Dear Cruisers,

This page is for those cruisers who want to visit the Maldives chain of islands, south and west of India.  The Maldives were a fun and interesting stop for us, but the bureaucracy is a bit frustrating.  Some of what follows has been gleaned from other cruisers, as we only went to Addu, the southernmost atoll of the Maldives.  For our track and anchoring location in Addu, MaxSea users can download an Indian Ocean Layer file.  This file also shows several anchorages throughout the Maldives that we obtained from various published materials but did not verify.

The beautiful lagoon inside Addu Atoll, Maldives

In 2007, yachts were allowed to clear in or out at 3 points: the northernmost atoll (Uligan), the southernmost atoll (Addu), and the capital of Male, about in the middle of the archipelago.  The problem is that Male charges US$400+ for a cruising permit and has other fees that make it even more expensive.  While it's not strictly necessary, yachts are expected to have an agent, which just exacerbates the situation.  This is way out of line with other countries - by far the most expensive clearance we've ever heard about.  So we bypassed Male and sailed directly from Galle, Sri Lanka, to Addu Atoll in the south.  The Addu officials were very pleasant and charged no fees for clearance.  Although we didn't visit it, Uligan is reputed to be even more friendly, with the officials joining yachts for fishing expeditions and pot-luck dinners on the beach.

Apparently, both Addu and Uligan officials can grant permission for yachts to go all the way to the other end of the archipelago, with a nominal stop in Male, presumably to get a "real" cruising permit.  Most boats we talked to stopped everywhere except Male, thus avoiding the high fees.  This is a little risky, as the Maldives Coast Guard is all over the place.  While most boats we talked to had no problems, one was told to leave their anchorage - at 5pm!  This is extremely dangerous, as the Maldivian atolls are full of reefs and bommies that you can't see unless the sun is high.  It's not a place I'd like to navigate at night.

Our anchorage, shot from the Gan/Feydoo causeway looking N.

The Maldives has an interesting policy of encouraging tourism but not wanting tourists to mingle with the locals, presumably to keep our disruptive ideas away.  It's possible that anchoring in areas that do not have villages nearby will prevent the Coast Guard's ire.  The Maldives has been run essentially as a dictatorship for 25 years and President Gayoom's popularity is currently very low (at least, in Addu).

The British, when they built the airport on Gan, also built schools and educated the local kids.  When the British left, the people of Addu were noticeably better educated than the rest of the Maldives.  Now, the new Addu based Maldives Democratic Party is gaining strength so there can be some some political unrest, usually quickly hidden from prying foreign eyes.  The British also built all the causeways that link the western islands of Addu Atoll, the only Maldivian atoll with such easy transportation.  This means that the foreigners at the resort on Gan can freely associate with locals on the rest of the atoll, the only place this can happen in the Maldives.  It seems silly that the Maldives doesn't build more causeways on other atolls, but apparently their fear of foreign ideas is stronger than their desire for easier transportation.

Our Addu anchorage, with Gan to the right

The anchorage that most boats use in Addu is the bay next to the causeway, between the islands of Gan and Feydhoo.  Enter the cut on a heading of about 230°M to S 0°41.106' E73°08.684', keeping the pole with the bucket on top (if it's still standing) to starboard.  There's supposed to be a float on the one coral-head a bit further in but it's usually easy to see and that should be kept to starboard as well.  Anchor anywhere on the sand but avoid the area where the waters from the lagoon on the SW side of the causeway come streaming under the causeway and into the anchorage - not only is it uncomfortable, but the current has scoured away all of the sand so there's no holding.  If the protected anchorage is full (we had 7 boats in there for a few days, and it felt rather crowded), boats often anchor off the Equator Village Resort east of the small bay in about 65' (20m) but it's hard to hit the sand and not the coral.  Note that squalls can blow quite hard (we saw 35 knots) and from any direction.  We've been told that the sand-patch at the NW end of Feydhoo also provides a good anchorage, but we didn't check it out.

