HOW TO TRAVEL TO THE MALDIVES ON A BUDGET

Did you now that it is possible to travel to the Maldives on a budget? No need for expensive travel agents nor overpriced package holidays. You can easily go independently and have the time of your life for way less than you would imagine. Just as you would travel to Zanzibar on a budget or have a wonderful time by the beach in Kenya or Cape Verde.

I have recently been to the Maldives myself and loved it. So I have prepared this blog post to help you organise your own amazing budget trip to the Maldives. The ultimate dream beach holiday awaits, let’s go!

Things to know before traveling to the Maldives on a budget

Geography

The Maldives is a sovereign country in the Indian Ocean, 450km south of India. Over 90% of the Maldives territory is underwater. It has an average hight of just 1.5 metres above sea level, which makes it the world’s lowest country. Consequently, the Maldives are the country in a highest risk of disappearing due to climate change. Go visit before it’s too late!

The country spreads over 1,200 islands grouped into atolls. There are over 800 kilometres between the northernmost and southernmost islands. Not all of the islands are inhabited nor can be visited by tourists. Yet, the Maldives is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, especially its capital city Male.

From all the islands, about 80 are local and mostly inhabited by Maldivian people. Most of them are so tiny they can be walked in less than 10 minutes. Many other islands are exclusively occupied by single luxury resorts, and all others are virgin islands.

In the Maldives the sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm so sunset activities are a must. Temperatures stick around 30 degrees all year round, even deep under its tropical waters. No wonder this is a diving and water sports paradise.

Culture

Each and everyone of its 500,000 inhabitants are muslim. That is because islam is the official religion of the country and open practise of any other religions is forbidden. Friday is the weekend and everything closes on this day. Thus, Friday will be the worst and most expensive day to travel between islands. Same-sex relationships are considered illegal and you are generally advised to not show affection in public.

Additionally, alcohol and pork meat are banned and decent dressing covering up to your knees and shoulders is required. Don’t worry, there are some exceptions and you’ll be able to get that tan. I’ll tell you all about these very soon. Just keep this in mind when planing to travel to the Maldives on a budget.

The two Maldives: Resorts vs Local Islands

Up until the 1970s there were no hotels in the Maldives. Foreigners just had no way of visiting the country. Unreal, right? Back in the day, the first accommodation facilities to open up were those you are thinking of. Luxury resorts with mesmerising water villas and fancy beach bungalows born to become a dream honeymoon destinations for wealthy westerns.

It wasn’t until 2010 that the Maldivian government issued the first permits to open tourist accommodation in some local islands like Maafushi. There are guest house and family hotels to host budged and mid-range visitors from all over the world. Therefore, when planning your trip to the Maldives the first question : do I want a luxury resort, a local island, or both?

Resorts

Luxury resorts in the Maldives are exclusively designed for tourists. Here hotel rules prevail over government regulations and you will find no food nor dress-code restrictions. Sunbathing in your bikini, walking around in shorts and drinking alcohol are all allowed. You will enjoy private beaches, private pools, international restaurants and tailor-made excursions. Paradise!

Bad news are there are no cheap resorts so these are not really an option if you are strictly planing to travel to the Maldives on a budget. However, these resorts are so much of a lifetime experience you might still consider visiting one or two.

You will need to spend a minimum of $300 per person per night just for the room. All meals and the all-included board come at an extra cost. However, you will be able to save money by booking your stay with breakfast only. The plan is to eat a big breakfast, skip lunch, and have an early dinner. In most resort bars pizzas and burgers are served at around $15 and will fill you up properly. Yep, I tried that strategy and it worked perfectly well.

Additionally, public transportation does not reach resorts so you will need to book your transfer with the hotel. Resorts located near Male can be reached by speed boat with prices around $120 per person, return. However, further resorts can only be reached by hydroplanes and return tickets on those start at $400 per person. Yet again, an unforgettable experience you might want to consider.

Local islands

The most visited local islands in the Maldives are Maafushi, Dhiffushi, Gulhi, Guraidhoo, Kaashidoo and Hura. All bits of paradise on earth with the best beaches of white sand, azure waters, and palm trees.

