DHIGURAH ISLAND – A TROPICAL PARADISE IN THE MALDIVES
Dhigurah Island in the Maldives is a tropical paradise in the heart of the Indian Ocean. Famous for its incredible marine life including whale sharks (which are the world’s largest fish), manta rays, nurse sharks, turtles, and hundreds of species of tropical fish.
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Dhigurah Island - A Tropical Paradise In The Maldives
Dhigurah Island in the Maldives is a tropical paradise in the heart of the Indian Ocean. Famous for its incredible marine life including whale sharks (which are the world’s largest fish), manta rays, nurse sharks, turtles, and hundreds of species of tropical fish.
Dhigurah is one of the Maldivian islands referred to as ‘the local islands’, ‘the inhabited islands’ or the ‘non-resort islands’. This is because prior to 2009, the only islands that tourists would visit were resort islands. These are the ones everyone thinks of when they picture Maldives: a tiny uninhabited island, luxury villas and overwater bungalows.
But luckily for travelers with smaller budgets, the government opened their doors wider in 2009 to allow hotels and guesthouses on regular islands that are home to the Maldives locals. Among these islands Dhigurah is one of the most beautiful, natural, and luxurious, but that doesn’t mean you have to break the bank.
How To Get To Dhigurah Island
Dhigurah Island-Maldives
There’s no airport in Dhigurah, so you first have to fly into the capital of the Maldives at Male International Airport (MLE), which is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Dhigurah.
From Male, you can take a speedboat or ferry directly to Dhigurah, or you can take a seaplane or domestic flight to one of the nearby islands and then get a boat the rest of the way.
THE MALDIVES - HOW TO STAY AT MULTIPLE RESORTS
Dhigurah Island- Maldives resort
Picking a single resort and island in the Maldives is so challenging! There are so many options to choose from and each island has its own unique slice of paradise. We found it to be stressful to put all of our vacation into a single resort and spent some extra time figuring out the easiest way to stay at multiple resorts over our 12 night trip to the Maldives.
The Maldives is made up of ~1190 coral islands arranged in 26 atolls. They stretch roughly 466 miles from North to South (over half the length of the California coast!). Of these 1190 islands, ~132 of them are resorts. Think one resort per island - these are very small islands that take 10-15 minutes to walk around!
With so many resorts to choose from, and being spread out over such a large geographic region, we really wanted to find a way to visit two different islands and resorts during our stay.
The biggest challenge with this idea, is that most resorts are a sea plane ride away from Male - the capital city and main international airport in the Maldives. There’s only one major seaplane operator in the Maldives, Trans Maldivian Airways, which holds a monopoly on these transfers, making the round trip sea plane trip to the resorts ~$500+ per person!
Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way to fly from island to island without transferring back to Male, and we really did not want to pay $500+ per person TWICE in order to stay at two different resorts!
After much research, creating many spreadsheets, and mapping out all of our options, we were able to find an inexpensive way to visit two different islands on our trip. We stayed at Hurawalhi Island Resort AND Kanuhura Maldives. Continue reading below, to see how we were able to plan this trip, and use some of our tips for your trip so you, too, can stay at multiple resorts on your trip to The Maldives!
Things To Do In Dhigurah Island
As we have already mentioned, most people go to the Maldives to relax. It was no different on our island. However, there are also other options.
Excursions and snorkeling
Each hotel offers special excursions, which must always be booked a day in advance. For example, our hotel offered snorkeling with whale sharks, rays, turtles, or catching fish during sunset. The price of excursions is around 80-100 USD. We opted for manta rays, as we have been tempted for a very long time. The excursion was perfect, it lasted for about 3 hours, we saw huge manta rays and enjoyed a great morning on the boat. The excursion also included water, fruit juices and some small snacks. Since we visited the island in the off season, there were only four of us on the boat, so it was really great. However, be prepared for lots of boats and people with gopro cameras in the individual snorkeling spots. It’s literally a fight for survival. However, you can snorkel outside the excursions and it’s really worth it. Right next to the beach there are a lot of coral reefs, where you can see colorful fish of all kinds.
Walk To The Sandbank
The most beautiful place on the island is definitely Sandbank. Its length depends on what time of year you are on the island. The longest and most beautiful is supposedly around May, but we were there in October and it also had its own charm. There are three ways to get to the sandbank. It takes about 30-40 minutes on foot from most hotels. You have a choice to get there along the beach or through the jungle. Both have their charm. The second option is the tuktuk. The hotel can book a tuk tuk for you for a specific time. The price for one trip is 10 Usd (it doesn’t matter if there are two or four of you, so we recommend taking someone else from the hotel to save money). We usually did it by taking a walk on the way there and booking a ride back in advance. Keep in mind that when the sun goes down, it is very dark on the island, the beach becomes a crab valley and the jungle is literally teeming with horror scenes. The third option is bicycles, but we’ll talk about that later.
Sandbank Dhigurah Maldives
Bicycle Rent
There are two places on the island from which you can rent a bicycle. Rental cost is $5 for 3 hours and $10 for 6 hours. However, you have to take into account that the bikes are really in very bad condition, the brakes don’t work and it’s generally very difficult. While it saves time during the move, we don’t think it’s totally worth it. This is the third option to get to the sandbank, which is located at the end of the island. It will take you about 15 minutes by bike from the city.
Sunset Watching
The sunsets in the Maldives are incredible! Even though the sun sets very early and the whole sunset lasts shorter than we are used to, it always has its charm. Whether you choose to watch it from your balcony, from the beach or from the sandbank, you'll have a beautiful end to the day for sure.
Sunset Dhigurah
The Most Beautiful Photo Spots On Dhigurah Island
Dhigurah itself is a paradise on earth, so there’s really no shortage of photogenic spots. However, these four are the most beautiful photo spots for us:
Sandbank at the end of the island
Private island next to the sandbank – just to the left of the sandbank during low tide a private islet emerges and it can be easily reached on foot. If you have a drone, photos will be really worth it.
Reclining palm tree – we’ve seen it many times on Instagram, but we couldn’t find it anywhere! That’s just because it’s on the opposite side of the island from everything else. You will find it on the harbor side, perpendicular to the football field (see map).
Swings – a typical idyll of every photo series from the Maldives is a swing right in the water. There are two on the island. One is by the sandbank and one is a little closer to town (see map).
FAQ
How do I get to Dhigurah island?
How big is Dhigurah Maldives?
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