The Maldives on a Budget

Do you scroll through Instagram looking at beautiful scenes from the Maldives and feel like you’ll never be able to afford to visit for yourself? Then keep reading, because I’m about to tell you how to visit the Maldives on a budget. It will be not be as cheap as South East Asia, but you will see beaches and marine life that few places in the world can top. 

Flights

Depending where you are in the world, there are some good flight deals to the Maldives to be found. It’s cheaper if you fly indirect through India, Sri Lanka or Malaysia. Depending on the direction you’re traveling , you can visit 2 countries in one trip. I spent 6 days in Sri Lanka as a free layover on the way to the Maldives.

Accommodation

Once you’ve bagged some cheap, indirect flights to the Maldives, you’ll need to start looking for accommodation. Make sure you’re sitting down, because there is a chance you’ll faint. The expense of visiting the Maldives arises when you try to book a room.

A lot of resorts average around $500 per night. I want to bathe in a tub of champagne for that price. However, the accommodation in the Maldives is actually pretty bad value for money. That $500 won’t get you an over-water room, like the ones you see on Instagram. It won’t even get you a deluxe room, some may even skimp on air con. The biggest trip crusher for me is bad value for money.

To save on accommodation costs you can stay on a local island, for a fraction of the price. The only catch being that the beaches on the local islands are not the best in the Maldives. Also, alcohol is not allowed, because the Maldives is a Muslim country. Say goodbye to your dreams of taking a bath in champagne. Stick with me though, because there are ways to make your budget trip to the Maldives a great one.

The local island of Maafushi – The Pros

There are a few good reasons to stay on Maafushi during your budget trip to the Maldives.

The first reason is that you can take a local ferry from Mali. The ferry costs $2, so you won’t need to spend money on expensive speed boats or sea planes. The ferry departs from Jetty 1 at 2:30pm every day (except Friday). The journey takes 90 minutes. You can also take a speed boat from Mali, this will cost approximately $50. You should arrange this with your accommodation on Maafushi.

Another reason to stay on Maafushi is that the standard of accommodation is quite good. You can get a room with air con and a hot shower for far less than you would pay on a resort island.

Thirdly, there is an offshore boat called the Kaani Princess. You can visit in the evening to get your alcohol fix. I don’t know if any other local islands offer this service, so that is why I would choose the local island of Maafushi over other islands. Who doesn’t want a cocktail or a cold beer when they are in paradise?

Finally, the island is geared up for tourists. It has a dive center that also arranges snorkel and sand bank trips. Maafushi also offers day trips to resort islands. These day trips are basically hotel day passes where you pay on average $20-$30 to stay at a resort all day. You will need to arrange a boat transfer on Maafushi to take you to the resort islands. Email your accommodation ahead of time to ask for their transfer prices to the resorts, because this will increase your daily budget. You can spend the day eating, drinking cocktails, snorkeling and sunbathing alongside people paying hundreds of dollars to do the same thing as you. Below are some pictures taken on resort day trips. I visited 3 different islands, each one was different and had something to offer.

Diving Tip: Ask about the shark drift dive while you’re on Maafushi.

Maafushi – The Cons

There is only one nice beach on Maafushi where you can where a bikini. Due to the local religion, the women swim in their clothes and it is forbidden to swim elsewhere on the island in a bikini. I actually only swam at Maafushi once, because I went to visit a different island everyday.

The island is run down in places and is the complete opposite of an instagramable resort. There was a problem with litter, and the island had an area that resembled a land-fill site on one section of the island.

Despite the cons, would I go back to Maafushi? Yes I would. I really loved visiting the different islands on day trips and snorkelling at a different house reef everyday. If you only want to relax and stay in one place, then Maafushi may not be for you. However, if you are desperate to visit the Maldives and are on a budget, then Maafushi is perfect.

The local islands are not ideal for long trips, because you need to leave everyday to explore other islands. 4-6 days is a good amount of time. I tagged 4 days in the Maldives onto the end of my Sri Lanka trip and it worked out perfectly.

Need to Know

Everything in the Maldives is imported and expensive. Bring anything you need for the trip with you, except alcohol. The import of alcohol for personal consumption is not allowed, so don’t try to bring any duty free into the country with you. Due to the cost of imported goods, food prices will be much higher than a normal budget trip and vegetables will be scarce. Your daily budget for food will be higher than in the rest of South Asia. A chicken burger and fries at a private resort will cost you approximately $13. Many hotels on Maafushi provide breakfast, so check before you book.

I hope this has been useful in helping you plan a budget trip to the Maldives. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them in the comments below.