Get your goggles, because we’re rounding up what we think are some of the best Maldives resorts for watersports. We’ve had a good, hard look at what activities they offer, their dive centres, and their house reefs to come up with our list.

You might think, what with it being the Maldives and all, every resort is great for watersports, and you wouldn’t be wrong – technically. But what was it George Orwell famously said? Oh yeah – all Maldives resorts are great for watersports, but some Maldives resorts are greater for watersports than others…

We’re starting with a whopper! When it comes to the best Maldives resorts for watersports, it’s pretty hard to take the crown from Siyam World.

Not only is it a pretty massive resort, it’s got a pretty massive list of watersports on offer too. The big draw here is its mahoosive floating waterpark – the biggest in the Indian Ocean. Think slippery slides, parkouring and obstacles, water trampolines, climbing walls, and rafts galore.

Then there’s the nifty little extras they’ve got too, like the Jet Car, a unique vehicle that allows you to cruise through the turquoise waters in a sleek, car-shaped watercraft, the Seabreacher, a semi-submersible vessel that can jump over, dive under, and carve through waves, and the Cudajet, an underwater jetpack that propels you smoothly through those Gatorade -blue waters.

There’s plenty of more classic, non-motorised stuff too – kayaking, paddleboarding, and windsurfing are all up for grabs. Plus there’s a well looked-after house reef to explore with their SSI-certified dive centre.

Location

Noonu Atoll

Distance from Malé

107 miles north of the capital

Getting here

Via a 40-minute direct seaplane flight from Velana International Airport in Malé. Or you can opt for a 30-minute domestic flight to Maafaru Airport, followed by a 15-minute speedboat ride to the resort

Bandos, a smaller island resort, is especially known for its house reef, which circles the entire resort and is mega close, meaning you can just pop on some flippers and swim straight out to it – no need to faff with getting a lift.

Their motorised watersports include jet skiing, with options ranging from 15-minute sessions to longer excursions, wakeboarding, and parasailing. There’s also tube and banana rides – great for families.

Non-motorised options include all the good stuff, like windsurfing(the resort offers a 3-hour basic course and trial sessions), kayaking and paddleboarding, and catamaran sailing, which you can rent on an hourly basis, or rent at sunset for a romantic interlude on the water. They even have glass bottom boats!

Dive Bandos, their dive centre, is renowned for its  mega comprehensive facilities and services. The Maldives’ longest-running dive centre, it won the title of “Indian Ocean’s Leading Dive Resort” at the World Travel Awards 2024. It also happens to be home to the only hyperbaric chamber in the Maldives, staffed by in-house dive doctors and nurses available around the clock. Fancy.

Location

North Malé Atoll

Distance from Malé

Just 4 miles north of the capital

Getting here

Accessible exclusively via 15 minute speedboat transfer from Velana International Airport

How Maldives transfers work

Due to it’s unique geographical location, Baa Atoll – smack bang above an open channel on the edge of the deep ocean – is an aquatic wonder, home to more than 250 species of vibrant coral and over 1,200 species of fish. Alongside being a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve, due to its great ecological diversity and its environmental role as a transport hub of plankton, Baa Atoll is also home to Dusit Thani, next on our list of the best Maldives resorts for watersports.

It’s got a healthy balance between non-motorised and motorised activities on offer, from windsurfing, kitesurfing, and catamaran sailing to parasailing and more unusual things like X-Jetblade, which gives you the sensation of flying above the water as powerful jets propel you into the air, Seabobs, high-performance aquatic vehicles which let you navigate underwater with ease, and a bunch of inflatable rides too.

It’s also home to Ocean Dive Centre, a PADI Five Star-certified facility, led by professionals like PADI Master Scuba Dive Trainer Rafhaan Ibrahim. Because it’s a Biosphere Reserve, you have access to some of the world’s most celebrated diving spots, as well as experiences like turtle safaris, Nemo Rock snorkelling, manta cleaning station visits, and night snorkelling.

Location

Baa Atoll

Distance from Malé

77 miles north of the capital

Getting here

Via a 35 minute direct seaplane flight, or a 25 minute domestic flight, followed by a ten minute speedboat trip

There’s a solid mix of motorised and non-motorised activities at Sun Siyam Iru Veli, from windsurfing, kitesurfing, and jet skiing, to paddleboarding, snorkelling, and catamaran sailing.

Its SSI-certified dive centre caters to both beginners and experienced divers, where you can explore the underwater world of the South Nilandhe Atoll. Oh, and you can also play at being mermaids (and mermen). No, seriously. Taster sessions start at $121 per person. They also offer Free Diving courses, which is where you explore the great underneath in one breath.

Sun Siyam Iru Veli also offer a bunch of different excursions, like fishing and island tours, as well as some lovely sunset cruises.

