After the reopening of borders in July 2020, Dhangethi is now open for tourists of all nationalities.

Dhangethi is an island located in Alif Dhaal (South Ari) atoll in the Maldives. Though it may be modest in size with a population of a little over thousand people, it offers beauty and a variety of leisure activities for tourists to partake in. From snorkeling and diving, to kite surfing and wind surfing, to excursions on private sandbanks and island hopping - these are just some of the things visitors can experience. Dhangethi is also near a famous whale shark point - coral reef next to Maamigili - which is one of the main reasons to visit. 

In a Twitter statement made by the Minister of Tourism Honorable Dr. Mausoom Abdulla yesterday, he congratulated Dhangethi on the reopening, and highlighted the importance of experiencing local culture in Maldives. 

With the reopening of several guesthouse islands, local culture and tourism are expected to pick up in the coming days. The Ministry of Tourism, together with Visit Maldives and other industry stakeholders, have made it a goal to promote the guesthouse segment, especially during 2021. This will hopefully have a lot of positive impact, more specifically on the local working force, and the maintenance and conservation of culture and heritage in the destination.

Before traveling to Maldives, there are a few things to be kept in mind. Firstly, an online health declaration form is to be filled within 24 hours prior to departure to Maldives. Secondly, a negative COVID-19 PCR test is required conducted 96 hours prior to departure to Maldives

While resorts and liveaboards reopened on 15th July, guesthouses were only given the go ahead to reopen for tourists from 15th October onwards. All guesthouses are in line with the safe tourism guidelines as per the Ministry of Tourism and the local Health Protection Agency. Wearing masks is mandatory in public places for locals as well as tourists at all tourist guesthouse islands. Tourists are not allowed to enter or stay in residential houses, but they are allowed to use public cafes, restaurants and shops which follow the COVID-19 preventative measures.

Further to this, all tourists are encouraged to use the contact tracing app “TraceEkee” and if in isolation/quarantine, they are required to register on “Haalu Belun” portal.

“Split-stay” is allowed between all tourist establishments with prior approval taken from the Ministry of Tourism. However, tourists are not allowed to travel from a tourist guesthouse island to a non-tourist guesthouse island.