Getting from Velana International Airport to the city

The ferry to Male

• Around MVR 15, roughly one US dollar, paid in cash.
• About ten minutes across the water.
• Roughly every 15 minutes, from early morning until around midnight.
• This is the cheapest thing on this entire site, and it is a genuinely pleasant ten minutes.

But that is probably not your journey

Most people arriving at MLE are not going to Male. They are going to a resort island, and that is a different transaction entirely.

• Speedboat transfers are arranged by the resort, take anywhere from twenty minutes to a couple of hours, and cost a substantial sum per person.
• Seaplane transfers reach the further atolls and cost more again.
• Both are booked with your stay, not on arrival. The resort will meet you at a desk in the terminal.

The seaplane timing trap

Seaplanes operate in daylight only.

• If your flight lands in the evening, you cannot fly on that day.
• The resort will put you in a hotel in Male or Hulhumale overnight - sometimes at their cost, often at yours.
• Check the transfer window before you book your international flight. Choosing a morning arrival can save you a night's hotel and half a day.

Hulhumale

• Hulhumale is a reclaimed island connected to the airport by a road bridge, and it has ordinary hotels at ordinary prices.
• It is where budget travellers and delayed transfer passengers stay, and it is a short taxi ride rather than a boat.
• If you are looking for a night near the airport rather than a resort, this is the answer.