MapMaldivesSouth Ari Atoll (Alif Dhaal Atoll)Sun Island (Nalaguraidhoo)South Ari Atoll (Alif Dhaal Atoll)

Sun Island (Nalaguraidhoo)

South Ari Atoll (Alif Dhaal Atoll) · Maamigili

also known as Nalaguraidhoo, Villa Park Sun Island, Sun Island Resort & Spa

Part of South Ari Atoll (Alif Dhaal Atoll) →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlylow crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Jan, Feb, Mar, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Dec

Months riders and schools name

How windy

10-23 knots

Character: trade

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

28 °C in summerThe riding area is a protected resort lagoon with flat water and some chop when the wind is stronger

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Dec Jan Feb Mar

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Velana International Airport (MLE)

Transfer times under Getting there

On the clock

09:00 · 18:00

Monsoon-driven rather than thermal, so there is no dependable daily fill-in. A settled northeasterly can run through the night and be up at breakfast; wet-season gusts arrive with rain squalls rather than on a clock. In practice the riding window is set by the water sports centre's 09:00-18:00 hours, not by the wind.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Dhigurah14 km

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Fenfushino page yet
Dhidhoofinolhu / Diva Beach Resort / LUX South Ari Atollno page yet
Olhuvelino page yet
Kuredu

The spot

Sun Island, properly Nalaguraidhoo and now marketed as Villa Park Sun Island, is a resort island in South Ari Atoll with a working kite launch on the east beach by the Nautic watersports station.

Riding and seasons

Riding is mostly inside a warm lagoon: shallow and flat where you can stand, choppy once the wind builds, with reef and coral close enough that booties and a word with the centre are sensible. December to March is the best combination of wind and weather, and May to August also works; behind those months sit the wet southwest monsoon from mid-May to November and the dry northeast monsoon from January to March.

Resort experience

Expect a resort holiday with kiting in it rather than a kite town. The beach is normally empty and so is the water, which cuts both ways: skip it if you want wind every day or people to ride with.

Getting there

Getting there is a domestic flight to Maamigili plus a speedboat, or a seaplane, both arranged through the resort. The other reason people come is South Ari's marine life, with whale sharks in these waters year-round inside the South Ari Marine Protected Area, SAMPA.

The wind

locals call it Northeast monsoon (Iruvai) / Southwest monsoon (Hulhangu)

Direction

cross-onNortheastoffshorewind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

Cross-onshore at the east-beach launch by the water sports station when the northeast monsoon blows. The west, west-northwest and northwest directions also listed for this spot are offshore from that same beach, which puts a rider drifting away from the island across the lagoon; treat those days as boat-supported or find another launch.

Dominant direction

NE, W, WNW, NW

Kite sizes

7891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Plan big. The December-March northeasterly is quoted at 10-23 kt, which for a 75-85 kg rider makes a 12 m the everyday kite, a 9-10 m only at the top of that range, and a 15 m or a foil for the many days that sit near the bottom.The southwest-monsoon months are far less documented; treat 14-17 m as the working size there unless local practice proves otherwise.What the centre stocks, if anything, is unconfirmed, so an independent rider should travel with the light-wind end covered.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Typical strength

10-23 knots in the December-March period; exact typical range for May-August unconfirmed.

December-March is mainly sunny with very consistent wind. Rainy-season winds can be stronger, but Maldives winds are normally light. The wetter southwest monsoon brings more rainfall than the northeast monsoon.

The southwest monsoon wet season normally runs mid-May to November and the northeast monsoon dry season January to March, with December and April as transition months. The months that come up as best for this spot are January-March, May-August and December, and the best combination of wind and weather is December-March.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

10 ktJan28°
9 ktFeb28°
7 ktMar29°
7 ktApr29°
10 ktMay29°
11 ktJun29°
10 ktJul29°
9 ktAug29°
10 ktSep29°
10 ktOct28°
8 ktNov28°
9 ktDec28°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec).

Measured at Male, Maldives, ~89 km from the spot (multi-decade reanalysis-based climate normals (not a single discrete observing station/year range)).

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	10 kt	E	28.3 °C	28.3 °C
Feb	8.7 kt	E	28.3 °C	28.3 °C
Mar	6.5 kt	E	28.9 °C	28.9 °C
Apr	6.9 kt	W	29.4 °C	29.4 °C
May	10.4 kt	W	29.4 °C	29.4 °C
Jun	10.9 kt	W	28.9 °C	28.9 °C
Jul	9.7 kt	W	28.9 °C	28.9 °C
Aug	9.2 kt	W	28.3 °C	28.9 °C
Sep	10.1 kt	W	28.3 °C	28.9 °C
Oct	9.8 kt	W	28.3 °C	28.3 °C
Nov	8 kt	W	28.3 °C	28.3 °C
Dec	8.9 kt	E	28.3 °C	28.3 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · multi-decade reanalysis-based climate normals (not a single discrete observing station/year range)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

A station this far away — often inland or at an airport — can understate accelerated local wind. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Male, Maldives · Weather Spark · multi-decade reanalysis-based climate normals (not a single discrete observing station/year range)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

A large shallow lagoon where you can stand across much of the riding area, with sections going very shallow at low tide - shallow enough to catch a fin - while the water in front of the water sports station stays deep enough to sail.Exact depths are unpublished, so walk the intended riding line at low water before the first session.

