SHOPPING

Male is the best place for shopping if you are interested in buying imported goods. Most of the shops that specialize in tourists do sell a lot of local handicrafts and souvenirs. It is always best to browse through some shops before making a choice. The shops that are recommended by guides or shop assistants volunteering to be guides are not necessarily the best places for shopping.

Duty Free If you are looking for duty free shops, there are some located at the Male International Airport. They offer a pretty good range of goods from cameras, cosmetics, electrical and electronic equipment, cigarettes and other merchandise.

Souvenirs It is not difficult to find your way around Male, especially if you carry a map with you. After all it is only two square kilometres. The main street Majeedhee Magu, runs right across the island from east to west. Chaandhanee Magu on the other hand runs from north to south. Most souvenir shops line the northern end of Chaandanee Magu, earlier known as the Singapore Bazaar for its many imports from Singapore. Guides and vendors speaking in English and other foreign languages patiently wait to serve the visitors. These shops are stocked with an ample supply of gifts and souvenir items. Best buys include the 'thudu kuna' the Maldivian mat woven with local natural fibres. Attractive too are the wooden miniature 'dhonis'. When shopping for souvenirs, do keep in mind that export of products made of turtle shell, black coral, pearl oyster shell and red coral is prohibited. 

Garments to electronics Shopping is the favourite activity for the locals especially in the evenings, when it is cooler. The Majeedhee Magu, which is the main road on the island, has along its sides various shops selling goods from the smallest commodities to virtually everything you could think of. The shops are well stocked with garments, perfumes and cosmetics, jewellery, watches or electronics, to name just a few. Many find it a pleasant experience to join the throngs of shoppers on the main shopping streets in the evenings. All shops are open until 11.00 in the night, except for prayer times, when they are closed for 15 minutes.  

Fish Products Canned fish produced at the canning plant in Felivaru, Lhaviyani Atoll is available in a number of shops in Male. Tuna used for canning are caught by the traditional pole and line method, as are all fish caught in the Maldives, and therefore are 'dolphin friendly'. Vacuum packed smoked fish and chipped dried fish are also available in many super markets around Male. These genuine Maldivian products would make excellent gifts for a friend.  Or just take some home and try them out yourself.

The Local Market, just a block away from the Male Fish Market on the northern waterfront, is divided into small stalls. Here the pace is slower and the atmosphere peaceful, compared to the hectic activity in the rest of this neighbourhood. Each stall is filled with a variety of local produce mainly from the atolls. Here you will find different kinds of local vegetables, fruits and yams, packets of sweetmeat, nuts and breadfruit chips, bottles of home made sweets and pickles and bunches of bananas hanging on coir ropes from ceiling beams. Another building just next door sells smoked and dried fish.

Handicrafts Traditional Maldivian handicraft includes mat weaving, embroidery for traditional dresses, coir making and lacquer work.

Each of these skills is usually confined to certain atolls or islands:

The island Gadhdhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll is renown for its fine hand-woven mats made of dried hau (=rushes) used for prayer mats and decoration.

The finest lacquer work is said to be found on Thulaadhoo, in Baa Atoll. Wooden pots, boxes and vases of all shapes and sizes display beautiful abstract patterns in red, black and yellow.

Ribudhoo in Dhaalu Atoll is famous for its goldsmiths while Hulhudeli in the same Atoll is well known for its silversmiths.

NOTE: The arrival of Tourism has increased the collection and sale of "sea jewellery", such as coral, mother-of-pearl, black coral, seashell and turtle-shell. Due to their endangered status and environmental considerations sea turtle and black coral products have been made illegal for export.

Other than that shopping in the Maldives is a pretty mundane experience. After all it's the sea and its treasure most folk are after, not materialistic paraphernalia.