Maldives is the most sought-after vacation destination right now. Everyone you know has either visited the island nation or is planning a trip. Pure white sands, blue waters and luxury water villas and resorts – all of this sounds really expensive, right?
While vacationing in Maldives is pretty costly, there are hacks and tips to go for a budget-friendly trip there. Let’s see how.
1. Flight bookings
You can reduce your expenses to a great extent if you book the tickets well in advance. If possible, book your tickets at least 4-6 months in advance and visit Maldives in the off season (April to June).
One-way cost for one person would be somewhere between ₹9,000-₹12,000 from Mumbai to Male.
2.Stay & Accommodation
Maldives has both, private and local islands. The private islands are where all the luxury and extravagant resorts are situated. They are quite expensive (₹30,000-1,00,000 per night) and can increase the cost of your trip significantly.
If your budget is on the lower side, you should consider staying at the public islands. Here, you can find some really good and welcoming guest houses for as low as ₹3,000-4,000 per night.
Most of them provide breakfast, hot showers and other amenities. A few examples are Water Breeze Guesthouse, Thundi Guesthouse and Salsa Retreat.
Some of the best local islands are Maafushi, Dharavandhoo, Guraidhoo.
Another option is to split your stay in two parts – guest houses and villas. This will give you the best of experiences of both the worlds.
3. Transportation
Tourists generally hire speed boats to move from one island to another in Maldives. Speed boats can be pricey.
You can opt for local transport within Maldives, the local ferries will cost you between ₹50-200. They will carry you to almost any island. Travelling to Male could be a little expensive but with local ferries, it’s still under budget.
If you wish to go to a private island you may have to go by speedboat or seaplane or arrange for the local fishermen to take you there.
4. Food
Food is also quite cheap at the local islands. According to Curly Tales, one plate of fried rice costs just around ₹200 which is way cheaper compared to other private islands.
Moreover, you also get to explore and taste the original culture of Maldives at local eateries.
5. Water activities
Maldives is known to offer adventure activities like diving, snorkelling, etc. If you ask locals and go for these activities through them you will save a lot of money.
Water sports are expensive in general and no matter how much you try, diving will cost you somewhere around ₹10,000 and snorkelling trips will cost you about ₹3,000–5,000 per person.
With this guide, you can visit Maldives on a budget of about ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh which would otherwise cost you upwards of ₹2 lakhs for a trip of 3-4 days.