Male - The Maldives - 5/15/2026
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
We arrived in the Maldives and anchored outside of Male the capital. The seas were quite rough and the rain and wind was strong so all of the excursions were cancelled. Since we anchor just offshore in this port and people need to go ashore via tender boats, it was too dangerous to transfer passengers from the ship to the tenders in the rough seas. We had a snorkeling trip planned and that was cancelled. it was a free included trip and only a couple of hours.
The crew pivoted quickly and put out.a program of activities that mimic'd a sea day and we made ourselves busy on the ship. In mid-afternoon the stormes passed and the seas calmed and they announced that they would run some tenders to the main port in Male and that a local tourism official would be onboard to offer maps and information about what to see in Male. Since it was a Friday in this Muslim country and a prayer day, many shops were closed but we decided to go ashore anyway after having a sea day yesterday. We got a map and took a tender ashore. The tourism official had pointed out a mosque completely made of coral called the Friday Mosque that we should see so we walked the few blocks to see it. after we looked at the Mosque, which was pretty underwhelming, We weren't allowed inside of the mosque because we didn't have long pants and coverings for our heads. The outside was white and covered in a tin roof but didn't really appear to be well taken care of.
The streets were quite crowded with motorbikes and many young men just milling about the port area. They didn't seem friendly or welcoming, and we didn't feel terribly comfortable so we headed back to the tender area to get back to the ship. When speaking with other guests they had the same feeling that the visit to Male wasn't really worth the time, and they felt pretty uncomfortable. The Maldives main island of Male is the most populated and follows strict muslim rules even for visitors, but the many other islands that make up the Maldives are considere Tourist islands, and allow swimming in bathing suits, drinking of alcohol, and relaxed dress and other rules. Our cancelled excursion today would have been to a tourist island. We hope to visit one of those islands tomorrow.