Ukulhas – Are these the Finest Beaches in the Maldives?
Scribbled by Claire ◊ 22 May 2025
Are you searching for the prettiest non-resort beach in the Maldives islands? Here, we talk about our trip to the local island of Ukulhas, and discuss its reputation for having some of the best beaches in the country, plus useful visitor information on transport, accommodation, food and vibes.
Ukulhas is a locally inhabited island, situated in the Northern Ari Atoll of the Maldives. It’s a one kilometre long, sandy strip of paradise, attracting tourists with incredible beaches, superb diving opportunities and excellent seafood.
Unlike some of the other islands we visited, Ukulhas felt different to me as we clambered off the ferry. It seemed tidy and clean; almost resort like. There was a cared-for, curated vibe which made it just that little bit prettier.
But what about those famous beaches? Ukulhas is also reputedly home to some of the best beaches in the Maldives. Here, we address that little rumour.
On our ‘best local islands’ post, we discuss Ukulhas, including a little of what we liked and what we didn’t. In this article, we thought we’d try to give an impression of what our visit was like through the photos we took, to help determine if this is the Maldives island for you!
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UKULHAS – AT A GLANCE
Distance from Malé | 72 kilometres
Size | 1 by 0.2 kilometres
Population | 1065
Best for | world-class beaches, tourist services, eco-friendly, small, best house reef
Bikini Beach | one
Atoll | Northern Ari Atoll
ATMs | one
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What is the Island of Ukulhas Like?
Ukulhas is small-ish local island, around a kilometre long. You can walk everywhere with no transport needed (although your accommodation will meet you at the dock to help you carry your bags if you need it).
I definitely think that Ukulhas is kitted out for tourists, far more than some other local islands. It’s so picturesque, honestly. There are more juice bars on the beach, cute corners with hidden sunbeds, beach swings and just a proper holiday island vibe. It’s the closest to a resort-feel that any Maldives island came for us!
Another appeal to Ukulhas is that it is apparently the cleanest island in the Maldives. It’s the first in the Maldives to use proper waste management and the residents take great care of their home. They even do ‘coral gardening’ there, which involves planting coral to encourage sealife the area. It certainly seemed lovely and clean when we visited! There are also women-led initiatives on the island, too.
When we visited, there was a massive rainstorm. The streets were pooled in water and at some points we were wading through above-ankle-deep muddy water. I guess this is a reality of the Maldives, even though we weren’t staying during the rainy season! The mosquitos really come out in force with the puddles, even in the middle of the day, but for whatever reason we were hardly bitten. I was just getting over dengue fever and really don’t think I could have coped with round two!
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What are the Beaches like on Ukulhas?
The beaches in Ukulhas are second to none, in our experience. They really lived up to expectations!
They’re vast (for such a weeny island) and powdery soft, fringed by palms and jungle. The main beach is a kilometre long and stretches the entire length of the island. The sand changes shape throughout the year, known as a ‘moving beach’, so every month is different!
As you walk down the sugar-white sand on the south/western side, peer into the trees and you’ll see small juice bars with wooden swings. Maybe walk around the south eastern side of the island to have a stretch of sand completely to yourself. No shops or bars, just fruit trees so dense that you wouldn’t know the main street lies just on the other side.
Just off the beach, the house reef is also superb. We have a bunch of go-pro video that is currently just sat, waiting for us to process it and when (if) we ever do, we’ll upload it. The water is often a maximum of shoulder height deep and very calm, so you don’t even need to dunk your head under to see the fish! It’s great for weaker swimmers (like me).
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Where to Stay on Ukulhas
Ukulhas has lots of accommodation options of all different budgets, but overall this island is a little more expensive than some of the others.
We’d highly recommend choosing a hotel in the southern half of the island, near the exquisite bikini beach. It has the most of the facilities, like restaurants and juice bars. The northern end of the island is where the trash is dealt with, and also apparently where there are loads of new hotels being built. We’d suggest avoiding that on your idyllic beach holiday!
Where We Stayed on Ukulhas
The accommodation we chose in Ukulhas was called Island Home Inn.
It’s only a few metres away from the empty south-eastern beach. Truthfully, it was probably our least favourite accommodation across the islands, although we still liked our room a lot (all of our Maldives guesthouses were lovely for different reasons).
There are no views from the rooms as it is all ground floor, in a kind of compound. There were quite a few enormous ants in the hallway and the staff would not let you eat in your room (the two might be related!). However, the rooms were large, modern and comfortable with reliable hot water and aircon. The Wi-Fi worked better here than on some other islands.
