Maldives eSIM – mobile data for your trip
Maldives

eSIM Maldives

The Maldives eSIM from 9,95€ 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.

Any eSIM iPhone or Android works
Hotspot works for other devices too
Add more data any time you need it
Money-back guarantee
Secure payment
1GB
Valid for 7 Days
12,44€ 9,95€
3GB
Valid for 30 Days
26,19€ 20,95€
Popular
5GB
Valid for 30 Days
41,19€ 32,95€

Your Selection

Maldives eSIM-
NetworkDhiraagu
Duration-
Total-

Your plan only starts counting when the eSIM first connects at your destination — so you can buy today and travel in three weeks.

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How does Simbye eSIM work for the Maldives?

Get connected in under 2 minutes

1

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.

2

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.

3

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.

Simbye eSIM
ID check
No registration, you buy the eSIM online
Online from when
Installed before departure, connected a minute or two after landing
Where you get it
From your email, wherever you happen to be
Payment
Online in your own currency
Local phone number
No, data only, no calls and no SMS
Your home number
Stays active as a second line, WhatsApp and bank SMS keep working
Topping up
Online any time, from the resort island too
Straight after landing
You are already online while the boat or seaplane waits
Local SIM card
ID check
Your passport has to be shown and registered, without a passport copy you get no card
Online from when
Only after buying it and registering your passport in the arrivals hall
Where you get it
At Velana International Airport or in Dhiraagu and Ooredoo shops
Payment
On the spot in US dollars or rufiyaa, sometimes cash only
Local phone number
Yes, a Maldivian number with the +960 dialling code
Your home number
With only one card slot it has to come out for the trip
Topping up
Credit from a shop or a local app, and resort islands have no shops
Straight after landing
Buying and registering on the spot costs time you often do not have before a transfer
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

Why roaming on your home plan gets expensive here

Almost every carrier files the Maldives under a distant roaming zone and bills it by day pass or by the megabyte, no matter which country your contract comes from. What that adds up to is usually only visible on the bill after the holiday.

On top of that, this is exactly where your usage goes up. Reef photos and videos want uploading, maps and transfer times get checked, and in the evening you call home. Resort WiFi usually copes, but every guest shares the same line, and it ends at the jetty. A prepaid data eSIM costs a fixed amount up front instead of an open-ended bill.

Where the network reaches, and where it does not

Coverage is best around the capital: Malé, Hulhumalé, Villimalé and the airport on Hulhulé are densely covered, as are Addu City in the south and Kulhudhuffushi in the north. In the atolls that matter for travellers, North and South Malé, Ari, Baa and Vaavu, the islands normally have stable 4G, including local islands such as Maafushi, Thoddoo, Ukulhas or Dhigurah.

We would rather tell you upfront where it ends: over open water between atolls, on sandbank trips and on dives far offshore the connection drops. On a seaplane you have nothing at all for twenty to forty-five minutes, on a speedboat you hold the signal longer and lose it in the open channels. At resorts far north or far south the network gets thinner the further you are from Malé. So anything you need en route is better downloaded in advance.

How much data do you need in the Maldives?

So you can work it out instead of guessing: how much an hour costs in the apps you actually use on holiday.

Just staying reachable

1–3 GB

Messages, the map now and then, checking mail. Everything else runs on the hotel Wi-Fi.

3 GB is plenty

An ordinary holiday

5–10 GB

Navigating, social media, uploading photos, a few videos in the evening.

5 GB is the safe choice

Out a lot, or a laptop along

20 GB and up

Streaming in the evening, video calls home, keeping a laptop or tablet online through your phone.

5 GB

Data used per hour

WhatsApp
around 30 MB per hour
on a call — messaging costs almost nothing
Google Maps
2–5 MB per hour
navigation without satellite view
Spotify
40–70 MB per hour
depending on the sound quality you set
Web and email
60–240 MB per hour
news sites, mail, searching
Instagram
400–600 MB per hour
scrolling the feed
TikTok
840 MB – 1 GB per hour
videos play back to back
YouTube
0.5 – 1.5 GB per hour
depending on picture quality
Netflix
up to 3 GB per hour
in HD. On "save data" around 170 MB

The Netflix and Spotify figures come from the providers themselves (Netflix Help Center, Spotify Support, retrieved 28 Aug 2026). The rest are network-operator estimates (o2, Vodafone, EE) and vary with picture quality and reception.

What does an eSIM for the Maldives cost?

Simbye offers 3 plans for the Maldives from €9,95 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.

Plan Validity Price Per travel day
1 GB 7 days €9,95 €1,42
3 GB 30 days €20,95 €0,69
5 GB 30 days €32,95 €1,09
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.