture into Male to get a glimpse of life in the capital.
One of the grander structures in the city is the Islamic center and mosque. Hukuru Miskiiy is the most ancient mosque in Male and dates back to the 1650's.
There is a National Museum displaying various artefacts once owned by the Sultans - from clothing to weapons. You may also enjoy visiting the Muleeaage (a structure initially built as a palace and also used as presidential residence in the past).
In Male you would not find any beach, instead it is encircled by seawalls. The city is quite green and pleasant. The streets in the residential areas are shaded with trees, at places forming an arch overhead
Tours Excursions Transportation:
Getting around in the Maldives takes two forms. Taxi boats (official or unofficial) and sea planes. The boats being the Maldivian equivalent of a car and the planes mainly reserved for tourists. Bicycles and motorbikes are the most common means of road transport.
The island is 1.7 km long and 1.0 km wide, but with over 100,000 people crammed onto it, Male is by some measures the world's densest city.
The highlight of the Maldives, is the beautiful coral atolls and underwater sea life. It is easy to arrange a visit to one of the local islands or a snorkeling trip right at the tender pier for less than $50.00 per person.
It pays to compare your cruise line shore excursions here.
Nearby Places:
Any snorkeling here is many times better than anywhere in the Caribbean.
The nearest islands are no more than a 20 min speedboat ride away.
Shopping and Food
Currency:
Maldivian Rufiya (MVR; symbol MRf) = 100 laari. Notes are in denominations of MRf500, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of MRf2 and 1, and 50, 25, 10, 5, 2 and 1 laari
Major currencies can be exchanged at banks, tourist resort islands, hotels and leading shops. Payments in hotels can be made in most hard currencies (particularly US Dollars) in cash, traveler's cheques or credit cards.
Communication:
Opening Hours and Holidays:
Thank you for printing this article! Please don’t forget to come back to whatsinport.com for new and updated port guides.