The inclusive breakfast was obviously tuna-based, as expected, but good. You even ordered through an app! However, it’s in a restaurant a little down the road and the place felt a bit sad, possibly due to the crazy amount of rain the island had just received.
We would recommend our hotel, but also the SeaLaVie Inn. This five-room accommodation was popular with the people we spoke to on the island and was right next door to our hotel. It looked cute! The island is so small that if you’re concerned about location, you can’t really go wrong anywhere.
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What We Ate on Ukulhas
The cuisine across all the Maldives islands doesn’t vary that much, from our experience!
On Ukulhas, there were the usual variety of Western options available as well as the typical tuna and south Asian cuisine we’d seen across the other islands. We’re on a serious budget and vegetarian (genuinely, Tuna is apparently a vegetable in the Maldives), so ate curries every night in Ukulhas. The Western food tends to be hugely more expensive.
One thing we noticed was that many restaurants in Ukulhas weren’t ready to open at the advertised time (possibly due to the torrential downpours, or maybe this is normal?).
We visited Céleste several times and ordered vegetable curries along with some breads and little sweet snacks. We also ordered two vegetable curries and some sneaky fries at Peperone on another evening. Overall, Céleste was the most affordable option and had the friendliest staff!
The food on Ukulhas was all decent, but unremarkable!
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Community on Ukulhas
We found the population on Ukulhas to be very warm and welcoming – more than on Fulidhoo and Thulusdhoo, for example. It was a pleasure to sit on one of the many nets that pass as seats and watch as residents swept up leaves in the dusty streets, waited for the boats to dock at the port and pick up their kids from school. There’s a lovely man there selling little columns of what I think seem to be some form of sugar cane wrapped in leaves (we bought some and still have no clue).
Hanging around near the dock is a great way to interact with the people on the island who are less involved in tourism, such as women, fishermen and school kids passing by. Few tourists tend to hang out here even though it’s pretty, shady and genuinely interesting. I guess it’s the lack of beach!
Sitting here at the dock was when I processed just how many motorbikes are on this island. They’re not loud or disruptive (it doesn’t feel like Vietnam!), but the sheer number surprised me considering the maximum distance you could travel is about one kilometre. Watching the kids get collected from school was a bit of a shock; many walked but several hopped on the back of a bike!
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Activity Costs on Ukulhas
There were plenty of different water sports available on the island. These ranged from the usual paddle boarding and kayaking options to the more adventurous jet skiing and kite surfing options.
Prices are by no means cheap on Ukulhas, or anywhere on the Maldives for that matter. In fact, Ukulhas seems to be one of the more expensive islands for pretty much everything! Some examples of activity rates on Ukulhas include:
10 USD | paddle boarding or kayaking for 30 minutes
60 USD | jet ski for 40 minutes
30 USD | windsurfing 45 minutes
Kayaking for only a few dollars an hour in Thailand spoiled us!
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How to Travel From Malé to Ukulhas
Public Ferries (MTCC – Maldives Transport and Contracting Company):
The number 303 MTCC Malé to Ukulhas ferry costs 22 MVR per person, leaving Malé at 09:00 every Monday and Thursday, stopping off at Rasdhoo, before arriving at Ukulhas at 13:05.
The number 303 return ferry from Ukulhas to Malé leaves Ukulhas every Wednesday and Sunday at 09:45, stopping at Rasdhoo, before arriving at Malé at 14:10.
Check out our comprehensive post for more information: Maldives public ferries guide.
Public Speedboat:
The public speedboat serves Malé, Rasdhoo, Ukulhas, Folhudhu and Mathiveri. They are usually available once or twice a day and cost around 50 USD per person each direction.
It is a good idea to arrange with your guesthouse in advance to reserve a seat, or book online with 12GoAsia, a reputable transport aggregator who we’ve used a lot when travelling throughout Asia.
Final Thoughts – Beach Paradise of Ukulhas, Maldives
Ukulhas was probably the closest thing to a resort island we visited in the Maldives. The beaches were pristine, the ocean a clear azure blue and the comfortable beach bars, vibes and cute furniture just topped it off.
We’d absolutely recommend Ukulhas to people who are looking for an inhabited island in the Maldives and are not sure which to choose. It’s a great all-round choice for ocean activities, guesthouses and holiday vibes. We also think that it would be great for kids, due to the size and the calm, shallow waters.
However, if you are looking for space to walk or hike, it’s pretty small. The ferry schedule from Malé to Ukulhas is a little awkward too as it doesn’t have many departures – this makes it much more likely you’ll have to take a speedboat which increases the budget, especially if there is a group of you.
If you choose Ukulhas for your Maldives trip, we hope you have an amazing time!
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