- July 13-14, 2026, Monday to Tuesday.
- Surprise surprise, I'm in the Maldives!! I was honestly surprised too because the decision to go to the Maldives was quite last minute. My Maldives trip was supposed to be a side trip of a trip to India that did not materialize, originally scheduled before my UK and Ireland trip. But since the Maldives was halfway between the British Isles and the Philippines, I thought it would be nice to visit it anyway. It will probably help with my jetlag, I thought, since I would be moving to a country that was in a closer time zone (spoiler: it didn't; I didn't have enough time to adjust my body since I stayed only for a short time.)
- For Philippines passport holders and for most citizens of the world, entry to the Maldives is visa free, but visitors will need to fill out a travel declaration beforehand (at least 96 hours before) called IMUGA (Immigration Unified Gateway). Just make sure there is a specific hotel address, and an onward flight out of the Maldives. Once approved by Immigration upon landing, visitors get to have a 30-day entry to the country. Easy! Just make sure that the IMUGA website is legit: the real website is the only one that doesn't ask you to pay; any website that does is a third-party site, so please avoid!!
- From London I boarded on my Emirates plane to Dubai, and then to the Maldives (by the way this is read as "MAUGHL-deevz"). As the archipelagic country lies in the middle of the Indian Ocean (southwest of India), I was immediately welcomed by the tropical sun and the sea breeze. These are things the Maldives are known for. I landed in the capital of Male (read as "MAH-leh"), and my hotel had a free car service that brought me to the hotel. The airport is actually on an island called Hulhumale, and the actual capital of Male is the island right beside it connected by a bridge. From the airport to most hotels downtown usually takes 15 minutes with regular traffic.
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| Male, from the airport in Hulhumale. |
- After checking in at my hotel called Summer Beach Maldives, I needed some time to refresh and take in some air conditioning (a luxury I was almost deprived of in Europe). I liked the hotel, although it didn't have much space. It was understandable though, since Male, and most of the Maldivian islands, are quite small in area, so cities like Male are so densely populated. Buildings tend to be narrow and tall, but not to the point of a skyscraper. This is how they are able to fit everyone in these islands.
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| My hotel room. This is pretty much it. Not in the frame are the small desk with a flatscreen TV above, and the bathroom. The cabinet (partially seen) and door (not in the frame) are also to the left side, if using this photo as reference. |
- It didn't take long for me to get ready to see a few things before sunset, since I arrived in the mid-afternoon. First on the list was the King Salman Mosque, just across my hotel. It unofficially opened in 2022 (it hasn't had its inauguration ceremony yet), and was named after King Salman of Saudi Arabia. This is because part of the funding for the mosque came from Saudi Arabia in celebration of 50 years of Maldivian independence from the British.
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| King Salman Mosque. |
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| It has a mix of Arab and Maldivian styles, with modern execution. |
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| Inside the mosque. |
- Right beside the mosque is an artificial beach. Built in the early 2000s, it was meant to look like an actual beach so the locals can cool off and have fun. It is part of a leisure park. The water in the artificial beach, however, is natural and comes from the Indian Ocean just outside the tetrapod barriers.
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| Sinamale Bridge from the artificial beach. |
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| The actual artificial beach. See how there's a small opening in the middle? That lets the natural waters enter the beach. |
- Just south of Male is the Sinamale Bridge, connecting Male to Hulhumale. "Sinamale" actually comes from "Sino-" (China) and "Male" (the Maldivian capital). Opened in 2018, the bridge was built with a significant funding from the Chinese government. The bridge is also currently the only bridge that connects two islands; other than this bridge, inter-island travel is done through boats or seaplanes.
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| The Male end of the Sinamale Bridge. |
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| Just to let you know who made the bridge haha. |
- With some bit of sunlight left, I walked around the capital, which is small by the way. At its widest, the island is around 2km. I also visited the souvenir shops along Chaandhanee Magu (Chaandhanee Street), which leads to the Republic Square. These streets are lined with small cafes and shops. If you cannot find the souvenir shops (which I highly doubt), there will be store representatives standing on the streets who will try to make you go to their stores. As sketchy as that sounds, the stores are legit (and they might be standing somewhere near the store anyway.) After shopping, I had dinner at my hotel for a bowl of garudhiya. It's a clear fish soup that tastes spicy and tangy.
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| Streets of Male. |
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| Garudhiya. I was also given rice, typically eaten with garudhiya, as well as a plate with fried fish with coconut slices, onions, and a slice of lime. |
- The following day arrived quickly and I was ready to see more of the capital. Since I was walking around the day before, the city felt more familiar. Honestly, the streets of Male reminded me so much of some areas in Manila, albeit smaller and with more South Asians. The city was also so small that it was possible to see more if not all of the usually-visited sites in one day. I can confirm this too.
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| The view from my hotel rooftop!! It's the King Salman Mosque, the artificial beach, and the Sinamale Bridge! |
- I first visited the Medhu Ziyaaraiy (spellings can vary), the Muliaage, and the Friday Mosque. The first two are right beside each other, while the Friday mosque is across the narrow street. The Medhu Ziyaaraiy is a mausoleum for Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari, widely credited for spreading Islam in the country. Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari lived in the 12th century, but the mausoleum was only built in 1906. The Muliaage next door, finished in 1919, was once a palace for the royalty before until 1968 when the country removed the monarchy and became a republic; the Muliaage then officially became the president's palace. Finally, the Friday Mosque is the oldest mosque in the Maldives, built in the 17th century. It uses stones made from coral, which is abundant in the country.
