HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO TRAVEL TO MALDIVES? TRAVEL BUDGET

The question we received most times in RRSS while we were traveling through Maldives, was without a doubthow much does it cost to travel to Maldives? The truth is that these small islands lost by the Indian Ocean have always been seen as an exclusive destination (and it is ... but with nuances). We say it loud and clear: you can travel to paradise without selling a kidney, so in this post we will tell you how much does a trip to Maldives cost and the budget What are you going to need?

It is not difficult to find round-trip flights from Spain to Male (the capital of Maldives) for about 450-650 € (with stopover). The good thing is that between Spain and the Maldives are located Middle East countries They have excellent airlines and good prices. Most likely, it's your turn to stop at one of them. There is also the option of Turkish Airlines (it is the one we took on our last trip to Maldives), stopping in Istanbul.

In general, the more in advance when booking a flight, the better the prices. However it is not a super drama to buy them with a few days of margin, we have seen as rates for less than € 500 leaving within 3 days of doing the search. However, our advice is to be a forecaster, if you already know the days you are going to travel, book!

The section of flights is the one that we can least influence, since it depends a lot on the market, the time in which it travels and the flexibility of our dates. So allocate an amount of 450-650€.

→ Compare flight prices from Madrid to Maldives here

The theme of the hotel is what will determine if the cost of the trip soars, or rather stays in backpacking terms. And it is not the same to stay in a resort cabin over the water to stay in a room of one Gesh House On a local island. Here we recommend several cheap accommodations in Maldives.

The best news for those who travel with a reduced budget is that a few years ago in Maldives the law was changed, and although before they could only host the large resorts that were on private islands, now small investors or land owners can build accommodations more humble but much cheaper!

For a first trip we recommend choosing Maafushi Island as a base. It does not have the best beach in Maldives, but it has several positive points: for starters it has a lot of hotel offer (you will find good insurance prices), but especially since the tours from here are the most complete and cheap of all Maldives. It is also very close to Male, where the airport is.

We stay in the Kokaa Retreat, why € 50 per night It included us: double room with private bathroom, sea view balcony (although NOT the bikini beach), fridge, tv, wifi, two bottles of water daily, breakfast and snorkeling masks. But like this type of accommodation there are enough on this island, or on some other local island that is prepared for tourism.

Normally the prices of the accommodations are put in USD ($), while the rest of the expenses on the islands can be done with the local currency, the rufiya (MVR).

In the local restaurants Basic dishes are found (grilled tuna with chips, noodles or rice with chicken, etc.) for some 50-80 MVR (3-5 €). The short eats (tuna and coconut meatballs, fried sausages, samositas, etc.) are the most beloved snacks by the Maldives, they are found in restaurants and cost only 3-5MVR per piece (about € 0.20).

In the tourist restaurants Prices go up somewhat, but unless you ask for a seafood platter, you will not have to spend the pasture of life. By 5-8€ they eat fish dishes with rice / salad / potatoes, pizzas (as you can imagine they are NOT especially good), pasta, noodles, etc ...

Drinks usually cost about 20MVR (€ 1 approx). Remember that being a Muslim country, there is no alcohol (only in resorts) but there are many mocktails (without alcohol).

If you stay in Maafushi, the tours are cheap since they are usually shared with other people, so they can lower prices. A half day tour with several snorkeling stops and visiting an island or sand bank costs about 20-25$ per person (includes food). The most complete tours of a all day are over 35$. The most expensive tour is the one that takes you swimming with the whale shark ($ 100). These are the best excursions from Maafushi.

If you prefer another local island, such as Huraa or Dhiffushi, it will be more difficult to find people with whom to share a tour and normally the departure prices are more expensive. In addition, the tours tend to be less complete. A half-day excursion can be around $ 30 per person, and the whole day is $ 50. But in this case you will have to take out your dribbling vein and look for other people on the island with whom to share the boat.

The Maldives government offers local ferries VERY cheap to reach the inhabited islands of Maldives. There are several routes that leave from Malé and others that only travel within the same atoll. The one that goes from Male to Maafushi takes an hour and a half and only costs $ 2. The bad thing is that schedules are limited and on Fridays, holy day for Muslims, they DO NOT circulate. To which we must add that they can be canceled due to bad weather without prior notice. We have used them on the two trips we made to Maldives and we think it is a good option to save money, as long as the schedules come in handy and you have enough time.

Otherwise we recommend the speed boats shared, which make fixed routes and at certain times. There are several companies that offer these services depending on the route, and prices are usually between $ 20 (for example from Male to Maafhus) to $ 35 (from Male to Dhiffushi) per person and route. The advantage is that they cover the route in a much shorter time than the locals, in addition to having more schedules.

Other transports are the private boat (about $ 250 per entire ship) and seaplanes, of which we do not even ask price: S

So How much does it cost to travel to Maldives? If we consider as an example a trip of 7 days in Maafushi, with a couple of excursions, food at tourist and local sites, transfer by speed boat (which is what we did with my parents), it would cost us about € 910 per person , thus calculated:

• I / V flight: 500€
• Visa: free upon arrival
• hotel (price per person in double room): € 175
• Food (price for 2 daily meals, breakfast is included in the hotel): € 100
• Tours: € 45 (we did 2 tours, one of $ 25 and another of $ 20)
• Speed ​​boat i / v: € 40 ($ 4 if you decide to catch the local ferry!)
• Various: € 50 (for your flight it is more expensive or you want to do more tours and / or eat in more “posh” places).

Keep in mind that the trip can be much more expensive: there are resorts that cost € 1,000 (or more!) Per night so it depends on the type of trip you want to enjoy.

But we also know that the trip can be much cheaper: our first stay in Maldives was very well priced. Here you have the expenses of our 6 days in Dhangheti and 2 days in Male, in 2013:

Accommodation: € 267

• 6 nights x € 34 at the Dhangethi Holiday House, on the island of Dhangethi.
• 2 nights x € 31.5 at the Lucky Hiya Hotel in Male. Book from Agoda with which we had a 25% discount for another move.

Ferry: € 12.37

• Ferry from the airport to Male (15min) 10 rf / person (€ 0.50)
• Ferry from Male to Dhangethi (6h with 1 stopover) 53 rf / person (€ 2.65)

Lunch: € 50.27

We take into account the purchase in supermarket, water and food in restaurants.

Miscellaneous: € 12.42

• Snorkeling masks: € 6.04
• Male Taxi: € 1.47
• SIM internet recharge: € 4.91

TOTAL per person 8 nights: € 171 (not including flights)

We hope we have helped you with our budget and answered the question, which have we received so many times from ¿how much does it cost to travel to Maldives?

Video: HOW TO TRAVEL THE MALDIVES ON A BUDGET (May 2024).