Kaafu

Velana International Airport sits on an island at the eastern edge of North Malé Atoll, which makes Kaafu the only atoll in the country most visitors can reach without a second flight. A speedboat covers the distance in anything from a quarter of an hour to an hour, it runs after dark, and it costs a fraction of a seaplane. That is the whole explanation for the atoll's density: the first resorts opened here in the early 1970s because it was the only practical place to put them, and the infrastructure that grew up around them kept the advantage. For a traveller the consequences are concrete. A late-night arrival is not a problem here as it is on a seaplane island, a three- or four-night trip is viable rather than mostly travel, and the choice of accommodation at every price point is wider than anywhere else — the full range of what the two tiers offer, set out in the resort islands guide and the guesthouse islands guide, is available within an hour of the runway.