Seaplane or Speedboat: The Transfer Decision

How you reach your resort is not a logistics question in the Maldives. It is the first hour of the trip. Seaplane, speedboat, or domestic flight plus speedboat are not interchangeable, and most travellers do not realise the choice has been made for them by their resort's geography until they are already booked.

Speedboat is the right answer if your resort is in North or South Male Atoll. Forty-five minutes, air-conditioned, predictable. The downside is you miss the most-photographed view in the country: the lagoon from above.

Seaplane is the right answer if your resort is anywhere else, and it is also the answer most guests look forward to most. Forty minutes in a De Havilland Twin Otter with the doors literally beside you, flying low over the atolls. The downside: seaplanes do not fly at night. If your flight lands after sunset you overnight in Male and transfer the next morning.

Domestic flight plus speedboat is the answer for the southern atolls (Gaafu, Laamu, Addu). Around an hour on a Q-400 turboprop, then a half-hour boat. Less photogenic than the seaplane, but the only sensible way to reach the south, and a useful option for guests with seaplane noise concerns.

VIP arrivals matter more in the Maldives than almost anywhere else. Every major resort runs a private lounge at Velana airport between flights. Some are perfectly pleasant, some are spectacular. The Soneva Lounge is the best on the airfield, and we book guests through it whenever the timing allows.

A note on luggage: seaplanes have stricter weight limits than international airlines (typically 20kg checked, 5kg cabin). If you are over, the resort flies the excess on a later run for a small fee. We brief every guest on this before they fly.