However, they have not been built for tourists. They are real inhabited islands where locals live, work, study, pray and grow their families. Therefore, in these islands you’ll also find mosques, markets, shops, restaurants, schools, and even a prison.

When visiting local island you’ll need to follow local rules. hat basically means no alcohol and dressing with knees and shoulders covered at all times. In exchange you’ll be surrounded by friendly locals delighted to show you their culture and lifestyle. The exception are bikini beaches, areas in front of the main local hotels where you can dress and sunbathe as you like.

Prices for a private ensuite rooms with breakfast in local hotels start at $20/person/night. Yes, over ten times less than in a resort. Furthermore, excursions will also be way cheaper here than in a resort.

An unbeatable strategy

Just as everywhere else in the world, if you want to travel to the Maldives on a budget you will need to stay away from luxury hotels, private means of transportation, high-end restaurants, and fancy activities. Less price means less comfort.

Therefore, staying in guest houses, traveling on local ferries, and eating traditional Maldivian cuisine are key to enjoy paradise without spending a fortune. And so are taking lots of swims, walks, and snorkelling trips.

The only down side is not being able to enjoy a cocktail on your summer dress at sunset due to local cultural traditions. Yet this can be easily fixed by taking a day-trip to a luxury resort or by ending your trip staying a night or two in one of them. I did this and loved it!

Flights to travel to the Maldives on a budget

The Maldives is the only country in the world offering visa-free entry to tourists of all nationalities. Direct flights from Europe, America, Africa, and Australia to the Maldives are unusual and expensive. Your best chances to travel to the Maldives on a budget involve the major middle eastern airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad, Emirates and Turkish Airlines.

Congratulations if you are already in Asia, chances are you can make it to the Maldives and back for less than $100 going through India and Sri Lanka. In any case, check out Skyscanner and Google Flights for the best fares. And consider booking your flights directly with the airline and avoid any intermediaries.

Accommodation to travel to the Maldives on a budget

Choose your resort

Bad news is that choosing your accommodation is the most important decision of a trip to the Maldives because it will affect all your excursions. Good news is that you can’t go wrong because there are no bad accommodation options in the Maldives. So go to Booking and find your preferred option.

If you are traveling to a resort, apply the ‘resort’ filter on booking. Yes, it exists and very few occasions to use it so enjoy! If you have no budget restrictions, just choose the one you like the best and have an amazing holiday.

For those needing to watch their expenses, don’t set up a price range for your resort yet. You’ll need to go into every resort details to find out whether they use a speed boat or sea plane as transfers and how much they charge. Thus, it’s the accommodation+transfer price that matters, and not only the cost of the accommodation.

If you added the price filter now, you could end up with cheaper/lower quality resorts further from Male and only accessible by seaplane costing way more than a nicer resort accessible by speed boat. Roughly, speed boat trips cost about $150 return per person while sea plane rides are over $400 return per person. The difference is really remarkable so take your time to shop around.

Now decide which services and facilities you’d like to find in the resort. Apply filters for the meals as some hotels might be cheaper at room rate only while other might have the best options for the all included deals. And also for pools, gyms, spas, etc. Check their reviews, open the map and start comparing.

When in doubt, go for big hotels with plenty of facilities. Note that you will not leave the island where the hotel is located and that there will be nothing but the hotel there. Therefore, the bigger it is and the more options it offers the likelier you are to find one according to your taste and budged preferences.

I spent a night in an overwater villa at the Paradise Island Resort and Spa in January 2021 and absolutely loved it! The rate for the room + breakfast for two was $350 and the return ticket on the speed ferry was $120 per person. I would have stayed a second night but not many more. The resort was amazing yet I’m not a resort person and enjoyed my time in Maafushi island way more.

Choose your local hotel

If you are traveling to a local island in the Maldives, my advise would be to stay away from the big brands and look for small hotels with comfy rooms and vibrant common areas. You want to spend time at the beach, not in your hotel room.

Check out Booking and AirBnb and choose the islands you’d like to visit before making accommodation arrangements. That is because different islands offer distinct excursions. And your dream room should close to what you’d like to do during the day.