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| Medhu Ziyaraaiy. |
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| Muliaage. |
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| Friday Mosque interior. |
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| From a different angle. |
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| The mosque was quite small, but it does look like a very "local" mosque. |
- Moving a block west, one can find the Victory Monument in the middle of the street. It commemorates the victory during the 1988 coup that attempted to overthrow the Maldivian government. With India's swift help, Maldives was able to maintain their government.
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| Victoria Monument. (I'm also wearing my traditional Maldivian sarong called a "feyli".) |
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| This circle in the middle of the monument is said to represent the attack itself and how the Maldivians emerged victorious. |
- Beside the Victory Monument is the Islamic Centre. Opened in 1984, it serves as a multi-purpose venue for Islamic activities. Its Grand Friday Mosque is one of the bigger mosques of the country, which can accommodate 5000 people.
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| Grand Friday Mosque at the Islamic Centre. |
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| Mosque interior. It was huge!! |
- Seeing that the National Museum was still closed, I headed first to Republic Square just behind the Islamic Centre. I went there to take a photo with the giant flag. It is also one of the more spacious meeting spots in the capital.
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| Maldivian Flag at the back, and the musical fountain behind me. The fountain itself represents Maldivian solidarity. |
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| I found out later on that the flags were flown half mast fort he day because the former Amir of Qatar passed away. Maldives and Qatar have good diplomatic relations, and the former Amir himself contributed lots of the development of the Maldives. |
- The National Museum eventually opened for the morning and I was the first person inside. The museum was opened in the 1950s, but the current building was built in 2010 after a fire destroyed the old building. The current museum has a small collection of random artefacts, which I personally believe could be presented better thematically and chronologically. Many artefacts that came from pre-Islamic times were also destroyed in 2012, which explains why where seem to be missing narratives in the museum. I also found some information to be missing and vague, such as missing dates for many artefacts, or lack of context for some others. I still see the museum as a nice introduction to Maldivian culture, especially since I don't think I have ever seen Maldives represented in big museums abroad.
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| National Museum. |
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| Museum interior. |
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| This coral stone engraving was found Landhoo Island. It's from the 6th century, and bears the pallava-style Brahmi script. The Brahmi script is one of the earliest written scripts of the Indian civilization. |
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| Traditional house. |
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| Longman's beaked whale. It's one of the rarest whales and they happened to find a complete specimen of it after one got stranded on shore. This species is usually found dead on the shore, and rarely seen alive. Hence, it's poorly studied. |
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| Traditional bodu beru drums. |
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| Royal chair of Sultan Muhammad Shamsudhdhin III in the early 1900s. |
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| Various traditional clothing of the Maldives. |
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| Royal feyli. |
- I later walked towards the local market, which has a popular stingray viewing site just behind it. This the their natural habitat so it's easy to see them just swim by. Occasionally, there are also other species of fish that can easily be seen during low tide when the water is still. As for the local market, it is a typical market with fruits and vegetables, while meat and fish are in other areas of the market, or in the fish market across the street. I bought a coconut because why not.
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| I was at the stingray viewing site for less than a second and the stingrays were already there. |
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| Plenty of what I think are Moorish Idol fish. |
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| Stingray viewing site, which is also a dock for fishing boats. |
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| More stingrays! |
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| Local market. |
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| He was probably shy but he was happy to sell me that coconut hahahaha. |
- Looking back, I wasn't sure if I did the right thing by pushing myself to do more sightseeing instead of taking a lunch break, or probably because the route I took didn't give me much options for lunch. Regardless, I did manage to have lunch at a Thai restaurant after a long walk under the noon sun at the western part of the island, that is, after visiting the Ali Rasgefaanu Ziyaaraiy. This is the tomb of Sultan Ali Rasgefaanu, who fought the Portuguese troops when they attempted to conquer Maldives in the 1500s. Although his rule was a short two months and fifteen days by the time the Portuguese martyred him, this led to the Maldivians developing a heightened sense of nationalism. The Portuguese ruled Maldives for fifteen years before the Maldivians successfully fought and drove them away.
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| The tomb is said to be the place where Sultan Ali was martyred. |
- Finally I got to see the Tsunami monument, which honors those who passed away in the 2004 tsunami. The tsunami that originated from an earthquake in the Indian Ocean affected many across several countries like India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and of course, the Maldives. The area is currently being developed to a nicer memorial park.
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| Tsunami Monument. |
- I took a cab from the monument all the way to my hotel because it was too hot, I was too tired, and the way to my hotel might be too far by walking. But even with Maldivian traffic, it didn't take long for my to reach my hotel because the island was just that small. I took the rest of the afternoon off before having a nice seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant called Crab Lob Seafood.
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| Dinner. |
- My first one and a half days in the Male was quite packed. I was able to squeeze my supposed three-day itinerary into one day! It is hard not to do so because the places to see are almost right beside each other. While there are still parts of Maldivian history and culture that I still do not know much about, I'm happy to at least understand the country a little bit better through the places I went. Honestly, my main point of me visiting the Maldives was to prove that there are things to see and do BEYOND the resorts that people know it for!
