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Dhigurah island is probably the most beautiful island you’ve never heard of in the Maldives. It’s a local island without the fancy overwater resorts that are famous in Maldives, but instead it has a long and wonderful white sand beach.

If you’re wanting to see the Maldives on a budget, this is one of the best places to do it. Dhigurah has all of the amazing tropical scenery you’d expect from the Maldives, plus family-owned hotels that are as low as $70 USD per night!

We recently visited two local islands in the Maldives, Dhigurah and Fulidhoo, and couldn’t be happier with our choice.

This travel guide will explain how to get to Dhigurah island, what to do there, where to stay, and everything else you need to know before you go!

Where To Stay In Dhigurah

How To Get To Dhigurah Island

There’s no airport in Dhigurah, so you first have to fly to 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.

• By Public Speedboat

The main way to get to Dhigurah is by public speedboat. There are morning and afternoon departures every day from Male city and the airport.

The speedboat journey to Dhigurah takes 2 hours and costs about $50 USD per person one way. Kids above 3 years old pay full price.

The boat ride usually isn’t too bumpy (depending on weather), and they have a toilet and plenty of room for storing luggage. The boats are new and the seats are comfortable. They also give you free bottled water.

The boats from Male to Dhigurah depart at 11 AM (Friday 10 AM) and 4:30 PM. The return boats from Dhigurah to Male depart at 6:30 AM and 1:30 PM (Friday 1:45 PM). There’s a brief stop in Dhangethi island on the way to Dhigurah.

However, keep in mind there are multiple speedboat companies operating this route and the timetable seems to change occasionally, so I’d double check the timetable with your hotel in Dhigurah before you go.

You can ask your hotel in Dhigurah to book the speedboat for you, and then pay for it with your room bill when you arrive. That’s what we did, and paying by credit card spared us from having to carry lots of cash everywhere.

• By Private Speedboat

A private speedboat charter will be a lot more expensive than the public speedboats, but it may be more convenient in cases where you want to save time and need a direct connection to Dhigurah from one of the other islands in the Maldives.

You should be able to arrange this with your hotel in Dhigurah island.

• By Domestic Plane

One of the easiest ways to get to Dhigurah is by taking a 20 minute domestic flight with Villa Air / FlyMe from Male to the airport in nearby Maamigili island (VAM), followed by a 5 minute taxi ride to the harbor and then a 20 minute speedboat ride to Dhigurah.

This route usually has 3 or 4 flights per day. One way ticket prices start at $170 USD for adults and $85 for kids under 12 years old, while kids under 2 fly free. The speedboat transfer is normally included in the price.

In rare cases where the waves are too rough for a normal boat crossing, then this may be your only option of getting to Dhigurah.

• By Seaplane

A seaplane ride is one of the most scenic and fun ways to get to Dhigurah, but also the most expensive.

Ticket prices start at $250 USD per person, and the journey involves a 30 minute flight to the Lux Resort in the South Ari Atoll, followed by a 10 minute speedboat ride to Dhigurah.

There isn’t a fixed schedule for the seaplane flights, so you’ll have to arrange it with your hotel in advance, and hopefully you can share the flight with other passengers going in the same direction.

• By Public Ferry

Last, but not least, you can take the public ferry from Male to Dhigurah. This is the slowest option, but it’s also the cheapest. The ferry ride to Dhigurah takes about 6 or 7 hours and costs $8 USD for a one way ticket.

This route is operated by MTCC several days per week, with morning and evening departures. You can confirm the current timetable with MTCC or with your hotel in Dhigurah, and they should be able to help you buy tickets as well.

How To Get Around The Island

Once you arrive in Dhigurah, the next step is getting around the island.

Thankfully, the whole island is small enough to be walkable. You can get everywhere on foot! From end to end, Dhigurah is only 4 kilometers long (3 miles), and the width of the island is only about 100 to 200 meters.

This is one of the things we really liked about Dhigurah island, because it’s so convenient and you don’t have to pay for transport. However, the hotels do have bicycles you can rent for a half day or full day if you’d like.

Best Things To Do In Dhigurah Island

• North West Beach / Bikini Beach

The main beach in Dhigurah is called North West Beach and it spans the entire west side of the island. This is the island’s designated ‘bikini beach’ where tourists are welcome to wear swimsuits and go suntanning.

It’s a beautiful beach with palm trees, lots of little hermit crabs, and not too many people. The water is calm enough for kids to swim. If the sky is clear, you can also watch the sunset on the beach.

For snorkeling, there’s a spot near the halfway point, called Turtle Reef, where you can swim with small sharks and sea turtles only a short distance from the shore!

The beach in Dhigurah is actually one of the longest beaches in the Maldives, and it’s how the island got its name — Dhigurah means ‘long island’ in the local language.