MALDIVES GUIDE
Do you want to visit Maldives? Paradise is much closer than you might think - read on!
Diving into paradisiacal waters, swimming among whale sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, manta rays and tropical fish can be at your fingertips. We will tell you everything about our 7-day trip to the Maldives staying on local islands, along with a complete guide with prices and tips so that you have all the information to live these adventures.
If you travel on a budget, you can visit Maldives and live the experiences that we will describe below for much less than you imagine. If, on the other hand, you want to live a more luxurious experience, it is the perfect destination to escape the daily routine, and relax and enjoy the resort that you like the most, whether in a Beach villa or a dream Water villa.
⇲ Activities to do in Maldives
About Maldives
Maldives is a tropical country in the Indian Ocean, with Malé as its capital. It consists of 26 ring-shaped atolls made up of more than 1.000 coral islands. It is known for its paradisiacal beaches, blue lagoons and extensive reefs. Approximately 103.000 people live on the islands. The official language is Maldivian or Dhivehi, although the vast majority of them also speak English.
Their religion is Islam, so no alcohol is sold in shops or restaurants on the local islands (alcohol isonly allowed in the resorts).
The official currency in the Maldives is the Rufiyaa (Rf). In local islands, Rufiyaa and dollar are both accepted. In our case we exchange some Euros to Rufiyaa at the airport, just in front of the Tourist Information desk. We didn't need any more cash until Maafushi, where we went to the Bank of Maldives building where there is an ATM.
Buying a SIM card while traveling abroad is crucial for staying connected and being able to call, text and access the internet without incurring exorbitant roaming charges. If your mobile is compatible with eSim, you can buy the Holafly plan with our discount here. The connection we have received in all the countries that we've tried it has been very good, and with an eSim there is no need to worry for the loss of your main SIM card. If your mobile is not compatible, we recommend you to buy a SIM card at the airport (Ooredoo is one of the best rated).
How to get there
Airfares (from Madrid or Barcelona) normally range between 600€ and 1.000€. However, if your dates are fixed or you go during high season such as Christmas, Easter (our case) or summer (which despite being rainy season in the Maldives, prices are high), they can cost up to 1.200€ or much more.
To get a good price, it is best to look for it as far in advance as possible and use the price alerts provided by platforms such as Skyscanner, Kayak or Google Flights. Because of their user interface and ease of alerts, we mainly use Kayak.
LOCAL ISLANDS
While organizing our trip we had many doubts about which local islands to choose, as there are many options and each one has its own particularities, and there is a lot of contradictory information on the internet.
In our case, once we landed in Malé, just outside the airport terminal we saw the pier from where ferries and speedboats depart to various islands near the capital and resorts.
Our hotel booked the 2-hour speedboat for us, which took us to our destination for the next twoand a half days: Dhigurah.
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DHIGURAH
It iss a local island located in the south of Ari Atoll, about 3km long and less than 300m wide. You could say it is divided into three zones: at one end, the harbour area, where most of the local life is located. As you move towards the other end of the island, you will find shops, hotels and restaurants. At the other end, as it narrows, dense tropical vegetation leads you to an impressive sandbank. To get to the sandbank from the village you can hire a private shuttle to thehotel (about 10 USD per person each way), rent a bike (5 USD half an afternoon per person) or walk (about 45min).
And why should Dhigurah be a must? First, because its bikini beach and sandbank at the end of the island are stunning, with crystal clear water, paradisiacal surroundings and beautiful snorkeling spots. Secondly, because it is known for the chances of seeing manta rays and whale sharks around the atoll where it is located, as they reside there during all year.
We stayed at the Dhiguveli Breeze Hotel (note that there is also the Dhiguveli Hotel - without Breeze - from the same company). We booked it via Booking because of the good reviews and we loved it. They came to pick us up as soon as we arrived on the island with the speedboat, and all the service was very attentive and helpful, they always try to help you with everything you ask for. The total price for 2 nights was 200 USD in a double room with balcony.
After those 2 and a half days in Dhigurah, we took a speedboat to Malé (also organised by thehotel), and there we took another one (through the Icom Tours website) to our destination for therest of our holiday: Maafushi.
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MAAFUSHI
It is the most popular local island. It is approximately 1.200m long and 260m wide. It belongs to the Kaafu Atoll and is the island with the largest tourist offer, full of hotels, restaurants and shops, which is why the price of accommodation and food there is one of the cheapest in the whole country. As a curiosity, the entire southern tip of the island is a prison.
The water around the island of Maafushi is clear and fairly clean, but it is not as breathtaking as other islands. We also recommend staying on this island for at least 2-3 days to be able to go on various excursions, as there is a wide range of activities to do and several companies offer unforgettable activities, which we will explain in the next section.