Tides

Tide independent in practice. The water in front of the nautical centre reportedly stays deep enough to sail, while parts of the lagoon reportedly go very shallow at low tide.

Temperature

28 °C summer · 28 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 28–29 °C

Wetsuit

Boardshorts or bikini year-round; rash guard useful for sun protection.

Conditions

The riding area is a protected resort lagoon with flat water and some chop when the wind is stronger.

Reefs and coral are present around the island, with a larger reef at the south side/end of the atoll.

Conditions are warm and humid year-round, with water around 28 °C.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Rated for beginner, intermediate and expert, with shallow water that runs from flat to choppy and rescue, toilets, shower and food reportedly on site. Beginners still need someone watching, because reefs and coral, swimmers, jet skis and low-tide shallows are all documented here.

The scene

What riders come here for

freerideflat waterresort holidaywarm-water cruising

Who it suitsbeginner

Private resort-island setting with general leisure guests rather than a dedicated kite-town scene; the beach and water are normally very empty.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

1 school names this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Dhigurah14 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

+960 668 0088

Rescue — full text1 min read

Rescue comes from the resort water sports centre rather than any public service, and no procedure, boat or fee is published.

The centre is open 09:00-18:00 and reachable on +960 668 0088; outside those hours there is no cover at all, which matters more here because the listed west and northwest wind directions blow offshore from the launch beach.

Independent boat-assist pricing is unconfirmed.

Launch

The launch is on the east beach of Sun Island by the Nautic watersports station, white sand with room to launch and land. The beach itself is small and usually empty.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

west and northwest winds blow offshore from the east-beach launch

Crowds and zones

boat/ferry traffic around resort jetty
swimmers
jet skis and other resort watersports traffic
boat and transfer traffic around resort jetties
whale-shark and manta excursion boats working the south side of the atoll

Bottom

coral and reefs around the island
large reef not far from the riding area for riders who cannot stay upwind

Waves and currents

very shallow areas at low tide

Protected areas and rules

coral reef close to the lagoon edge

Other

no water sports or rescue cover before 09:00 or after 18:00

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: kitesurfing sits inside the resort water sports operation, run by QAdventure, which opens 09:00-18:00 (+960 668 0088, info@qadventure.com.mv). No kite-specific permit, launch zoning or seasonal ban was found for Nalaguraidhoo.

The South Ari Marine Protected Area, protected since 5 June 2009 as a habitat and species management area, covers the whale-shark waters on this side of the atoll, and vessels operating inside it must register with the Environmental Protection Agency; whether the resort lagoon falls inside that boundary is unconfirmed. The SAMPA hotline is 7448300.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Check in at the watersports station before you rig; swimmers, jet skis and resort boat movements share the same lagoon.
Bring reef shoes for walking back upwind or riding near the shallow coral.
Ride the northeast monsoon if you want the wind pushing you back to the east beach; west and northwest days put that launch on the offshore side.
Keep sessions inside 09:00-18:00, because outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
Bring the light-wind end of your quiver: a 15 m or a foil will see more use here than a 9 m.
Confirm how kite bags travel before you book the seaplane or the domestic flight; gear can follow separately by boat when the aircraft is full.

Getting there

Airport

Velana International Airport (MLE), then Villa International Airport Maamigili (VAM) for the domestic-flight route

Route

From Velana International Airport it is either a 17-minute domestic flight followed by a 10-minute speedboat, or a 35-minute seaplane. Transfers booked in advance are handled at the Villa Park counter A07 in the Male arrivals hall.

Transfer

27 minutes by domestic flight plus speedboat, or 35 minutes by seaplane, excluding airport connection/waiting time

Cost level

high

Staying

Villa Park Sun Island is the on-island resort, with 462 rooms; the former name was Sun Island Resort & Spa.

No-wind days

snorkeling · diving · whale shark excursions · SUP · sailing · jet ski rides and tours · parasailing · wakeboarding · spa · fitness and racket sports

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Sun Island?

The best combination of wind and weather is December to March, with May to August also listed as good; overall best months span January-March, May-October and December.

Is Sun Island suitable for beginners?

Yes, it is listed for beginner, intermediate and expert riders in the shallow lagoon, though local supervision is still needed because of reef, coral, swimmers and jet skis.

What is the wind like at Sun Island?

Wind typically runs 10-23 knots in the December-March period, described as mainly sunny with consistent trade wind, though rainy-season winds can be stronger.

Are there kite schools at Sun Island?

The onsite QAdventure/Villa Park watersports station serves the resort, and Kite and Dive Village Fenfushi is a nearby local-island operator of unverified current status.

What are the hazards at Sun Island?

Coral reef sits close to the lagoon edge, some areas get very shallow at low tide, and the lagoon is shared with swimmers, jet skis and resort boat traffic.

The bigger pictureEverything about South Ari Atoll (Alif Dhaal Atoll)

Last updated: August 2026