Last Updated: 03/18/2022 | March 18th, 2022
Before I lastly made it to the Maldives, it was the destination I’d been dreaming about. White sand beaches. Over-water bungalows. Azure blue ocean. Bolo to úžasné. however those dreams turned into nightmares when I realized exactly how much those bungalows cost.
Luckily, modifications in the method tourism is performed in the country have enabled a little however growing budget plan travel market to emerge. In this post, Kristin Addis from Be My travel Muse shares exactly how to travel the Maldives on a budget plan (tips I utilized during my own trip)
When you photo the Maldives, you may believe of sitting outside an over-water bungalow while looking out over the jade- as well as sapphire-hued ocean, with close-by personnel serving sparkling wines as well as waiting on your every whim.
It’s the epitome of charming luxury.
And it costs a fortune.
Resorts expense hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of dollars per night — as well as that doesn’t even include food! To many people, the Maldives is an unreachable dream.
But what if I told you that you can quickly stay in the Maldives for less than the cost of a night at a high-end resort?
What if I told you that you can travel to the Maldives without having to stay in high-priced resorts or eating overpriced food?
It wasn’t up until I had impulse-booked a trip to the island nation that I discovered exactly how simple as well as inexpensive travel to the Maldives can be.
While the Maldives is understood for its high-end resorts as well as over-the-top pampering, it’s likewise possible to enjoy an inexpensive trip to this paradise.
Obsah
Traveling to the Maldives for Cheap
Getting Around
Best budget plan Accommodation
Eating on a Budget
Budget friendly Excursions
Additional Tips
Traveling to the Maldives for Cheap
Getting to these lovely islands utilized to expense a excellent offer of both time as well as money, with flights including great deals of layovers costing upwards of $1,000 USD.
The excellent news is that now a growing number of regional airlines are offering more reasonable flights to the Maldives. For example, flights from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Malé can be discovered for around $350 USD (round-trip).
Cheap tickets can likewise be discovered via Dubai, with round-trip, non-stop fares starting at $500 USD.
There are likewise flights from Kuala Lumpur with fares as low as $250 USD (round-trip). Flights from Bangkok as well as Singapore begin at $300 USD (round-trip).
In short, you can fly right here from most major hubs in the middle east as well as Southeast Asia on relatively affordable, direct flights.
(Matt says: If you aren’t already in the region to take advantage of the affordable fares as well as want to fly from North America, Europe, or Australia, your worldwide airfare can get pricey, however with travel hacking you can score some free flights. discover out more here.)
Getting around The Maldives for Cheap
In the Maldives, nothing is accessible without taking a ferry or a domestic flight.
Upon arrival to Malé from the airport, take a taxi to the primary ferry station to gain access to the other islands (the taxi costs around $5 USD. us currency is legal tender here). From the airport, the ferry to Malé leaves every 10-15 minutes, costs $1 USD, as well as is a 20-minute ride.
To get around the islands, you can take a public ferry, however be sure to inspect the timetables as the ferries don’t run everyday of the week, as well as even when running, there may only be a couple of ferry departures per day. research study the ferries in advance so you understand when as well as where you can go next, as island hopping is extremely difficult without planning. likewise note that no public ferries go to any type of personal resorts.
Ferry costs variety from $5–25 USD. If a ferry doesn’t run on the day you requirement or to your island of choice, you’re looking at either a night in Malé, a speedboat ($30-200 USD), a $200-$300 USD domestic flight, or a extremely costly seaplane (think $250–450 USD). You can discover more about all the different transfer choices as well as costs here.
If you’re looking to see an island farther away from Malé however don’t want to pay for the more costly transfer options, you’ll requirement to do some island hopping via the ferry system. This may need you to stay overnight on an island along the way.
Best affordable locations To stay In Maldives
In 2009, the Maldives started enabling locals to begin their own guesthouses. This opened the door for a number of inexpensive as well as locally-owned establishments to welcome guests on the islands.
Though there are still no practical hostel or dorm choices around the country, personal spaces can be discovered for as bit as $30 USD per night. If you’re traveling with a good friend or partner, your sharedrops to $15 USD.