For instance, the smallest islands such as Gulhi have no diving schools so you won’t be able to dive from there. Likewise, bigger islands like Maafushi have less fishermen so they won’t be the best spot to observe fishing boats at work.

I spend my first night in the Maldives in the tiny island of Gulhi at Sandy Heaven Maldives and I can strongly recommend it. The rooms were nice and spacious, breakfast was tasty and abundant and the staff was super helpful.

For the next five nights I visited Maafushi and stayed in the Salt Beach Hotel. I would go back there a thousand times and cannot recommend this enough. The room was bright, clean and tastily decorated. It had good wifi, a nice balcony fronting the ocean and a spacios private bathroom. Staff were the friendliest and I loved each and everyone of their daytrips. You can see more of my trip on Instagram.

Transport to travel to the Maldives on a budget

There is a great net of public ferries in the Maldives which covers most local islands at $2.5/person/trip. As I visited during the pandemic these were closed and I didn’t get to try them. Hotels also arrange pick ups by private speed boat at around $25/person/trip. Check this with your hotel directly.

Food to travel to the Maldives on a budget

The Maldives are not famous for its cuisine, yet they feature an interesting mix of English and Indian recipes worth trying. And lots of delicious inexpensive fish.

Resorts have plenty of on-site restaurants to choose from, featuring Italian, American, and Japanese dishes. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant of the Paradise Island Resort and Spa standing on an overwater terrace with sharks swimming below your feet and enjoyed a nice pizza, still water, and two scoops ice-cream for $15 each. Not bad at all!

On local islands you’ill find food options to accommodate all tastes and budgets. The most famous local dishes are fried rice or noodles with grilled tuna, chicken and vegetables. Along with salads, soups, curries and fish & chips. Dishes rarely exceed $4. Most hotels offer interesting meal deals with a starter, main and desert for about 10$.

Excursions to travel to the Maldives on a Budget

One of the best and cheapest ways to spend a day in the Maldives is simply by laying on a beach, sunbathing, playing on the swings, swimming in crystal clear waters, taking pictures, talking to locals and admiring sunset with a fresh coconut.

I strongly recommend doing all of these. However, it would be a shame not to join some excursions and get to enjoy the wider ocean. Click here to read about the 20 best things to do in Maafushi Island.

If you are spending some days in a local islands and then heading to a resort, I strongly recommend doing all your excursions while on the locals islands because this will be about three times cheaper, and you will then have all the free time to enjoy the facilities of the resort.

Shop around. Pay a visit to the reception of your hotel, ask for the excursions and bargain a bit. You can also visit neighbour hotels and tour operators. Note that most of the excursions are half-day trips starting at around 9pm and returning at 2pm. These typically include a ferry ride to some snorkelling locations to swim along turtles and tropical fish, towels, snorkelling gear, and packed lunch with drinks. Prices start at $25 per person.

There are also full day tours which will take you further into the atolls to swim along dolphins and sharks. These can last until 5pm and will also include a ferry ride, snorkelling gear, towels, snacks and packed lunch with drinks. Prices start at $50 per person. You can also book tours in advance here.

My favourite excursions where swimming with nurse sharks, swimming with dolphins, swimming with turtles and Nemo fish. Diving is also a must do in the Maldives. I am not a diver yet but the friend and fellow traveler I went to the Maldives with loved it and keeps saying the best dives of her life have been in Maafushi.

Recap on how to travel to the Maldives on a budget

I loved traveling to the Maldives even though I am not a sea person. If you enjoy sunbathing at the beach, swimming in azure waters, snorkelling and diving the Maldives are the ideal spot for your. Notwithstanding, if you are looking to explore a new culture, enjoy mesmerising landscapes, take beautiful sunset walks and taste new dishes the Maldives are also the right place for you.

Give a face to paradise. Book your flights, choose one or two local islands where to spend most of your time in the Maldives, pick a hotel, join some excursions, enjoy the locations and if you would love to spend some time in a resort do it as well. it will be a once in a lifetime experience and I am sure you will love it.

Feel free to leave a comment below with any questions. And to reach out via my Instagram and/or Tiktok pages for additional information and insights on my travels. Have a wonderful holiday in the Maldives.