Cost to Travel in the Maldives
Hey everyone, in this article we will share with you our complete budget breakdown and what it really cost to travel in the Maldives.
We loved our time in the Maldives, and it is without a doubt a destination where we would love to go back. The Maldives were amazingly easy to travel, people were friendly, travelling on public island wasn’t more expensive than travelling in the western European country, and the country is breath-taking. Plus, it had so many different islands and atolls that you have lots to explore. From the cheap island of Maafushi to the heaven-like island of Dhigurah, the Maldives can be affordable. But it can also be expensive if you opt to go for the full Maldives experience with private hotel and honeymoon-like vacation.
It’s insane to thing that the Maldives is the smallest country in Asia as well as the smallest Muslim country by land area. But what blew our minds away was that the Maldives is made of 26 atolls regrouping 1 192 islands of which only 187 are inhabited.
Our itinerary was a 6-day itinerary in The Maldives on the island of Maafushi and Dhigurah. We first travelled to Dhigurah and then Maafushi but to reduce the cost of transportation as well as improve the travel experience, we recommend starting in Maafushi and then Dhigurah.
During our time in the Maldives, we never felt like our budget was tight and on the contrary, we were able to keep our budget to a minimum while still experiencing the Maldives.
So, let’s get to it.
Here is our complete video from this trip :
Table of Contents
What’s included in our budget
Our cost of travel in the Maldives and complete budget breakdown covers what we spent on accommodations, transportations in the country, food, activities and other side costs.
We do not include our flights into the Maldives as it is something that will vary significantly based on where you start your travel to the Maldives.
However, all the cost are for a couple, as this is how we travelled there.
The amount in our cost of travel in the Maldives article are all in euros (€) but there we paid mostly everything is Dollars (USD) and a bit in Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR), so, you will also see some of those.
Our complete itinerary
To get some perspective, our detailed itinerary was the following:
- Day 1: Arrive in Male International Airport and take a speedboat to Dhigurah
- Day 2: Day trip to see Mantas and Whale Sharks
- Day 3: Chill on the beaches of Dhigurah, snorkel, explore the island
- Day 4: Transfer to Maafushi and explore Maafushi
- Day 5: Full day trip to see Nurse Sharks, Stingrays, eat on a sandbank and snorkel.
- Day 6: Last swim in the Maldivian water and transfer to Male Airport.
But to improve the cost, we strongly recommend this itinerary. We didn’t know it at the time but you can transfer from Maafushi to Dhigurah directly by doing the Whale shark tour, which will save you time as well as money.
- Day 1: Arrive in Male International Airport and take a speedboat to Maafushi and then explore Maafushi.
- Day 2: Full day trip to see Nurse Sharks, Stingrays, eat on a sandbank and snorkel.
- Day 3: Day trip to see Mantas and Whale Sharks and transfer to Dhigurah
- Day 4: Chill on the beaches of Dhigurah, snorkel, explore the island
- Day 5: Visit the tip of Dhigurah, brunch and then head to the beach
- Day 6: Last swim in the Maldivian water and transfer to Male Airport.
Cost of Accommodation in The Maldives
We booked all our accommodations in The Maldives on booking.com. There we found various type of accommodation, but mostly boutique hotels and hotels. In any case, we were always warmly welcomed by Maldivians. And one thing is sure, they have an outstanding hospitality, especially in Dhigurah. Maafushi was more of a tourist hub where you couldn’t find many Maldivians but mostly Indian and Sri-Lankan people.
To be honest, we were always looking for accommodation ranging from 80 to 125€ depending on where we were in the country. What’s important to mention is that secluded island of Dhigurah was more expensive, had less options but quality was much better, than Maafushi.
Here is what our Maldives’ accommodations cost us:
- Dhigurah: 125 €/night
- Maafushi: 80 €/night
Always with breakfast included. Even, if we loved our experience. On some occasion (Maafushi), we would recommend budgeting a little bit up to get an accommodation with a sea view, which would range at around 100€/night.
Here is a list of accommodations we recommend based on your budget.
- Maafushi: Triton Prestige Seaview
- Dhigurah: Seaside Dhigurah
Let’s also mention the private island and private hotels. At the beginning, we were considering going to one to have the Maldives experience that you see on TV and on social media. If we would have stay on a private island, we were looking per night at 850 USDfor half board, 950USD for full board or 1100USD for all inclusive.
If like us you want to stay on the lower end, we ended up with a total cost for accommodation in The Maldives of 532€ for two. Which represents around 106€ per night for two. By budgeting a bit up in Maafushi, we were looking at 575€/night representing 115€/night.
Al of this being far from the cost of a private island.
Cost of Transportation in The Maldives
Transportation around the Maldives is easy yet not that affordable. That comes from the fact that the Maldives is an island country, and you will have to take boats, sea planes or planes to move around.
Speedboat: This is the most developed mean of transportation in the Maldives, and it is the cheapest. It is fast, comfortable and you can even spot dolphins. This is the mean of transportation in the Maldives that we used and that locals also used. We always asked our accommodation to reserved it for us, mostly a day in advance and it was always easy to find a spot on the speedboat. It was hassle free, as we were paying the exact amount to our accommodation with no added cost. Cost wise, here we are at 60 USDper person per way between Male and Dhigurah and 25 USD per person per way between Male and Maafushi. Oh, and to go from Dhigurah to Maafushi or the other way around, you first must transit in Male. There are no direct speedboats. That’s why we recommend taking the Whale shark tour from Maafushi as the tour take places near Dhigurah and they can drop you on Dhigurah.
