Maafushi Bikini Beach

Maafushi is where Maldives guesthouse tourism started, and its bikini beach is the single most-used piece of public sand in the country. The island is about twenty-eight kilometres from Velana and reached by public ferry or speedboat, which is why it costs a fraction of a resort island.

The designated beach is screened from the rest of the island, which is the arrangement that makes the whole thing work: swimwear here, covered elsewhere.

It is busy and it is not pristine, and both of those are the point. This is what the Maldives looks like when a reader is paying for it themselves rather than buying an island.