Maldives is where sands are white as the smiles of the locals, where fish swim happily in the warm water of Indian Ocean, where the water is a dream and the sunsets are unbelievably beautiful.
Considered a long time one of the most expensive destinations in the world, nowadays became more affordable place to visit. Since you´re not going with the expectation of luxury resorts, but simple hotels on the local islands, you might spend only 1000-1100 eur/ person.
Here are some advices of how to travel on a budget in Maldives:
- Plan ahead and buy tickets well in advance, so you can get the best deals. I bought the tickets in September for round trip in March (6 months later) and it cost 530 eur with stopover in London. From London to Male, 10 h direct flight. The best website to search for the flights – www.skyscanner.com . For many years I book all flights through this site as it is easy to check and purchase the tickets;
- From the airport, you would need to take a ferry to Male Island from the ferry terminal, which is located near the Domestic Terminal. The ferry ride costs only 1 USD and takes 10 minutes (you can purchase the tickets there);
- As soon as you arrive in Male, take a taxi to the public ferry pier – take around 10 minute to get there and cost aprox 2 USD. You can check the ferry timetables here: https://www.atolltransfer.com/309-male-city-guraidhu . There are no crossings on Mondays and Fridays, so if you arrive in Male one of those days, you will have to stay overnight on the island;
- Choose the island where you want to stay, or make a combo of several islands. We chose to stay on 3 islands: Gulhi, Guraidhoo, Maafushi – as these are the easiest to get by public ferry (same Atoll). We did in the following way: 1st was Gulhi (3 nights), 2nd – Guraidhoo (2 nights), 3rd – Maafushi (2 nights), but the best route would be Male – Gulhi – Maafushi – Guraidhoo – Male (you can check the map with the locations of the islands).
- Hotels – there are cheap options (30-40 eur/night) and more expensive/better (100-150 eur / night): in Gulhi we stayed in Gulhi Beach Villa – in front of the beach and close to the port where the ferries stops, but I would not recommend this hotel, despite very friendly and helpful staff, the hotel wasn´t great, it smelled bad and nearby generator was very noisy at night.
- In Guraidhoo – we´ve stayed at Luxury Beach Maldives – a new construction, beachfront hotel, nothing to complain, really nice hotel with beautiful views.
- In Maafushi – Arena Beach Hotel – one of the best on the island, also I suggest Kaani Grand Seaview and Kaani Beach Hotel which looks very nice and comfortable, with great view for the ocean and near Bikini Beach. You can check at www.booking.com various hotels on each island and choose your own.
- Outdoor pool – none of the hotels mentioned above has an outdoor or indoor pool, but there are hotels with indoor swimming pools, it is a matter of searching better in Booking.com. Due to being a Muslim country, the swiming pool can´t be visible and reachable for the locals (we´re talking about the local islands, not the islands resorts where it´s permitted).
- Beach – each local island has a beach area reserved for the tourists, called Bikini Beach, where is allowed to wear bikini and swim, snorkel and so on. In other areas of the island, swimming is not allowed.
- Eating options – there are plenty of local restaurants and hotel restaurants. Although traditional food is a bit spicy, there are options of pizzas and hamburgers anywhere. There are also mini-markets, where you can stock up on water and snacks.
- Excursions – there are many options in Maafushi island, as it is the biggest island of the 3 mentioned. All excursions are related to water activities (snorkeling, sand bank, night fishing, dolphin watching and etc). We did three: Snorkeling with private guide – tour taken at our hotel in Guraidhoo, Day Pass to Resort (more details in the following point) – tour acquired at our hotel in Guraidhoo; Sand bank (is a landfrom consisiting of a sandbar in the middle of the ocean, with nothing and no one close by) – tour purchased at our hotel in Maafushi.
Resort Day Pass – is an option to spend a full day at a luxury resort, with lunch and drinks included, access to the swimming pools, transportation to and from resort island. Price approx 70-120 USD/person, depending on the chosen resort.
Things to bring with yourself: sunscreen (the sun in Maldives is very hot!); camera ( to take a spectacular photos of sunrise and sunset – the most beautiful I’ve ever seen); diving slippers (it is easy to hurt your feet if you step on a coral); money in local currency – Maldives rupee, although they accept dollars and euros, sometimes the Exchange could be less favourable for the tourists.
You just need a good mood, a spirit of adventure and you will surely love the Maldives, its beaches with crystal clear waters, full of marine life waiting for you as soon as you dive in. The sympathy of the locals, tasty seafood, perfect ocean water temperature – all that makes this destination easy to fall in love!
Have a nice stay in Maldives! 😉
Check our my video blob from Maldives here: https://travelwithanny.com/maldives-2/
Your sincerely,
Anny
