Male island (Maldives) City Tour and Places to Visit!

Male city or Male Main island is a small island with a length and width approximately 2.5-3 km each.  It is crowded with  buildings and people, with very little open space. But buildings are not as high as Macau. Male city tour is one of the activities tourists do- but if you are short of time, you can completely skip this city tour- it doesn’t have anything really important/attractive that can be termed as Must Explore. But then, if you don’t have a better plan, you spend a few hours walking in the Male main island exploring some of the places. When I visited Maldives I didn’t have any extensive plans to go to far away resorts and ended up exploring the Male city a bit. This post shares you details of all you can see in Male island, so that you can decide if it is worth exploring these of you can skip it and use your time better

1. Artificial beach
A small and safe beach for city residents to take a quick dip. Locals, including women and children use this for quick refreshment. No match to natural beaches in other islands.

2. China-Maldives friendship bridge- under construction
Funded by China, this bridge is under construction and once ready, will offer road connectivity to airport island and Hulhumale (now only boat)

3. Tsunami Bina (Tsunami Memorial
A small tower raised in memorial of 2006 Tsunami victims, located near Villingili ferry terminal. It has 108 steel rods, representing 108 people who died in the disaster. The varying height indicates different ages. The 20 balls around it represents the 20 main islands (Atolls) of Maldives.

4. Villingili beach: 

Nearest island-some 10 minutes by boat (MVR 3.75 ferry ticket fare)- you can hop on the govt ferry, go to this island, spend some time walking around and come back to Male. Villingili has a beach and residences and schools


The difference in colour of ocean water was interesting to watch. This seems largely because of sands/stones in the ocean bed closer to the shore.

5. Rasfannu Artificial beach
This is probably the most exciting part of Male city to be in- calm and cozy portion of the town. It has provisions to take a shower, place to sit and relax and a small artificial beach should you wish to take a dip.




6. Outdoor Exercise Units: Spend some time exercising on this set of free to use mechanical exercise units installed near Rasfannu beach. Note: Shoe is mandatory. Drinking water is available here

7. Sultan Park and Mosque: At the heart of Male island is the Sultan Park and Mosque. A restaurant serving Indian food is about 200 meters from Sultan Park (The Royal Garden Cafe)

8. Market: If it interests you, take a look at the crowded market

9. President’s Jetty and Republic Square
Right next to the Sultan Park is the open area (known as Republic Square) that houses a tall flag post, a jetty. Here you can feed pigeons or take a look at various boats and yachts parked.

There is also a National football stadium in the heart of city and Maafannu stadium. (Tender coconuts are available near this stadium, 20-25 MVR).

Below map gives you an idea of location of these attractions. 

If you notice, entire circumference is about 6 kms. Best way is to begin from one corner and explore them all on foot at your convenience. Taxis keep running, so you can hail one if you wish to. Check this post for complete list of activities you can do in Maldives.