Asia

Maldives in December

Superb weather colliding with the year's most expensive fortnight: Christmas through New Year books out months ahead at maximum rates.

BestDry season returns, highs near 86F (30C)

Beach and pier on Eriyadu island, Maldives — MaldivesPhoto: Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0

The straight answer

December is one of the best months of the year to visit Maldives. Superb weather colliding with the year's most expensive fortnight: Christmas through New Year books out months ahead at maximum rates.

Weather: Dry season returns, highs near 86F (30C)
Crowds: 5 of 5
Prices: 5 of 5

What December is like in Maldives

December brings the dry season back. Highs sit near 86F (30C), seas calm down and the water clears. The first half of the month is lovely and more reasonably priced. From mid December through the first week of January, prices hit their annual high, many resorts require minimum stays and gala dinners, and the best villas sell out months ahead.

December suits families tied to Christmas school holidays and travelers celebrating something big who do not mind the cost. If your dates are flexible, early December or mid January give you the same weather for much less. Budget travelers should look at a local-island guesthouse or wait for November.

Make the most of December

What is especially good about Maldives this month.

Dry season returns

Sunny days and calm lagoons come back, so snorkeling and sandbank trips are reliable again.

Early December value

The first two weeks offer dry-season weather before the holiday surcharges start.

Festive resort evenings

Many resorts put on big Christmas and New Year dinners and beach parties, though they often come as required extras.

What to pack for December

Reef-safe sunscreen and a sun hat
A rash guard for snorkeling
Something dressy for a holiday gala dinner
A dry bag for boat excursions

Our timing tip

Book the holiday fortnight as early as possible and read the fine print for minimum stays and mandatory gala dinners before you pay.

Book Maldives for December.

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Hotels. Expedia
Hotels in Maldives
Opens a hotel search for Maldives in December, dates filled in. Book early for the best months: the good rooms go first.
Hotels for December
Vacation rentals. Vrbo
Vacation rentals in Maldives
Whole homes, condos and villas. Usually the better deal for families and groups, with a kitchen and room to spread out.
Rentals on Vrbo
Tours and tickets. Expedia
Tours and tickets in Maldives
Timed-entry tickets, day trips and guided tours in Maldives for December. Popular slots sell out in the best months.
Tours and tickets

What's on in December

Ramadan

Dates shift yearly on the Islamic calendar

On local islands, cafes close in daytime and the pace slows until festive evenings; resort islands operate normally throughout.

Christmas and New Year peak

Mid December through the first week of January

The industry's maximum-price fortnight, with minimum-stay requirements and gala-dinner surcharges standard at many resorts.

Things to do in Maldives

Full guide

Snorkel your house reef

The best resorts sit on living reefs where turtles and reef sharks commute past your villa steps. Ask about house-reef quality before booking; it varies enormously.

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Dive the channels

Atoll channels concentrate current and life: gray reef sharks, eagle rays, and schooling fish. Dry-season months bring the calmest, clearest conditions.

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Manta season at Hanifaru Bay

In Baa Atoll, roughly June through November, plankton blooms can draw dozens of feeding mantas at once. Access is regulated, snorkeling only, with daily caps.

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A sandbank picnic

Being dropped on a nameless white sandbank with a cooler is the signature Maldives splurge, best in the dry season's calm seas.

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Night fishing and bioluminescence

Sunset hand-line fishing is a Maldivian tradition, and on dark nights some beaches glow with bioluminescent plankton, most often reported in the wetter months.

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Male and a local island

The capital's fish market and the guesthouse islands (Maafushi and others) show the actual country: mosques, cricket, and island life that resorts edit out.

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Beat the crowds

Crowds here are a booking problem, not a beach problem: the best villas and the famous resorts sell out months ahead for December through March, so the early booker wins everything.
Travel in November or late April for dry-ish season weather without peak-season rates or the holiday fortnight's minimum stays.
At regulated sites like Hanifaru Bay, go with operators who hold early slots; daily visitor caps mean the difference between swimming with mantas and watching boats queue.
Choose an outer-atoll resort for emptier dive sites; the Male-adjacent atolls concentrate day boats from many properties onto the same reefs.

Know before you go

Nothing seasonal ever closes: resorts run 365 days a year. What changes is access, as wet-season chop can cancel excursions, and seaplanes fly only in daylight, so late international arrivals may mean a night near Male before the transfer.
During Ramadan (dates shift yearly), local-island cafes and shops close in daylight hours and alcohol-free norms apply as always; resort islands, which are exempt zones, operate normally.
Alcohol is available only on resort islands and liveaboards, never on inhabited local islands or in Male, in any season.
The Christmas to New Year fortnight brings minimum-stay requirements and mandatory gala dinners at many resorts: technically open, practically a different price universe.