In our case we stayed at the Island Ambience Hotel; we chose it because of the good reviews it has on Google and Booking. It is a small hotel, very well located and with an excellent service that helped us in everything we needed. As the only "but" perhaps we would comment that the room smelled bad at the beginning of our stay, despite being a fairly new hotel, the room was not very nice, but we can say that the treatment of the staff perfectly compensated this point. The total price for 4 nights in a standard double room was 260 USD.
Activities to do in Maldives
One thing we loved about Maldives is: if you're looking for relaxation and disconnection, you'll find it, and if on the other hand you like to explore and never stop like us, there are activities to keep you going.
In Dhigurah we recommend you explore the island on foot, go to the beautiful sandbank to the south and take the excursions that your hotel offers (bear in mind that each hotel has excursions for its own guests, you can't take excursions with another hotel that is not yours).
The most common activities are:
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WHALE SHARK TRIP
You leave the port early in the morning to sail for about 2 hours until you reach Manta point to swim with manta rays. Then they take you to look for whale sharks, which as you can imagine they do everything possible to see on every trip, but it is not guaranteed and you are not always lucky. In our case we only saw one manta but it was swimming around where we were for more than 30 minutes, so we we were able to enjoy it.
Then we got on the boat and after 5 minutes we were told to get ready quickly because there was a whale shark nearby, and so it was! What a thrill to be able to swim around such a beautiful and big animal! It was brief, as it soon sank into the depths, but totally amazing... The price was about 75€ per person (plus a snorkelling equipment charge of 5-10€). The same excursion departing from Maafushi costs 100€, so keep that in mind when planning your trip. It is also worth mentioning that in addition to snorkelling, it is also possible to do the excursion in scuba diving if you have the necessary certification.
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REEF SNORKELING
They take you to the port in the morning, you get on the typical boat there, known as a dhoni, and they take you to dive for about 2 hours in the barrier reef around the island of Dhigurah. The day we went on the excursion it rained, but we still enjoyed it very much, the water was quite clean, we saw a lot of fish and we were able to swim for a long time next to a turtle, so we came back more than satisfied despite the rain.
The cost of this excursion was about 40€/person.
On the island of Maafushi the excursions work differently: obviously you can go to your hotel to have the excursions organized for you, but what we recommend is to visit one of the agencies directly, such as Shadowpalm, Maafushi Tours, iCom Tours, etc. In our case, the 3 days that we stayed in Maafushi, we booked the trips with Shadowpalm because of its good reviews on internet and we couldn't choose better!
Below we give you all the information we consider relevant about the trips we took:
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VAAVU ATOLL EXPLORE TOUR
One of the best and most complete excursions we did. We set sail at 7 in the morning to the longest sandbank in the Maldives, where they filmed some incredible drone videos of us walking in that paradise.
Then we headed to Vaavu Atoll, where there were at least 20-30 nurse sharks, with which you can swim just a few centimeters away from you.
And after the adrenaline rush of swimming with them, we headed to the local island of Fulidhoo, known for several huge stingrays and nurse sharks that come close to the shore. In our case we saw about 5 stingrays hanging around us.
And from there we went on to the last and long awaited stop: swimming with dolphins. At the Dolphin Lagoon we jumped off the boat and had the opportunity to swim with these animals that we adore. The visibility of the water was not the best at that time because of the high tide, but we still enjoyed it very much, but they swim very fast and you have to swim a lot if you want to see them well. At about 4:30pm we were back in port after all these unforgettable experiences.
The price is around 60 USD per person plus an extra 30 USD if you want drone photos and videos of the places visited, which we highly recommend in order to keep the memories of the breathtaking experiences.
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JACKSPARROW TOUR
Our second favorite excursion. At about 8am we set off for a wreck dive: Vaavu Shipwreck. It is a sunken Indonesian ship in a unique environment where the water is crystal clear and where you can find lots of colorful fish swimming around all the live corals on the hull of the ship. It's a very popular and well-known site on Instagram (check it here), and from our point of view, a must-see!
Our next stop left us all jaw-dropping: the uninhabited Jacksparrow Island (the real name is Bodumohora). If we had to describe the word paradise, I think we would describe this island. Incredibly turquoise and clear water all around the island, creating a mix of blues we had never seen anywhere else. In the centre of the island there was only the owner's house under construction (yes, the islands are owned through concessions granted by the government for a specific number of years) and nothing else but palm trees and sand.
To finish the excursion, we stopped at the local island Thinadhoo, where we were able to walkaround and see how local life is there. At about 5pm we were back to Maafushi.