Domestic Flight: You won’t find those between Male and Maafushi, but you can have them to Dhigurah. You can flight from Make Airport to Maamigili Airport with Flyme for 20 minutes and then take a boat to Dhigurah for 15 minutes. That option costing 175 USD per way per person.
Sea Plane: Here also, you can have this option to reach Dhigurah. You can take a sea plane from Male to South Ari Atoll platform for 30 min and then a boat to Dhigurah for 10min. One way, one person costing 250 USD.
Once on an Island, you normally won’t need any more transportation. Your accommodation will always pick you up and drop you off at the boat at no extra cost. Maafushi is super small, and you can walk everywhere. Dhigurah is much bigger but mostly accommodations are offering complementary bikes to move around. If they are not, you can always rent bicycles for $5 for 3 hours and $10 for 6 hours. And the latest options would be to have your accommodation organise a kind of tuktuk which cost 10 USD per way and can accommodation up to 4 people.
Our journey was the following:
- Male Airport to Dhigurah: 120 USD
- Dhigurah to Male Airport: 120 USD
- Male Airport to Maafushi: 50 USD
- Maafushi to Dhigurah: 50 USD
So, all transportations cost us in total 340 USD which is approximately 325€. Our recommendation would be the following:
- Male Airport to Maafushi: 50 USD
- Maafushi to Dhigurah by whale shark tour: 0 USD
- Dhigurah to Male Airport: 120 USD
Cost of food in the Maldives
We often like to cook our own meals, that way we reduce cost and do not need to worry about finding whole food plant-based food and vegetarian food. While traveling we are more flexible with what we eat.
In the Maldives, we never cooked a single meal, ate all our breakfast at our accommodations and either ate at restaurants or in our accommodation for lunch and dinner.
We loved the food there and some of the best things to try in the Maldives are:
- Vegetable noodles
- Vegetable curry
- Vegetable Kotu
- Mas Huni (Shredded Smoked Tuna) or its vegan version made with pumpkin, both are so delicious
Regarding cost, it was similar in both islands, and it was between 24 to 35€ for two.
Including waters, drinks and all the food (except breakfast, that was always included in our accommodation), as well as some snacks, it cost us 186€ for two.
Cost of Activities in The Maldives
Travelling to someplace new, means that you will be doing some activities. The Maldives has lots of things to do and see. But all are mostly in the ocean, some can be done freely, other must be done with a tour.
Our favorite things to do in Dhigurah was snorkeling in the reef near turtle beach. We enjoyed chasing the whole day the turtle. It was a challenge, and it was rewarding when we found it in the end.
In Maafushi, we kinda like the nurse sharks tour but it was too touristy for us. It felt like take a picture and next for the whole day. Of the complete day, we preferred the stingrays in the end.
After, we also did the Whale shark and Manta tour, but didn’t get to see whale shark unfortunately. Well, you cannot always predict wildlife. But we did some snorkeling instead and it was great. There we saw our first black tip shark.
One thing that you must know is that the cost of tours and activities are really different depending the island you are on.
Here is a breakdown of some the cost: (Always for 2)
- Whale shark / Manta tour from Dhigurah: 240 USD
- Nurse Sharks / Stingrays / Wreck Day tour from Maafushi: 150 USD
And the total of all our actives goes up to 368€ for two. We got a little discount for the whale shark tour as we didn’t see them if no, it would have been 300 USD for two.
In our recommended itinerary, you would be looking at:
- Nurse Sharks / Stingrays / Wreck Day tour from Maafushi: 150 USD
- Whale shark / Manta tour from Maafushi: 200 USD
Other cost in the Maldives
VISA: As far as we have seen, most people don’t need a VISA for the Maldives, you only need to do a free online declaration.
Souvenir: We love to bring some little souvenirs. This time, we only got a magnet as a souvenir costing 8,9€.
SIM Card: One of our least favorite things to do when we arrive in a new country is to have to figure out how to get a good sim card. From finding where is the shop, in the airport, or the city center? To deal with the registrations, giving ID and even finding which operator is the best… Well, it’s a true headache.
That’s why, we started using Airalo, for countries where our sim card doesn’t have free coverage. Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store that gives you access to eSIMs (digital SIM cards) for 200+ countries/regions to be connected anywhere in the world the second you land.
For 30 GB, you will pay 46,5€. Plus, Airalo has a discount going on:
- New customer: Save 15% on eSIMs at Airalo.com. Use Code: NEWTOAIRALO15 (7/1 – 12/31/2024)
- Existing one: Save 10% on eSIMs at Airalo.com. Use Code: AIRALOESIM10 (7/1 – 12/31/2024)
Travel Insurance: Frankly, we did not take a travel insurance. Our French credit card company is offering a full travel package that we have. So, if something happen to us, we are covered.
However, if you don’t have such coverage, a travel insurance is recommended for all. WorldNomads offers excellent travel insurance and covers most if not all that could happen during your time abroad.
Total Cost of our trip in The Maldives
It is time to sum-up everything. In total for 6 days in the Maldives, for two of us, it cost us 1422€ which is 255€/day.
In detailed we have:
- Accommodation: 532€ in total, 266€ per person, 106€ per night.
- Transportation: 325€ in total, 162€ per person, 54€ per day.
- Food: 186€ in total, 93€ per person, 31€ per day.
- Activities: 368€ in total, 184€ per person, 61€ per day.
- Others: 8,9€ in total, 4,45€ per person, 1,5€ per day.
By optimizing our travel following our itinerary and recommendation, we would be able to reach 1255€ for two for 6 days in the Maldives.
It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way
