Alcohol and bathing suits are illegal in public places

This is what you need to know before visiting the Maldives. Because the Maldives is a Muslim country, there are important and tightly enforced restrictions that you are likely to be ignorant of. For example, there is no alcohol available in cities or towns; most orthodox Muslims are not even permitted to touch anything containing alcohol. Alcohol is typically forbidden under Islamic law, and it is only permitted in resorts in the Maldives. Because Islamic law encourages modesty in clothes, naked or topless sunbathing is illegal anywhere in the Maldives, including on resort islands.

Homosexuality is likewise frowned upon and prohibited in the country. In towns and cities, women are not permitted to wear swimming suits or anything with excessive cleavage (that is, nothing that displays elbows, shoulders, or knees). Remember to dress appropriately when visiting the Maldives. If you simply want to stay in hotels in Male or other inhabited islands, you should be prepared to follow these laws at all times. The story is very different if you are on a tourist island.