The best time to visit the Maldives

The Maldives’ two seasons.

The Maldives has two monsoons rather than four seasons. The north-east monsoon brings the dry season, at its most settled from January to March; the south-west monsoon brings the wet season, which the Meteorological Service says normally runs from mid-May to November. December and April are months of transition, and Visit Maldives counts both as part of the dry season.

Temperatures stay between about 25 and 32°C all year, warmest in March and April; Visit Maldives gives an average high of 31.5°C and an average low of 26.4°C. What changes is the sunshine and the rain: ten to eleven hours of sun a day from January to March, seven to nine in the rest of the year, and heavier rain in the south-west monsoon.

Is the wet season a good time to visit?

For many travellers, yes. Visit Maldives describes the wet season’s showers as brief and light, the temperature hardly changes, and the resorts are at their quietest: May and June are the two quietest months of the year for visitors.

It is also the season of the manta rays, which gather in their greatest numbers at Hanifaru Bay from June to October. An advisor chooses a resort on the side of its atoll that is sheltered in the season you travel, and with the best access to the marine life you want to see.

A wet-season day.

A day in the south-west monsoon is rarely a day of rain. The Meteorological Service still records seven to nine hours of sunshine a day outside the dry months, and Visit Maldives describes the showers as brief and light. The sea stays warm, the resorts are quieter, and a squall often passes within the hour.

Rain across the atolls.

The atolls run a long way from north to south, and the south is the wettest. The Meteorological Service records about 2,218 millimetres of rain a year in the southern atolls, 1,966 in the central atolls and 1,779 in the north.

Rainfall peaks in May in the central and southern atolls, and in July in the north. December is a transitional month, with daily mean temperatures of about 27 to 29°C.

When to see manta rays.

Manta rays live in the Maldives all year, moving between the two sides of the atolls with the monsoons. The most famous gathering is at Hanifaru Bay, in Baa Atoll, where the mantas gather to feed. Visit Maldives gives its season as roughly May to November, peaking from June to October, with the best chances around the full and new moon.

Hanifaru Bay has been a marine protected area since 2009, and Baa Atoll became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2011, with the bay as one of its core zones. Visits are by snorkel only, with capped numbers and licensed guides; scuba diving and fishing are banned.

Elsewhere, the season decides the side of the atoll. In Raa Atoll, mantas are found on the west side in the dry season and the east side in the wet season; in South Ari, at Rangali Madivaru from January to May and at Mahibadhoo Manta Point from June to November.

Swimming with mantas, the right way.

The Manta Trust’s code of conduct, which Visit Maldives shares, asks swimmers to stay at least three metres from a manta and never to touch one. In North Malé Atoll, close to the airport, mantas are found at Lankan Manta Point from May to November and at Rasfari North from December to April, so even a short stay near Malé can include them.

When to see whale sharks.

South Ari Atoll is one of the few places in the world where whale sharks can be seen all year. Visit Maldives describes the encounters as excellent throughout the year, with a peak from August to November, though the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme’s studies have found no clear seasonality in numbers.

The surf season.

Visit Maldives gives the surf season as mid-February to November, at its best from March to May and from September to November. North Malé Atoll has the most accessible breaks, and Huvadhoo Atoll, in the south, the more remote ones.

The busiest and quietest months.

In 2025, December was the busiest month on record for visitors, at about 224,000, and 28 December the busiest single day, with almost 10,000 arrivals. January and February followed, at about 214,000 each.

The quietest months were May (about 136,000), June (about 142,000) and September (about 150,000), in the wet season. Those are the months to find the resorts at their most peaceful.

Christmas and New Year.

The festive weeks are the most sought-after of the year, as the December arrival record shows. The finest overwater villas and private residences for those weeks are reserved long in advance.

An advisor reserves early, plans the private flight and the seaplane connection around the busiest days, and knows which resorts still have the right villa at shorter notice.

Ramadan and public holidays.

The Maldives is a Muslim country. Ramadan follows the lunar calendar, moving about eleven days earlier each year; in 2027 it is expected to begin around 8 February, with Eid al-Fitr around 9 to 10 March, depending on the sighting of the moon. Your advisor confirms with your resort how it marks the month.

Independence Day is celebrated on 26 July. Eid and the other Islamic holidays follow the lunar calendar too, so their dates move each year; an advisor checks them against your travel dates.

Getting there, and why arrival time matters.

Private jets land at Velana International Airport in Malé. Most outer-atoll resorts are reached by seaplane, about 30 to 60 minutes away, and seaplanes fly in daylight only: resorts ask international arrivals to land by about 15:00 to 15:30 for a same-day transfer, so a late arrival means a night near the airport. Some atolls are reached by a domestic flight and a speedboat instead, and the resorts of North Malé by speedboat.

An advisor times the journey so the transfer is part of the pleasure rather than a wait, and arranges the night in Malé when the flights require it.

Where to stay in each season.

Because each resort occupies its own island, where you stay decides what you see. In the manta season, from June to October, a resort in Baa Atoll puts Hanifaru Bay within reach; for whale sharks, South Ari Atoll; for the shortest transfer, North Malé, where several resorts are minutes from the airport by boat.

In the wet season, an advisor favours resorts on the sheltered side of their atoll and with good house reefs, so a squally afternoon does not cost a day in the water. In the dry season, the choice is wider, and the far northern atolls, with longer seaplane flights, come into their own.

A first visit and a return visit.

For a first visit, the dry season from January to April gives the most reliable sunshine, and a resort within a short seaplane flight of Malé keeps the journey easy.

For a return visit, many travellers choose the wet season for the mantas and the quiet, or a remote resort in the far north or south of the archipelago, with a longer flight and a house reef few others have seen.

For a honeymoon, a family or a group.

Honeymooners often choose the dry season for its sunshine, or the wet season for the quiet and the mantas.

For a group or a party, a private island or multi-bedroom residence can be reserved for the whole stay, and these are the first to go in the festive season.

How far ahead to book.

For the dry season, and above all for Christmas, New Year and February, the best villas at the leading resorts are reserved well ahead. In the quieter months there is usually more choice at shorter notice.

Because each resort occupies its own island, the choice of resort is the choice of the whole holiday, and the right one depends on the season, the marine life and who is travelling. That is where an advisor’s knowledge matters most.

The best months, by what you want to do.

Choose the month by the journey you have in mind:

• Sunshine and calm seas: January to March.
• Manta rays at Hanifaru Bay: June to October.
• Whale sharks in South Ari: all year, with a peak from August to November.
• Surfing: March to May, and September to November.
• The quietest resorts: May, June and September.
• Christmas and New Year: book as early as possible.

Your questions.

Tell us when you would like to travel to the Maldives.

Recommendations chosen for you, an itinerary crafted around them, and every booking managed by an independent Ultra Advisor who works with local specialists in Maldives.