eSIM Maldives
The Maldives eSIM from 8,95€ runs on Dhiraagu with 1 to 5 GB for 7 to 30 days, prepaid without a contract or registration, so you are online right after landing at Velana International Airport in Malé.
Your Selection
Your plan only starts counting when the eSIM first connects at your destination — so you can buy today and travel in three weeks.
How does Simbye eSIM work for the Maldives?
Set it up before you fly
After the purchase you get an email with a link and a QR code. Install the eSIM calmly at home over WiFi. It then waits in your phone until you arrive and starts nothing by itself.
Switch it on after landing
Whether you land at Velana International Airport in Malé, at Gan in the south, at Hanimaadhoo in the north or at Maafaru: flight mode off, data roaming on for the eSIM line. Within a minute or two you are on Dhiraagu, before you even reach the transfer desk.
Runs until the data or the validity ends
Validity starts with that first connection. Hotspot is allowed, laptop and tablet can share. When the data runs low you top up online, from the resort island as well.
Check Device Compatibility
Make sure your device supports eSIM before purchasing
Which networks will you be on in the Maldives?
Your Maldives eSIM runs on Dhiraagu Maldives, one of the country's two mobile networks.
| Dhiraagu Maldives |
|---|
There is nothing to choose. As soon as you land in the Maldives and data roaming is switched on for the eSIM line, your phone connects to Dhiraagu on its own, usually within a minute or two. You do not need to enter an APN. If nothing happens after a few minutes, turn flight mode on and off once, or pick the network by hand in your settings.
Dhiraagu reaches virtually all inhabited islands and the resorts. The network is densest around the capital: Malé, Hulhumalé, Villimalé and Velana International Airport on Hulhulé are well served, as are Addu City in the far south and Kulhudhuffushi in the north. In the central atolls – North and South Malé Atoll, Ari, Baa, Vaavu – you normally get stable 4G on the islands themselves. It thins out over open water between atolls, on uninhabited sandbanks and at resorts far north or far south. On a seaplane you have no signal at all in the air, and on a speedboat you lose it in the open channels and get it back as your atoll comes closer.
eSIM or a local SIM card in the Maldives?
Go with the eSIM in the Maldives: you are online while the boat or seaplane is already waiting, instead of registering your passport at a counter in Velana's arrivals hall — and resort islands have no shop for topping up.
| Feature |  Simbye eSIM |
Local SIM card |
|---|---|---|
| ID check | No registration, you buy the eSIM online | Your passport has to be shown and registered, without a passport copy you get no card |
| Online from when | Installed before departure, connected a minute or two after landing | Only after buying it and registering your passport in the arrivals hall |
| Where you get it | From your email, wherever you happen to be | At Velana International Airport or in Dhiraagu and Ooredoo shops |
| Payment | Online in your own currency | On the spot in US dollars or rufiyaa, sometimes cash only |
| Local phone number | No, data only, no calls and no SMS | Yes, a Maldivian number with the +960 dialling code |
| Your home number | Stays active as a second line, WhatsApp and bank SMS keep working | With only one card slot it has to come out for the trip |
| Topping up | Online any time, from the resort island too | Credit from a shop or a local app, and resort islands have no shops |
| Straight after landing | You are already online while the boat or seaplane waits | Buying and registering on the spot costs time you often do not have before a transfer |
For most travelers the eSIM is the simpler choice: set up before departure, no queuing on arrival.
How much data do you need in the Maldives?
Trip length
How you use your phone
What does an eSIM for the Maldives cost?
from 8,95€
3 plans · 7–30 days
Simbye offers 3 plans for the Maldives from 8,95€ to 32,95€ — prepaid, no contract.
Plans for the Maldives range from 1 GB to 5 GB.
Validity runs from 7 to 30 days and starts with your first connection in the Maldives.
Data plans
- 1 GB 7 days 8,95€ 1,27€ per travel day
- 3 GB 30 days 19,95€ 0,66€ per travel day
- 5 GB 30 days 32,95€ 1,09€ per travel day
Good to know
- Networks
- Dhiraagu Maldives
- Setting it up
- A link in your email, or the QR code — one tap is enough
- Network technology
- 4G/LTE — and 5G where the network already offers it
- APN and settings
- Nothing to set. The eSIM brings everything with it
- Hotspot
- Allowed — for a laptop, tablet or a travel companion
- Adding more data
- Top up any time, without setting anything up again
- Calls and texts
- Not included — WhatsApp calls run over the data
- Your own number
- Stays in the phone and stays reachable
- Contract
- None. The plan ends by itself
- Worth knowing
- Roaming on your home contract gets billed here — this eSIM is prepaid, so nothing is added afterwards
Frequently Asked Questions about Maldives eSIM
Data, calls, real phone numbers, top-ups and setup — everything you need to know before you buy a Simbye eSIM.
You buy an eSIM for the Maldives online, right here on this page. It arrives by email, you install it before you fly, and once you land it connects to Dhiraagu by itself. Nothing has to be collected or registered in Malé.
You may still need an eSIM for the Maldives because resort WiFi ends at the jetty. On the transfer boat, on excursions, in Malé and while island hopping you would be offline. In the evening every guest also shares the same line.
No, this eSIM doesn't give you a Maldivian phone number — it is data only, so no calls or SMS over the network. WhatsApp and video calls work because they run over the data connection, but SMS verification codes will not reach this eSIM. Set up those accounts while your home number is still reachable.
No, you don't have to register your passport in the Maldives. The registration rule applies to local prepaid cards from Dhiraagu and Ooredoo. You buy your eSIM online and use it as a guest on the network.
You won't have signal on the seaplane, and usually not over open water between atolls either. Download transfer documents, boarding passes and maps beforehand.
The eSIM works on most resort islands: coverage reaches the inhabited islands and most resorts in North and South Malé Atoll and in Ari, Baa and Vaavu. The further north or south your resort sits, the thinner it gets.
Yes, an eSIM for the Maldives is a travel data plan that registers automatically on local networks once you land in Malé. You do not need to visit a shop or hold a local address. Any unlocked eSIM-capable phone works, and coverage follows the inhabited islands, the airport and most resort atolls, including the boat routes in between.
An eSIM for the Maldives starts at 8,95€; the exact cost depends on the data amount and validity you choose, and the price table above on this page shows every plan and its exact amount. You pay once and nothing renews automatically. A small plan often covers it, because resorts have WiFi and the data is mainly for messaging, maps and uploads.
How much data you need for the Maldives depends on your resort's Wi-Fi: the eSIM mainly covers transfers, boat trips and island days, and 1-2 GB is often enough for a week of maps and messaging. Sending photos and short clips every day takes you nearer 5 GB. Video calls and hotspot use more, and on the seaplane there is no signal at all.
Which eSIM is best for the Maldives depends on which islands you're headed to. This eSIM runs on Dhiraagu, which reaches the resorts and inhabited islands, while open water between atolls and remote sandbanks stay patchy for everyone. Then it is the data size and how many days you stay. It is data only, with no Maldivian number, so it is for maps, messaging and photos.
Ready for the Maldives?
Pick a plan, tap the link in your email — you are online from the moment you land.
Choose a planPrepaid, no contract. The plan simply ends on its own.