This trip is a little bit more expensive, 115 USD per person, but from our point of view, it is totally worth every penny!
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HALF DAY SNORKELING TOUR
A 4 hour snorkeling excursion where you will have the opportunity to swim with turtles (Turtle Reef), clown fish (Nemo Point), a reef with palm-shaped corals (Palm Reef), eat at a sandbank and watch dolphins from the boat, which in this case we were unlucky and did not see. By 1pm we were back in the harbour.
The price is 30 USD per person. This one didn't impress us as much as the other two, probably because the water wasn't that crystal that day, but good enough as a complimentary activity for half a day.
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A TRIP ON OUR OWN TO GULHI
Gulhi is known for the incredible beaches and blue waters around the island, some people say that it has one of the most beautiful beaches of Maldives, and we can understand why...
We booked a speed boat ticket from Maafushi to Gulhi, and return, with Maafushi Tours that cost around 10-15 USD per person. The journey takes 10 min more or less depending on the sea conditions. They leave you at the pier, and just 5 minutes walking you arrive to Gulhi Beach, famous for the blue waters and the swing with "I Love Gulhi". In midday, we went to have lunch at Hotel Fulhoi to enjoy some delicious Noodles.
These are all the excursions we did on our trip, the 2 indicated in Dhigurah and these 4 in Maafushi. The rest of the time was spent exploring both islands!
Food in Maldives
Wondering what to eat in the Maldives? Don't worry at all, in almost every restaurant you'll find a wide variety of dishes to suit all tastes. Obviously their star dish is fish, but they also offer Asian dishes (noodles, fried rice, etc.), pizzas, pasta, sandwiches, meats and a long etcetera.
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DHIGURAH
At the Dhiguveli Breeze Hotel we booked accommodation and breakfast, which is served on the top floor of the Dhiguveli Hotel, 200m from the Breeze, in the Malaveli restaurant, the best restaurant we tasted on the island.
We only had the breakfast included, however, we also went there for lunch and dinner on several occasions and everything was delicious, with generous portions. As for price, please note that the menu does not include taxes (10% service charge and 12% government tax). For example, you can find fruit juices for $4-5, Asian noodle dishes for $5-8, pasta for $7-8 or pizzas for $10-12.
Apart from this one, we tried the Long Beach Restaurant, as it is 10 steps away from the hotel (right now it appears as closed in Maps). The atmosphere at night is very pleasant, decorated with lights. The service is very friendly but we found it a bit "blander" than the previous one despite having similar prices.
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MAAFUSHI
At the Island Ambiance Hotel we also booked bed and breakfast, with a choice of pancakes or toast with jam, eggs or sausages.
The rest of the day, we ate out on excursions that lasted until mid-afternoon, and in the evening we had dinner at a different restaurant each day. Here are our recommendations which, as you can see on Google Maps, are among the best rated on the island:
✽ Juice Vibe: we tried the mango smoothie, mango juice and coconuts - which they cut up if you ask for it when you finish drinking it so you can eat the inside - (5$ more or less each drink). Everything was delicious and the terrace was very nice with very comfortable chairs.
✽ Maladiwa Melon: very nice restaurant with an indoor terrace. We had some patatas bravas (yes, Maldivian style but they were delicious) and some Chicken Noodles. The menu is in local currency and the prices are among the cheapest.
✽ Semili's Restaurant: Indian restaurant whose speciality is Dumplings (a kind of gyoza stuffed with vegetables, chicken, fish, etc.), highly recommended! Apart from this, we shared a very good Chicken Tikka Masala, but be careful because the food in this restaurant is spicy, so if you don't like it or can't tolerate it well, it's better to choose another one.
✽ Mr. Octopus: highly recommended. Menu prices are in Rufiya (MVR) including taxes. Fruit juices for 3-4€, fish dishes for 10€ and many other options such as burgers, noodles, pasta, etc.
✽ Navio Restaurant: we went because of the good reviews on Google Maps. Prices in Rufiya (MVR) including taxes. It wasn't the one we liked the most but if you want to try it like us, it's worth going anyway, good service with a terrace in front of the harbour.
Travel insurance
Traveling with insurance is essential, you never know how you might feel or what might happen to you when you are away from home.
We always travel with Iati. Now you can book your Heymondo travel insurance with a 5% discount!
Just click on the image below and travel with peace of mind in any situation!
Find all the places IN THE MAP
* We would like to point out that no company, hotel or restaurant has paid us to mention them in this blog. We simply recommend what we booked and paid for ourselves, considering that we enjoyed it enough to recommend it.
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