I utilized Airbnb, which I discovered useful since it enables you to interact directly with the host. I stayed on Mahibadoo at The incredible Noovilu.
My guesthouse owner utilized to work for the resorts, so he had a excellent handle on what his guests desired as well as exactly how to cater to their needs. The space itself was clean as well as comfortable, with air conditioning as well as fans. The bathroom was Maldivian style: outdoors however totally walled off for privacy, with frangipani plants growing with the sand as well as up around the shower.
It was quickly the coolest bathroom I’ve ever used. Plus, it had hot water as well as a Western-style toilet.
If you’re looking to experience the Maldives, get to understand the locals, as well as save money at the exact same time, staying at one of these little guesthouses enables you to experience the beauty as well as question of this stunning part of the world without paying resort costs (which normally begin at $300 USD a night).
To discover these privately run (and affordable) guesthouses, utilize the complying with sites:
Airbnb
Booking.com
Guesthouses in the Maldives
Agoda
Stravovanie s rozpočtom
At my guesthouse, each meal was authentic Maldivian cuisine, eaten as a group with the owner’s household as well as included in the cost of the guesthouse. This is typical, as many islands don’t have a great deal of restaurants, so most guesthouses include meals in their nightly rate. (“Eating out” isn’t truly a thing in the Maldives, as well as locals mainly cook for themselves.)
If your guesthouse doesn’t provide meals, regional restaurants are extremely inexpensive. Coffee homes around the island serve coffee from early morning up until late at night for around $2 USD. They likewise offer snacks, sandwiches, as well as noodles for $4-5 USD. dinner at a nicer restaurant on the beach is only around $15 USD.
Moreover, each morning fishermen dock as well as offer their catch. You can quickly join the locals, haggle for some fresh fish directly from the source for reasonable prices, as well as then throw it on the grill at your guesthouse.
Other than grilled fish, typical Maldivian cuisine includes a breakfast of wonderful as well as thick milk tea, canned tuna mixed with onion as well as lime juice, as well as tasty flatbread called roshi, which is similar to Indian roti.
Lunches as well as dinners consisted mainly of fresh fish, mouthwatering curries, more roshi, as well as buttered rice, which we ate with our hands (though a fork as well as spoon were provided if desired). other prominent dishes include gulha (fried fish filled dough balls), kuli (spicy fish cakes), as well as dessert treats like bondi bai (Maldivian rice pudding).
Note that as a Muslim country, alcohol isn’t offered anywhere in the Maldives, except on some resort islands that have special exemptions.
Budget friendly Excursions In The Maldives
Given exactly how much emphasis I had put on diving via our Airbnb correspondence, my guesthouse owner made it a point to take me out on a few dives himself, renting the gear from regional sea cucumber fishermen as well as asking his sibling to drive us out in the family’s speed boat.
It ended up being just the two of us, which meant that I was diving the very best reefs in the world without any type of other divers around for only $65 USD per tank.
My hold likewise took us snorkeling with manta rays (for $30 USD) as well as something I’ve been dying to see for years: whale sharks.
I had the enjoyment of swimming with a whale shark for 45 minutes since my guide was happy for me to stay as long as I wanted. He was enjoying the encounter as much as I was!
Every adventure was like this, from night fishing on a regional fisherman’s boat (for $25 USD), to visiting a close-by deserted island ($60 USD). I had a personal tour guide each day, driving me to the very best areas as well as offering versatility that just doesn’t include a packaged resort.
These type of experiences are much more attainable when staying at a smaller guesthouse; most even listing their costs for excursions on their websites as well as Airbnb listings, so you understand what you’re getting into before booking.
If your guesthouse doesn’t provide these tours, ask the regional resorts what they may provide. They may be willing to let you join their excursions even though you’re not staying with them.
Tour operator trick Paradise focuses on assisting those who want a regional experience by setting up tours as well as scuba diving while avoiding costly resorts. They offer whatever from food tours as well as cooking classes to sunset cruises as well as Malé city walking tours. (Half-day tours are around $70 USD).
