What to See on Rasdhoo Island

Rasdhoo is a local island measuring 500 by 600 m, and you can walk its length, its width and all the way around it in 1 hour) Yet this tiny island is unique in the Maldives precisely for diving and snorkeling! The underwater world alone is worth coming here for!!! Among the tourists on the island you will mostly meet French and Spanish travelers, while Slavic visitors are almost nowhere to be seen.

Before visiting, read the useful general information about the Maldives and get acquainted with the rules of holidaying on local islands.

Layout of Rasdhoo Island

• The port, and the quay in the port, is the best place to watch sharks and rays! In the evening they cruise along the pier.
• The blue crosses mark the area with no shoreline, where the harbor takes up almost half of the island. But right there in the sea, between Sunset Beach and the port, lies the best snorkeling zone. Sharks, rays and turtles live here. Best of all, this is where the reef ends and open water with a deep drop-off begins!!! It is very beautiful. Because the resort island of Kuramathi is close by, there are neither waves nor wind!
• The island has two bikini beaches: Sunset (quite large) and Sunrise (tiny). The blue arrows between them mark a stretch of shoreline where you can relax, but fully clothed. The blue oval marks the house reef area between the same two beaches. Swimming here is not convenient: you enter the water over dead coral, there is almost no depth even right at the reef, and the water stays only 30 cm deep for about 5 meters...
• From the port to Sunrise Beach, the red arrows mark the shoreline with "clothed" beaches, but this is open sea with waves and wind. Snorkeling here is not very comfortable.

Rasdhoo Attractions

• Rasdhoo has the best diving in all of the Maldives! Certified schools here issue certificates for dives valid for up to 6 months! There are about 6-8 dive centers all over the island. We recommend "Jerrys Dive Club Rasdhoo"; their website with prices and information is https://jerrysdiveclub.com. You can also rent a wetsuit here, not only for diving but for your whole stay on the island. Masks, snorkels and fins are provided for free at the guesthouses. The price for a briefing and one dive is about 120 dollars.
• Snorkeling with manta rays - this is what makes a trip to the Maldives worth it. Near Rasdhoo (a 10-15 minute swim) there is a spot where the mantas will delight you with their presence)
• Snorkeling at 1-3 spots near Rasdhoo island. Even the house reef on Rasdhoo still has patches of living coral. An organized boat trip is a chance to see several spots with the most alive coral in the Maldives!
• Glowing plankton in February - a magical sight, and another reason to come here specifically) The glow can be seen beyond the harbor, from Rasdhoo Beach to Sunrise Beach. It starts as soon as it begins to get dark. To take beautiful photos and videos, come while it is still light, but the real magic begins when it is completely dark!!! Life hack: the wind pushes the plankton toward the shore, so if there is no wind on your beach during the day and in the evening, there is no point looking for the glow there. Glowing plankton appears only on the leeward shores of the island. On Rasdhoo in February these are the beaches along the route marked with red arrows. Different beaches have different amounts of plankton, so you need to walk around and look for where there is more.
• Shark feeding in the port. In the evening the fishermen clean their catch on the left, by the rocky man-made spit, and throw the leftovers into the sea. About twenty nurse sharks "fly in" to the smell. That is exactly why these same sharks patrol the port every evening!

By Maldivian standards, Rasdhoo's infrastructure is well developed) There are plenty of shops here, even a cosmetics store and lots of clothing and souvenir shops!

• The Berry Shop and This & That are next to each other, and you can definitely buy something in them) The Berry Shop has the widest selection of fruit on the whole island...
• Parrot Place - this is the island's bakery. You can find it by the parrot on the fence) They make very tasty elongated buns with chicken!

The island has a hospital and a pharmacy, but buying anything at the pharmacy is next to impossible) The pharmacists not only do not know the medicines, they are not even familiar with the illnesses)) To relieve cystitis they offered pills for kidney stones... In short, do not get sick!

You absolutely must visit Rasdhoo, but do not expect the hotels to be even 4+ or 4-: they are all 3+! It is worth coming here for 4-5 days, or at a stretch extending to 7. A visit to Rasdhoo combines well with the local islands of Ukulhas and Thoddoo. The speedboat from Rasdhoo to Male leaves in the morning at 7:30.