Maldives is one of the world’s best holiday destinations and no matter you decide to travel on budget or luxury. The stunning white-sand beaches and an amazing underwater world make Maldives the obvious choice for a true holiday of a lifetime. Inside my blog, I will share with you my knowledge and tips when travel to Maldives and hope that all information are useful to you all.
Regions
The Maldives are formed of 26 atolls. These are not single islands, but giant ringlike coral formations hundreds of kilometers wide that have fragmented into countless islands.
Male is the Capital and largest city in Maldives.
Visa and Get in
The Maldives have a remarkably easy visa policy — Everybody gets a free 30-day visa on arrival, provided and proof of sufficient funds, defined as either a confirmed reservation in any resort or USD100 + USD50/day in cash. This can be extended up to 90 days at Male, but you’ll need to indicate where you’re staying for that long. See the Department of Immigration and Emigration website for details.
Airport
Male International Airport (Code: MLE) is the biggest and busiest airport in Maldives. The reason I provide the short code for you is that you can type the short code on some travel agent websites and it will be easier for you to find the correct airport.
Choosing Flight:
Flight Scheduled: (Updated on 2015/1)
British Airways now flies directly from London Gatwick to Male 3 times a week (Sunday, Tuesday and Friday)
Cathay Pacific Airlines flies 4 times a week from Hong Kong (Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun)
Singapore Airlines flies daily direct from Singapore to Male, with late night timings.
Turkish Airlines flies directly from Istanbul Ataturk to Male 5 times in a week.
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Male’, twice a day.
Austrian Airlines flies between Vienna and Male once a week (outbound Vienna on Wednesday, inbound on Thursday morning)
Flight to Maldives may not be too busy as you expected. Therefore decide which airline to take is important because it may not fit your schedule. Eg, If you are taking Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and connecting flight to Maldives, you will only have flight on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If you are from Asia, travel with Singapore Airlines maybe a better choice since they have flight daily from Singapore to Male.
Travel to Maldives usually expensive ?
Actually it depends on which hotel you going to stay. From 2014, Maldives government has allowed hostel to start their business on Maldives Island. Eg, Isle Beach Inn(Link here) in South Male Atoll, a normal bedroom (for 2 person) per night cost around USD75. You can still join the local tour for diving activities on the islands too. So it is possible to travel with budget but still able to enjoy the sun and sea in Maldives. I will talk more about budget travel in the coming chapter.
Isle Beach Inn
Agoda: http://www.agoda.com/isle-beach-inn/hotel/maldives-islands-mv.html
I will talk more about Maldives budget travel in the coming chapter.
Taxes in Maldives
When you dining in Maldives resort, you should bear in mind that the price on the food menu is not include 10% service charge and 6% GST charges.
Things you should know if you arriving Male after 3:30pm
If you have never been to Maldives, let me tell you more about transportation and accommodation for Maldives travel in the first day. Getting to Maldives 4 to 5 star hotels and resorts are only possible by taking speedboat and Seaplane which provided by the resorts (Yes, you don’t have other choice).
If the resort is far away from Male, the only transportation could be seaplane (Due to safely reason, seaplane in Maldives will not be operated after 4:00pm). Therefore, if your flight will arrive after 3:30pm and seaplane is the only way to go to the Island, we would suggest you to stay in Male for one night and take seaplane on the next day.
Traveler not only can save cost on Resort for the first day, but also can have a full day enjoying the resort staring from the second day. That’s why most of the traveler plans to stay in Male on the first day in Maldives.
In Male, hotels price range is from USD80 to USD500, I will tell you my recommendation in the up coming chapter.
Maldives Weather
The temperature in Male is usually around 25- 35. You can check the previous and weather forecast for Maldives here.
http://www.worldweatheronline.com/Male-weather/Maale/MV.aspx
Maldives All-inclusive resorts
Activities and dining in Maldives resorts are very expensive, some people may prefer all-inclusive resorts at which they can control their budget during the holiday. Most all-inclusive plans are include breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. Some are include free use of Kayaks and Windsurfers. Please note some “all-inclusive plan” is include unlimited alcoholic beverages but some are only include non-alcoholic beverages. You should read the teams and conditions carefully.
If you are looking for Maldives resorts which provide all-inclusive plans, you can take a look on this post which listed all resorts provide all-inclusive plan : All-inclusive resorts in Maldives Master List
What is “Half board” and “Full board” ?
These terms refer to meal plan. “Full Board” refers to breakfast, lunch and dinner. “Half Board” refers to breakfast and dinner only. From my opinion, choosing half board meal plan is enough if you don’t usually eat too much.
Hope this article can give you a brief ideas and tips on Maldives travel and I will continue to write about “Maldives best travel Season” and “how to choose Maldives resorts”
In the meantime, you can take a look of below related articles:
– Maldives Resorts with Private Pool Master List (1)
– Maldives Water villa Resorts with Private Pool – (2)
– New Maldives Hotel and Resort Master List
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