Our cruising information for sailors is only what we have seen, where we have been and what we have experienced.  But you must find out by yourselves if you like these islands as much as we do…

General:

Sailing in the Maldives is dangerous. Never sail at night, never trust Navionics Charts. But if you are sailing reasonably carefully, then it won’t be a problem. If you have already sailed in other atolls like the Tuamotus in French Polynesia, then you know how to act. If it’s your first time in waters like this, be extremely careful. Here you can easily lose your boat and don ́t expect any technical assistance or rescue. So then, your dream will be over…

We would have liked definitely more time for sailing in the Maldives, but as we had a crew change in Djibouti there was no way. But at least we had one wonderful week south of Uligam!

Charts:

Navionics is mostly quite wrong, so we used basically Google Earth. We have added all our anchorages to the Navionics Community (SV Tuvalu). All soundings are at low tide. We also used the Cruising Guide by SV Mr. John IV, which seems to be the only one available.

You will find our track also under https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Tuvalu/

Mobile phone coverage:

In all anchorages we had mobile coverage with 3G to 4G internet. You will get a SIM Card with different plans directly from the agent.

Winds:

We had most of the time very slow winds from E / NE.

Coral:

There are a lot of corals in the Maldives. Please be very careful when anchoring.

Health:

There is a small Health Centre in Uligam and also a Pharmacy. The people are very helpful.

Visa/Permits:

All crew will get 90 days free on arrival visa. Sailors have to get a Cruising permit if they want to move the yacht from island to island. So, inform the agent in advance if you want to have the cruising permit. A Cruising Permit is free for yachts smaller than 15 meters. So do it. Go cruising for at least two weeks and if you can, for even longer!

Agent:

You need to do all the paperwork with an agent. The only one is Assad and he is working very well and is doing a smooth job. All the authorities come out to your boat, organized by him. So, stay and wait till they are on the way after advising Assad.

Assad Mohamed
Real Seahawks Maldives
WhatsApp: +960 7 934946
assad@realseahawksmaldives.com

Assad will help you for everything that you need. He provides:

• Diesel
• Engine oil
• Water
• SIM cards
• Laundry
• Food from the bigger shops in the south if you need.

This is a Muslim country and they do not sell alcohol. Whatever else you need, just ask him.

Cruising Information:

ULIGAM

Anchorage: 07 04.993N 72 55.110E

We arrived in the dark night, with quite strong northerly wind and were worried about the coral reef. Also, we didn’t know if the anchorage would be too deep, especially if one of the very few sand patches was already occupied by another boat. But not to worry –  in fact you can anchor whereever you want, in around 20 meters with good holding. Only don’t go close to the coral reef which is shown on the Navionics Charts.

Wind – Usually, the wind is coming from E, so you are well protected. But we had wind from the N and so it was a bit rolly, but never dangerous. With northerly winds, currents are turning the stern of your boat sometimes against the wind. Strange, but not dangerous. With the normal winds from the E you won ́t feel that.

Village – After doing the paperwork you can go ashore. Just leave your dinghy at the dock. It’s a very nice, very quiet small village. No cars, no asphalt roads, very clean, very nice people. There are two mosques, you will hear them early in the morning from the anchorage. There are a lot of children and a primary school. Seems to be paradise.

Services – There is a baker with fresh bread, croissants and brownies. Also, a small food shop with the most important things. There is also a small restaurant with rice or noddle curry. Whatever you need, ask the people or the agent Assad.

DAHAPPARU

Anchorage:  6°54.943’N 73°13.784’E

Entrance – We entered to this 75 miles large atoll from the north between Keela Kandu and Vashavaru. Use Google Earth. The channel is deep and free of danger, but we had 3kt of currents against. Then we turned E for entering to the Dahapparu atoll from the N, which is easy, there is a sand bank of 4 meters in the wide open northern entrance.  Once inside, you can anchor wher ever you want.

We anchored in 8m sand, perfect holding. Be careful, there are some coral heads around, but you can see them perfectly with eye ball navigation. Use Google Earth – we found Navionics to be completely wrong. The whole bay is perfectly protected against E winds and you will find an endless long sandy beach for walking around. At the evening the mosquitoes fly around at the beach. An absolutely amazing spot.

No village, no services, but mobile network yes. Only nature if you turn off your phone.

KULHUDUFFI

Location:  6°36.922’N 73°3.973’E

Docking – You can go along side to the large dock, it’s quite new, made in concrete and free of danger. Depth is four meters, just close to the dock. The entrance is also four meters deep and it’s free of dangers. This is the place for us – don ́t go to the new docking area more in the north. As you are moored at the Customs dock, you need to show your cruising permit and fill out some papers, but all is easy and relaxed. They don’t charge any fees for staying overnight.

Services – The main reason for coming here is going shopping, much better then in Uligam. In five minutes – walking distance you arrive at the Main Street of the small town, where you will find food in many different small shops. There is no big supermarket and also not a big local fresh food market. But the shops have most of what you need and you will find also some hardware and computer / phone stores here if needed.

KUDAFARUFASGANDU

Anchorage – 6°42.593’N 72°55.601’E

Here you will anchor just like in the middle of the sea. Only corals, some rocks on low tide.  Moor up to the north at a very thin sand island. Anchor very carefully, sounding well and using Google Earth, but the GPS point is well placed on 4m meters low tide, sand with some rocks. With 20-meter chain you can swing around without danger. There are some currents with the tide, but we never turned completely around. In the south of the GPS point, the bottom falls fast down to very deep soundings.

Surroundings – This was the most amazing place we stayed in the Maldives. Snorkeling in the channel in the north is the best, similar to Fiji or Bonaire. Visit the sand island by dinghy, enjoy the sunset there with a beer. You will never forget it.

Weather – Obviously to say that there is completely NO protection against wind and wave. So, stay here only with very good weather.

A Personal Experience

We have written this very personal information about what we have experienced ourselves, without any claim of this being a full cruising guide, completely covering the sailing region. Of course, we are looking forward to additions and corrections and we will occasionally update this document on our website.  We are not native English speakers, so sorry about all the grammatical mistakes!

Hans and Imma
SV Tuvalu

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About the Authors

Hans from Switzerland and Imma from Barcelona have been sailing around the world slowly since 2011 on their Dufour 40 Performance “Tuvalu”. So far they are sailed 50,000 nautical miles (as of 2023), with hopefully many more ahead.  Their website and blogs are in Spanish and German.

Website:   www.tuvalubarcelona.es/index.php/crew/
Blog:  www.tuvalubarcelona.es.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.

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