Location

South Nilandhe Atoll

Distance from Malé

95 miles south of the capital

Getting here

Via a 40 minute direct seaplane flight, or a 35 minute domestic flight, followed by a ten minute speedboat trip

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A tiny boutique resort renowned for its intimate setting, vibrant house reef, and dedicated Noovilu Sports Center, it’s thought to have one of the best beaches in the Maldives.

Wakeboarding, windsurfing, kneeboarding, and paddleboarding are all on offer here, but its dive centre is where it really shines. Kandolhu enjoys a privileged central location in the Ari atoll, the atoll that most divers agree still offers the best diving in the Maldives. There’s well-known dive sites within a few minutes, including Maalhos Thila, Hafsa Thila, Bathalaa Thila, Himendhoo Thila, Fesdu Wreck and even the protected dive site Fish Head.

There’s a bunch of resident turtles that you can observe feeding, and you could have encounters with hawksbill turtles, white tip and black tip reef sharks, eagle rays, and jacks on the reef.

Location

Ari Atoll

Distance from Malé

43 miles north of the capital

Getting here

Via a 20 minute direct seaplane flight, or a domestic flight, followed by a speedboat trip

Which island is the best for watersports in the Maldives?

The answer to this’ll depend on what sort of watersports you like the most. if it’s the motorised and non-motorised stuff you’re into, from kitesurfing to jet skiing, then we’d suggest heading to Dhigurah, as this island is home to Siyam World, one of the best Maldives resorts for watersports due to the sheer amount of activities they offer.

If diving’s more your thing, we’d suggest staying on an island in the Ari Atoll, like Kandolhudhoo, home to the Kandolhu resort, as most divers still agree that this atoll is the best in the Maldives for diving.

If you want your watersports, but you also don’t want a lengthy transfer after you land in the capital, Malé, then we suggest Bandos Maldives as a good sweet spot – it’s just 4 miles north of the capital! And it also happens to be home to the Maldives longest-running dive centre, as well as having won the title of ‘Indian’s Ocean’s Leading Dive Resort’ at the World Travel Awards 2024.

Where is the clearest water in the Maldives?

It’s impossible to give you a straight answer on this! There isn’t really one best place for clear water, rather times when the water will be clearer and times when it’ll be less clear – this is what you should focus on.

Unsettled water will make it less clear, and you’ll get a lot more of that during monsoon season, of which there’s two. It’s said that during the north eastern dry monsoon, which runs from December to April, you should stick to the northeastern rim of atolls as they’ll be more exposed to prevailing winds, whereas during the southwestern wet monsoon, running from May to December, you should try the southwestern rim atolls for the same reason. The wet season tends to result in choppier waters than the dry season.

If you want crystal clear visibility, you’ll also want to avoid areas with a lot of plankton and what they call “particles in suspension” – that’s stuff that attracts filter feeders like whale sharks and mantas.

And just to make this all even more annoying – none of this holds true all the time! You can have perfect waters on a day in the wet season, and bad waters during the time of year it’s supposed to be glorious – the weather is a fickle thing.

Where can you see sharks in the Maldives?

Here’s a quick lesson in Maldives monsoons! They have two, on different sides of the country at different times of the year. In the dry monsoon, from December to April, winds blow from the northeast, taking plankton with it, so whale sharks are normally found on the western side of the atolls.

In the wet monsoon, from May to December, it’s the reverse! You’ll find sharks on the eastern side of the atolls, as the wind is coming from the southwest, and so is their food.

Basically? Follow the plankton. Head west during the dry season and east during the wet season.

Some of your best bets for finding whale sharks from December to April is around the South Ari Atoll. The South Ari Marine Protected Area forms a nursery for whale sharks – they mature here for around 30 years, then go it alone in the big wide ocean. The South Ari Atoll is also home to the Maldives Whale Shark Research Program.

But you can also spot them in the Baa Atoll, a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve, from May to December.

Where can you see bioluminescence in the Maldives?

The famous spot, the one with the so-called ‘Sea of Stars’, can be found on Vaadhoo Island in the Raa Atoll. This atoll is way up in the north, so it’s about a 3 hour flight from the capital, Malé, but if you spot this glowing wonder, then it’s totally worth the trip.

Hulhumalé Beach, in the North Malé Atoll, is another good bet for the bioluminescent phenomenon.

But don’t be disheartened if you don’t get to spot it – it’s notoriously hard to pin down. Difficult to predict, the bioluminescent plankton (which is what causes that blue glow), often hang out far out in the ocean, so it’s only when the tides happen to bring them in that you’ll get to see them, and this doesn’t happen all the time. Another boost to help you spot them is to go during the warmer months, as warmer waters = more plankton.

Itching to get the flippers out? We’ve got dreamy Maldives holidays galore