Question Maldives During Rainy Season

[CZM]

I'm considering a trip to Maldives May/June of 2026. I'll most likely dive central to northern atolls. I know this is the SW monsoon season, but am wondering what the conditions are like. Does it rain nonstop? Are the winds an issue? Is the visibility terrible? I would love to hear some feedback from divers who've dived during rainy season.

 

[Jay_Remi]

May is still acceptable, June can be tricky. Visibility starts getting bad, but Mantas are back. No, it doesn't rain non stop. Weather is actually quite fine. Just avoid July and August, which are really bad in the Maldives.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I'm considering a trip to Maldives May/June of 2026. I'll most likely dive central to northern atolls. I know this is the SW monsoon season, but am wondering what the conditions are like. Does it rain nonstop? Are the winds an issue? Is the visibility terrible? I would love to hear some feedback from divers who've dived during rainy season.

I was in Maldives for 20 days in May 2025. Only had two days of rain but several night few nights it rained as well. Rain was not an issue.

 

[Pearlman]

This is the start of LaNina cycle so expect lots of rain and I would ignore the reviews and experiences of last few years during the elNino cycle. Especially considering that one would be spending upwards of usd300 per day - any bad weather day that requires one to stay indoors in the hotel room is a huge waste of vacation time and money…

 

[CWK]

This is the start of LaNina cycle so expect lots of rain and I would ignore the reviews and experiences of last few years during the elNino cycle. Especially considering that one would be spending upwards of usd300 per day - any bad weather day that requires one to stay indoors in the hotel room is a huge waste of vacation time and money…

The Pacific La Nina began in December 2024 and is said to be weak. So I would expect slightly colder water temperatures in the eastern Pacific and warmer water in the western Pacific.

Maldives is in the Indian Ocean, where the system equivalent to the Pacific Ocean El Nino/La Nina is called the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Do you know how the Pacific Ocean dipole (El Nino/La Nina) influences the Indian Ocean Dipole?

 

[Pearlman]

The Pacific La Nina began in December 2024 and is said to be weak. So I would expect slightly colder water temperatures in the eastern Pacific and warmer water in the western Pacific.

Maldives is in the Indian Ocean, where the system equivalent to the Pacific Ocean El Nino/La Nina is called the Indian Ocean Dipole.

Do you know how the Pacific Ocean dipole (El Nino/La Nina) influences the Indian Ocean Dipole?

I don’t know the science, but I live here in south India and the monsoons are not just early this year, they are raging across the region… the general chatter around is that the South Indian Ocean region is going to see some heavy and incessant rains this year… I simply made a loose attribution of probable cause and effect.

 

[CamC]

Acknowledging the caveats that previous years' weather is no predictor for next year, I've been to Rasdhoo twice in recent years, once in December and once in June. The worst single day was actually in December, but otherwise most rain and thunderstorms happened overnight. June was quite noticeably wetter and windier during the day, on average, to the annoyance of my non-diving wife who had to sit in the bar some days instead of by the pool

This didn't ever stop the diving altogether, but it did limit what sites were available some days. Visibility underwater was noticeably poorer, darker skies combining with siltier waters to make the experience a good bit "greyer" than in December. There were definitely a lot more sharks and rays about in June, though, so swings and roundabouts.

Again, that's just my experience, and not statistically significant although I think it does represent the expected patterns. YMMV.

 

[alien8]

I had dinner last night with an instructor friend who runs a dive shop in the Maldives. They shut down the last 2 weeks of May and the first 2 weeks of June this year. He said the weather last week was not good - extremely windy and high currents and his team had reported this week was no better.

 

[cetacean]

I'm considering a trip to Maldives May/June of 2026. I'll most likely dive central to northern atolls. I know this is the SW monsoon season, but am wondering what the conditions are like. Does it rain nonstop? Are the winds an issue? Is the visibility terrible? I would love to hear some feedback from divers who've dived during rainy season.

Just got back from the Maldives (repeat visitor, always at this time of year due to school vacations)... weather in mid-June is usually pretty good. As others have said, later in the summer can get much worse (not just rain, but consistent wind).

I've been to the Baa atoll in July several times. The opportunities to dive with mantas is very high (this becomes a daily thing on some dive sites), but the visibility does drop somewhat significantly.

This was our second trip to the Laamu Atoll. Visibility inside the lagoon was still good, and outside was excellent, as long as you timed your diving on an incoming tide.