Once you're at anchor the authorities will come by shortly in their own launch.  Paperwork was fast and straightforward.  It really helped to have an Ocelot "boat stamp" which they liked to have us stamp over every one of Jon's signatures!  A thirty-day visa is granted on arrival.

Mulla & his family & store, Feydoo

On Feydhoo (but unfortunately off the main road) is a well stocked little grocery store called Two Plus One, run by a nice young man named Mulla who was extremely helpful in getting us things and taking us places.  Mulla's mobile phone number is (96[0]) 998 1967.  If you arrive without a SIM, he usually has a used one you can borrow.  Prices in his store are competitive, and he'll try hard to get you fresh veggies if you want.  He has a nice new car and will deliver right to the concrete wall where people tie off their dinghies (lower right in the aerial photo).  Diesel and water can also be delivered to the same place, but the meter on the diesel truck over-reads by about 10%.  Not sure how accurate the pumps are at the station (on the main road, about half way up Feydhoo) but both are owned by the same company.  Water and fuel jugs, in the form of cleaned out 20-25 liter plastic containers, are almost free to buy.  Mulla sold us rain water (pure and delicious) right from his own catchment, delivered to the anchorage in jerry jugs (ours and his).  Mulla and his wife are generous with their time and information about life in the Maldives, and Mulla especially is happy to discuss the country's complex politics with anyone who is interested.

Being linked to the outside world by satellite, not cable, means that no Internet connection on Gan is fast, but at least there is internet!  The most convenient place if you're anchored where we were is at the Youth Services Center, just immediately east of the anchorage, on the right side of the road (across from the Police Station).  The office of Youth Services is open from early morning until 10pm most days, with breaks for lunch and dinner, and late opening on Fridays.  It's roomy and air conditioned, the staff are very friendly, and you can use your own laptop for about $2/hour.  Note that their machines have keystroke-loggers on them so they will know any passwords you use when on their machines - much better to bring your own computer.

Mulla delivers provisions to the anchorage wall.

As for fun: the snorkeling and diving right at the entrance to the anchorage is amazing, with a huge fish population and large groupers, wrasses and rays.  We dove with Diverland at the Equator Village ($50/dive) and found them fun and professional.  They also filled our tanks for the usual $5-6 after we did our own dives.  Walking is always an option for exercise, either east past the resort, or west over the causeways to the other islands.  Mulla can arrange for the rental of a motor scooter if you want to go farther.  We took him up on the option of a tour in a car as there were several of us wanting to go touring at the same time.  It was fun to see the sandy streets and small village atmosphere of Hithadoo (the capital of the atoll), and some wonderful wooden boat building under a huge shed.  If you have bikes it's an ideal place to ride, being totally flat.  There are several small restaurants, one on Gan just past the resort, and more in Feydoo and just beyond, with hot curries, roti and rice for about $3.  Mulla helped arrange a feast for 11 of us for Jon's birthday at a small cafe in Feydoo.

Addu Atoll, with lagoon (left), & ocean (right)

Clearing out in Addu is a bit of a procedure, as you need to go to the island of Hithadoo, 10 miles (15 km) northwest of the anchorage at Gan, to the new commercial dock being built on coral rubble being dredged from the lagoon.  It's best to get a message to the clearance official, as there's not much for him to do so he's often not in his office.  We had to wait about 30 minutes (at 10am) before he came in.  The first 15 days of your stay are free, but after that they charge about $5/day, up to the maximum stay of 30 days which is payable upon departure.  Mulla was great in that he combined a 2-3 hour tour of the atoll with taking us to the Port Authorities and Immigration people in Hithadoo.  Once you've finished with the authorities in Hithadoo you have to complete the clearance back in Gan at the customs dock, which is a five-minute walk from the anchorage, just east of the Equator Village Resort.

For more information about the Maldives and our time there, see our Maldives Newsletters, Diving Maldives and our Destinations page on the Maldives.

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