Malé (Maldives) weather in March

March in Malé: sweltering, rainy, with muggy air — fine if you can take 37°C afternoons.

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Malé🇲🇻 Maldives · Sri Lanka & the Maldives · Island85
  1. 80Jan
  2. 88Feb
  3. 85Mar
  4. 83Apr
  5. 67May
  6. 84Jun
  7. 79Jul
  8. 80Aug
  9. 78Sep
  10. 75Oct
  11. 69Nov
  12. 75Dec

#2 of 12 months in Malé · #334 of 1413 destinations to visit in March · comfort 85/100 (tier A)

Days
32°C
Nights
27°C
Wet days
10
Sun
10.9 h
Humidity
77%
Daylight
12 h
Malé, Maldives
Photo: Asad Photo Maldives · Pexels

What March is like in Malé

Dry and hot, still calm, with the season starting to soften towards the end of the month.

peak

confidence: high

Traveller notes on Malé in March

March is traditionally the most settled month of the Maldives year, and the forum's regulars recommend January to March as the block - calm breezes, calm sea, and the best snorkelling visibility of the year, with the caveat that visibility swings on tide, weather and which side of the atoll you are on. They are careful not to promise no rain: one poster's six March trips produced a storm on arrival that cleared, a pre-dawn thunderstorm and one five-minute squall across all of them, with the rest blue. The cost of the settled months is the obvious one - this is the most expensive and busiest stretch of the year. The record: 32C days that feel like 37C, 27C nights, 9.8 precipitation days, 10.9 hours of sun and a 29C sea.
AtollFlatCalm · March · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Other months in Malé

Regulars are specific that the southwest monsoon driving this month's rain hits the southern atolls noticeably harder than the northern ones, southern islands averaging roughly 2,300mm of rain a year against about 1,800mm in the north - a real factor when picking which atoll to book. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 31.4C reading as a hot 36C, over 26.5C nights, with a substantial 148mm of rain across 16.8 days and humidity at 80 percent. Regulars are consistent rain here tends to arrive in short, intense bursts rather than all-day downpours, often concentrated overnight, and that this counts among the cheapest months to visit precisely because of the rainy reputation. The sea sits at a bath-warm 29.7C regardless of atoll. The record: 10 hours of sun, a 22.7 kph wind and one of the cleanest air readings in this project, AQI 25.
SouthGetsMoreRainThanNorthSameMonsoon · July · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Regulars are clear this sits inside the dry season, past the unsettled wet-to-dry transition that wraps up in December, but is far from a calm month - genuinely windy, especially around the central atolls near Male, sometimes enough to churn up choppy seas and reduce underwater visibility. Our row backs a warm, still fairly wet read for a nominal dry-season month, 31C over 26.1C nights, with 135.9mm of rain across 11.4 days and a real 23.4 kph wind. Regulars note wind levels vary meaningfully by atoll, with the central atolls and the first half of February typically windier than other parts of the archipelago. The sea holds a warm 27.8C regardless. The record: humidity 78 percent, 10.2 hours of sun and AQI 62.
SunnyButWindyEspeciallyCentralAtolls · January · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Maldives-forum threads on typical April weather describe a month balanced right on the seasonal hinge: certainly hot and humid at least part of the time, with some rain likely at some point, since the end of April marks the changeover from the dry monsoon to the wet one - a shift nobody can predict the exact timing of, though it more often lands later in April or slips into May. Experiences reported directly split along that line: some visitors get hot, clear days with great visibility straight through mid-April, others get predominantly sunny stretches with occasional showers that never last long. The consistent advice is that early April runs more reliable than late April. The record: 32.4C days feeling like a sticky 39C, 27.3C nights, 97mm across 14.6 days, a 30.9C sea, 79 percent humidity and 11 hours of sun - already leaning toward the wetter half of the changeover.
MonsoonChangeoverWatcher · April · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
June sits inside the Maldives' south-west monsoon, which runs from about May to November and is the wetter and windier of the two. The forum's arithmetic is more useful than the label: across any fortnight expect roughly five wet and windy days, with the rest moderately windy and the odd shower, and rain that might be five minutes, an afternoon, or the whole day. Our row gives 15.6 precipitation days carrying 80.8mm and a 24.1 kph wind. Two things they add. The weather is local enough that you can sit in sunshine watching a neighbouring island get drenched; and the pattern usually gives a long break somewhere in June before July and August turn properly bad. The record: 31.7C days that feel like 36C, 27C nights and a 29.6C sea.
TheBreakComesInJune · June · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

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Malé climate normals — March

Daytime high32°C / 90°F🔥 sweltering
Nighttime low27°C / 81°F
Feels like (high)37°C / 99°F
Sea temperature29°C / 84°F♨️ bath-warm
Rainfall87 mm / 3.4 in🌧 rainy
Rainy days10 days
Humidity77%💦 very humid
Dew point25°C / 77°F
Sunshine10.9 h/day
Daylight12.1 h
Wind17 km/h / 11 mph
Air quality (US AQI)52🙂 moderate

Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.

Crowds in Malé in March

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Peak crowdsthe editor's peak month, Eid al-Fitr, Iruvai, the dry monsoon

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Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Best months for Malé's weather

Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).

Best weatherMalé's best weather comes in February, March and June — separate windows, not one continuous season.

March includes Whale sharks in South Ari.

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Best weatherFair weatherToughest weather

What's on in Malé in March

Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.

  • Nature

    Whale sharks in South Ari

    1 Jan – 31 Dec · usuallyDive season

    The juveniles off Maamigili are the one aggregation in the country that holds all year, which is why the day boats run out of Male in any month. Sightings thin when the southwest swell is up. Source ↗

  • Rule

    Ramadan

    17 Feb – 19 MarClosures

    On Male and the other inhabited islands cafes close during daylight and alcohol rules tighten further. Resort islands run as normal, which is the difference that matters here. Source ↗

  • Season

    Surf season on the eastern reefs

    1 Mar – 31 Oct · usually

    The southwest monsoon swell lights up the breaks on the eastern side of the atolls, best from June to August, which is exactly when everything else is cheapest.

  • Holiday

    Eid al-Fitr

    19–21 MarRamadan & EidCrowdedClosures

    Several days of public holiday. Domestic ferries and seaplane slots go to Maldivians travelling home, so transfers are the thing to lock in early. Source ↗

  • Season

    Iruvai, the dry monsoon

    1 Dec – 30 AprCrowded

    The northeast monsoon brings flat water, light wind and the clearest underwater visibility of the year. It is also when the whole country charges its highest rates.

What's on around the world in March →

Where is Malé?

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Malé in March — FAQ

Is March a good time to visit Malé?
March in Malé: sweltering, rainy, with muggy air — fine if you can take 37°C afternoons. It ranks #2 of 12 months for Malé on SeasonMap's comfort score (85/100).
What is the weather like in Malé in March?
In March, Malé averages a daily high of 32°C and a low of 27°C, with about 86.6 mm of rain over roughly 9.8 rainy days.
What is the air quality in Malé in March?
Malé has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 52 in March.