Maldives eSIM

The Maldives is 1,192 coral islands in 26 atolls, so your signal depends less on the network and more on how much sea lies between you and the nearest inhabited island. Many home plans include no data here, so an eSIM installed at home is how you stay online from the arrivals hall at Velana to your speedboat or seaplane.

What a week of data costs in the Maldives

Prices for 7 days of data, checked on 3 November 2026. The Maldives sits outside the cheap roaming zones of every big home carrier we checked.

On Telstra's rate, a single gigabyte would cost over A$3,000. A family of four on Telekom's SurfPass S pays €27.80 for one gigabyte each for the week.

Landing at Velana (MLE)

Almost every international flight lands at Velana International Airport on Hulhulé island, next to the capital, Malé. Switch the kimsim line on as the plane taxis in, so you can message your resort or guesthouse before immigration.

Fill in the Traveller Declaration at home. Maldives Immigration's IMUGA form is free and due within 96 hours before your flight arrives. Use the official site, imuga.immigration.gov.mv, and ignore sites that charge. The airport asks travellers leaving the country to submit one too, so do your departure declaration on resort Wi-Fi a few days before you fly home. Tourists get a 30-day visa on arrival, and your passport needs at least one month's validity. Immigration may ask for a confirmed return ticket and a hotel booking, so keep both offline on your phone.

At Velana, in order: turn on Data Roaming for the kimsim line only, go through immigration, collect bags and clear customs. Don't bring duty-free alcohol; it's confiscated on arrival. Ooredoo sells tourist SIMs in Terminals 1 and 2, and Dhiraagu hands out pre-ordered SIMs at its Airport Business Centre against your passport. With your eSIM working, you can walk past both.

Then find your transfer. The airport's guide ends with meeting your host after baggage claim. If nobody's there, the airport's 24-hour information desks can help you reach your resort host. Going into Malé instead, the public ferry from the counter near Terminal 2 runs every 15 minutes from 5:30am to midnight. Buses run to Malé and Hulhumalé, and taxis cross the bridge 24/7.

Networks and coverage

The Maldives has two mobile networks: Dhiraagu and Ooredoo Maldives. Dhiraagu was the only operator until 2005. It launched 4G in 2013, and its 65 km microwave link across the equator ties Fuvahmulah to Gaafu atoll. Ooredoo, formerly Wataniya, got its licence in 2005. It advertises the widest 5G network in the country. Your phone shows the local network's name, not kimsim.

• Malé, Hulhumalé and inhabited islands: generally covered, because towers go where people live. Ooredoo says its network reaches all major islands, resorts, local islands and guesthouses.
• Resort islands: generally covered. Signal can still dip at the far end of a long island or out on an overwater jetty.
• Open sea, sandbanks and reef trips: expect gaps. Only 298 km² of the country's roughly 90,000 km² is dry land.

The networks your plan uses are listed above.

Resorts, Malé and local islands

• Resort islands: the rule is one island, one resort, with no local village. Many include Wi-Fi, but check whether it reaches the villas, and whether it's free. If it does, the eSIM is for transfers, excursions and island-hopping days. If not, size up, especially if you'll share a hotspot.
• Malé and Hulhumalé: the busy, built-up part of the country, joined to the airport island by the 2.1 km Sinamalé Bridge.
• Local islands: guesthouses on inhabited islands have been allowed since 2009, which opened up budget travel. Maafushi, 26 km south of Malé by ferry, has the most guesthouses of any local island. Thulusdhoo, about 27 km north-east of Malé, is the capital of Kaafu Atoll and a surf spot. Guesthouse Wi-Fi varies, so on a local island your eSIM may be your main connection. Alcohol is only sold on resort islands, and dress more modestly away from resorts.

Seaplanes, speedboats and domestic flights

• Seaplanes leave from the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal beside the airport, the world's largest seaplane hub. Most of its lounges belong to individual resorts. Trans Maldivian Airways is the oldest operator. The lounge wait, still on the airport island, is the time to message the resort. Count on no signal in the air.
• Speedboats leave from the airport jetty and Malé terminals, and timings can move with the weather. Expect signal near islands and gaps in between.
• Domestic flights go from Velana's separate domestic terminal. In the far south, Trans Maldivian also flies seaplanes from Gan to resorts in Addu and Huvadhu atolls. Keep your boarding pass and onward boat details saved offline.
• Boat safety: the UK Foreign Office says to pay attention to safety briefings, and to make sure life jackets are on board.

Apps worth having

• WhatsApp: get your resort's or guesthouse's WhatsApp number before you fly, so you can send "landed" from the arrivals hall. It works on your usual number over kimsim data. Keeping WhatsApp and iMessage on your number.
• RTL Travel: the national public ferry and bus app, with timetables and digital tickets. You'll want it for ferries to Maafushi and other local islands.
• Avas Ride: the airport lists it for ride-hailing in Malé and Hulhumalé. Set apps up at home, because any sign-up code goes by text to your usual number.
• Maps: a resort island needs no map. Download Malé, Hulhumalé and your local island for offline use.
• Weather: the Maldives Meteorological Service publishes forecasts and alerts at meteorology.gov.mv. Check them before a boat day.

SIM and phone rules

A Dhiraagu or Ooredoo tourist SIM is tied to your passport. You can buy either online as an eSIM, or collect a physical SIM at the airport, where Dhiraagu asks to see your passport. A physical SIM also takes the place of your home SIM on a single-SIM phone. A travel eSIM installed at home skips the counter and leaves your home line in place for texts.

Common mistakes

• Assuming your home plan has data here. EE and Verizon give you none in the Maldives, and Telstra charges by the megabyte. Keep roaming off on your home line. Why roaming goes on for the kimsim line only.
• Leaving the Traveller Declaration until the airport. It needs internet, and the queue isn't the place to start. Do it at home, and install your eSIM on the same Wi-Fi. Install your eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly.
• Starting the plan on a stop-over. If you connect through another country, keep the kimsim line off until you land at Velana. If your plan started early
• Counting on signal at sea. Save transfer details, boarding passes and resort phone numbers offline before you leave Malé.
• No way to call for help. Police are 119 and ambulance 102. A data-only eSIM can't dial them, so use your home line, the resort phone or any local phone.

More on the Maldives

• How much data do I need for a week abroad?
• eSIM vs roaming: which is cheaper for your trip?
• Does WhatsApp work with a travel eSIM? Keep your number

How we put this page together

We checked Maldives Immigration's IMUGA site, the airport operator's guides, both operators' own pages, carriers' roaming price pages, UK Foreign Office advice and the other sources noted above on 1–3 November 2026. We'll keep them up to date. We haven't measured speeds or coverage in the Maldives ourselves, so coverage notes are general guidance, not a map. kimsim sells the eSIMs on this page.