Other things to keep in mind When traveling To The Maldives
While I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything, I would believe twice about going the affordable path if I wished to be able to drink wine as well as wear a bikini.Tieto aktivity sú vo všeobecnosti povolené iba na strediskách alebo na špeciálne určených plážach pre turistov s názvom „Bikini pláže“.
Maldivy sú moslimská krajina a zakazuje alkohol (a bravčové mäso) vniknúť do krajiny alebo sa konzumovať na regionálnych ostrovoch. Je tiež dôležité, aby ženy zakryli plecia, ako aj nohy, čo znamená žiadne bikiny, hoci keď sme opustili ostrov na exkurzii, boli bikiny v poriadku.
Okrem toho, zatiaľ čo môj penzión bol skvelý, stále išlo s určitými rastúcimi bolesťami, ako napríklad nedostatok Wi-Fi, ako aj občasná chladná sprcha. Bolo však otváraním očí zistiť, že je úplne možné stráviť týždeň na Maldivách, celkovo s exkurziami a jedlami, za rovnaké náklady ako iba jednu noc v letovisku.
Aj keď je rozmaznávanie skvelé, nepáči sa mi, aby som bol zaviazaný v elegantnom letovisku. Využitie šance presne vidieť, ako žijú regionálni Maldivania, jedia s nimi jedlo, ako aj pripojili sa k nim pre výlety na svojich rýchlostných člnoch ešte viac idylické.
Rozpočtový cestovný ruch na Maldivách sa práve začína, rovnako ako teraz je skvelý čas, pretože mimo letovísk stále nie je veľa cudzincov (ja som bol jediným cudzincom môjho trajektu), ako aj ostrovy nie sú v mnohých rozpočtoch Radar cestujúcich plánujte.
Odľahlosť krajiny bude vždy znamenať, že si bude trvať čas, ako aj nejaké peniaze, ale Maldivy už nie sú špeciálnym ihriskom bohatých a môžu sa tešiť cestovateľom všetkých typov.
Kristin Addis je bývalý investičný bankár, ktorý ponúkol všetky svoje osobné veci, ako aj citát California Goodbye v prospech cestovania sóla s Áziou pri hľadaní dobrodružstiev mimo cesty. Viac jej úvah môžete objaviť v mojej cestovnej múze. Spojte sa s ňou na Twitteri aj na Facebooku.
Zarezervujte si cestu na Maldivy: logistické tipy a triky
Zarezervujte si svoj let
Použite SkyScanner na objavenie cenovo dostupného letu. Toto je môj preferovaný motor Browse, pretože prezerajú webové stránky, ako aj letecké spoločnosti po celom svete, takže vždy pochopíte, že žiadny kameň nezostane nezostáva!
Zarezervujte si ubytovanie
Svoju hostel si môžete rezervovať s Hostelworld, pretože majú najväčšie akcie a najlepšie ponuky. Ak chcete zostať niekde inde ako v hosteli, využite Booking.com, pretože neustále vracia najlacnejšie ceny za penzióny a cenovo dostupné hotely.
Nepamätáte si cestovné poistenie
Cestovné poistenie vás bude chrániť pred chorobou, zranením, krádežou a zrušením. Je to komplexná bezpečnosť v situácii, čokoľvek sa pokazí. Nikdy som nešiel na výlet bez toho, pretože som ho v minulosti musel mnohokrát využívať. Moje preferované podnikanie, ktoré ponúkajú najlepšie služby a hodnotu, sú:
Bezpečnostné krídlo (pre všetkých pod 70)
Zaistite moju cestu (pre tých nad 70 rokov)
Medjet (pre ďalšie pokrytie repatriácie)
Hľadáte to najlepšie podnikanie, s ktorým môžete ušetriť peniaze?
Pozrite sa na moju stránku zdrojov, kde nájdete to najlepšie podnikanie, ktoré môžete využiť pri cestovaní. Uvádzam všetky tie, ktoré využívam na ušetrite peniaze, keď som na ceste. Ušetrite vám peniaze, keď budete cestovať.
Chcete viac informácií o Maldivách?
Nezabudnite vidieť náš robustný cieľový sprievodca na Maldivách, kde nájdete ešte viac tipov!