Can the Maldives Be an Affordable Destination?

How to make Maldives as affordable as possible?

1. The seasons

The Maldives have a rainy and a dry season. The ideal time to travel is obviously during the dry season, but that is when everyone wants to go to the Maldives and prices are higher as a result. The prices of everything. Plane tickets, accommodation and transportation. The rainy season begins sometime in April or May and lasts until November. But that doesn't mean it rains all the time. Some days it is raining or cloudy, and the rest is sunny. Or it pours once a day for 15 minutes, and then it is sunny again. Longer periods of rain are rare. We travelled in June and in 10 days there was not a single day when it was raining the whole time. Because of the location of the Maldives, close to the equator, the temperatures are around 25 degrees Celsius all year round.

So, in the low season, the Maldives are not too rainy, it's equally warm, prices are lower, and there are fewer tourists. That is why we recommend avoiding the months between December and March to get good deals on your trip to the Maldives.

2. Local island

Everyone probably imagines that they will be staying in a house above the water in the Maldives. That seems dreamy, but is it really necessary? Could you do without it? If your answer is yes, then the Maldives can be very affordable. The Maldives are made up of many small islands. Some are private islands where there is a resort (with those houses above the water), and the prices of overnight accommodation can skyrocket – I am talking about thousands of euros per night. And then there are the local islands. These are small islands where the locals live, and some of them offer more basic, but still beautiful accommodation. That is the main trick, for an affordable trip to the Maldives. Replace a resort for a local island! Accommodation is significantly cheaper, food is tasty, but cheaper than resorts, beaches are just as beautiful as in the resorts, and at the same time you have contact with the locals, and you can see how the local residents live. This is what makes a trip or holiday interesting.

What do you need to know about the Maldives?

The Maldives are a Muslim country. This means that alcohol is not available, it is necessary to dress decently, the holy and work-free day is Friday, and that several times a day there is a call to prayer from the minaret. Of course, you don't experience all of this at the resort. The resort is adapted for tourists and there are no such rules. They are, however, on the local islands.

Food and drinks

This means that you will not get beer in the restaurant. There is the option of a non-alcoholic beer and a non-alcoholic cocktail. Can you spend your holiday without alcohol? For us, it was not a problem. We bought fresh fruit from the locals, drank coconut water directly from freshly opened coconut, sliced local papaya, bananas, passion fruit and watermelons for lunch. We didn't even think about beer with all this fruit.

There are also plenty of restaurants on these local islands, so no one stays hungry. Usually the accommodation has its own restaurant and you can arrange breakfast and dinner there. If that doesn't work for you, there's bound to be another restaurant serving local Maldivian food. Try the mas huni (tuna stuffing), we really enjoyed it.

Beaches

According to the Muslim ''rules'' of dressing on the local islands, you shouldn't walk around in a bathing suit, and you should put on a shirt and pants. Women do not need to wrap themselves in scarves, as long as their shoulders and knees are covered, and men are not allowed to walk around without a shirt. This is not something scary, and you can easily adapt.

Every local island has a guest beach or a bikini beach. This is a beach that is intended for tourists and there we can be in swimsuits, bikinis and behave normally for us. When you leave the beach, you get dressed again.

The beach is exactly as you dreamed it would be. White sand, palm trees, deck chairs, turquoise sea, coral in the sea and numerous animals around the coral reef. It's wonderful!

Sightseeing

Both resorts and local islands offer a variety of trips. For example, a trip to a sandbank in the middle of the sea, a trip to a larger coral reef, diving trips, a search for mantas, whales, dolphins, etc. The price of excursions on local islands is almost half as cheap as in the resorts. You also go on a trip with the locals and support the local economy.

Transport to the island

The resorts are often reachable by hydroplanes (those are planes that land on the water), and you go to the local island either by regular flight line or by boat. The price difference is huge, of course. The price for the hydroplane transfer is from €250 onwards (return trip and the price depends on the distance of the island from the Male airport), and boat transfer will not be more than €50 in one direction (such is the price if the island is very far away, in most cases the prices are around €30).

The local island therefore offers those real, authentic Maldives. There are beautiful white sandy beaches with palm trees and turquoise sea, and at the same time the prices are quite normal (comparable to Croatian). Meanwhile, you can meet some locals and see how people in this paradise country really live. The perfect combination of seaside relaxation and discovering new cultures.

Did I convince you to go to the Maldives on a local island? We were on the island of Thoddoo, and we can only recommend it because it is wonderful! You can read more about Thoddoo on our blog Lahkih nog naokrog.