White pebbles
Smooth, shiny, one of a kind.
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A white beach at the northern tip of Fuvahmulah, in Dhadimagu ward, and one of the island's best-known sights: hundreds of people come every day, and more on local festive occasions. The Maldivian government declared it a protected area on 12 June 2012. What sets Thoondu apart is its sand of small, round white pebbles, unusually smooth and shiny, found in the Maldives only on Fuvahmulah. In many years a phenomenon the islanders call Bissaaveli forms here: part of the beach shifts towards the reef edge and traps a shallow lagoon, which, when fully formed, becomes a natural pool where locals swim and gather by the hundreds to watch. Fuvahmulah is a single island that forms an atoll of its own, about 494 kilometres south of Malé, with no lagoon to shelter it, so ocean swells reach its shores directly. The waves at Thoondu can be strong, so swim only on calm days, or in the Bissaaveli pool when it forms. On 28 October 2020 UNESCO declared Fuvahmulah a biosphere reserve. The beach is free and always open, and it is loveliest in the late afternoon and at sunset. Fuvahmulah is reached by domestic flights from Malé to the island's airport, opened in 2011, then by car or bike to the northern tip. It is a protected area, so leave it as clean as you found it.
Smooth, shiny, one of a kind.
A natural pool in some years.
The beach's finest hour.
Northern tip of Fuvahmulah, Dhadimagu ward
Its sand is made of small, smooth, shiny white pebbles found in the Maldives only on Fuvahmulah, and in many years the shallow Bissaaveli lagoon forms here as a natural swimming pool.
Only on calm days, because Fuvahmulah has no sheltering lagoon and ocean swells reach the beach directly. When the Bissaaveli pool forms, locals swim there.