Eydhafushi
Eydhafushi is the capital of Baa Atoll, and it runs on a quieter frequency than almost anywhere else in the Maldives. No cars move through its lanes — only feet, bicycles, and the occasional motorcycle. The island's shops serve not just its own residents but the whole atoll, which means you'll find hardware stores and fabric boutiques alongside food stalls, an unlikely commercial centre surrounded by open ocean.
The island has a craft legacy worth knowing: Eydhafushi was once celebrated for weaving Feyli, a wraparound sarong distinguished by its brown and black bordered strands, worn by both men and women. That tradition is part of what sets this place apart from the resort islands most visitors to Baa Atoll never look beyond.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who've spent time here tend to mention the same thing: the ferry crossing from Dharavandhoo is worth doing slowly. Take the public Baa Atoll 1 from Malé on a Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday — the $3 fare and the 2.5-hour ride give you the atoll at sea level, which no flight ever does.
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Book directly at the providerHow Eydhafushi came to be
Eydhafushi's population is relatively recent by island standards. Settlers arrived gradually between the 17th and 19th centuries, and in 1968 the Maldivian government formally relocated residents from three nearby islands — Maaddoo, Funadhoo, and Undoodhoo — to Eydhafushi, consolidating communities in pursuit of better services and infrastructure.
The island's most concrete landmark in that modernising era is the Baa Atoll Education Centre, inaugurated on 24 February 1978 by Minister of Education Abdul Sattar Moosa Didi — the first government school the Maldives established outside of Malé. Masjid-al-Yoosuf, a mosque accommodating over 210 worshippers, also dates from the 1970s, and Baa Atoll Hospital now extends basic specialist care to the wider atoll population.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Landmark buildings
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
Temperatures barely shift across the year, sitting between 80°F and 88°F, but the island sees rain more than half its days annually — May and December are the wettest months. January and February are the driest and sunniest, making them the most comfortable window for time outdoors.
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.