It had to be around water, since all of us loved water (the
irony is 2 of us still don’t know how to swim, and the 3rd friend
who does know it, isn’t perfect). From Goa, to Malaysia, to Andaman &
Nicobar Island, we considered all the possibilities. But there always was 1
problem surrounding any destination we wanted to choose. The BUDGET. It had to
cheap enough for us to spend time and do loads of stuff, and it needed to be
perfect in every sense too, so that we didn’t have to compromise on anything.
Moreover, we wanted to try everything, from deep sea diving, to parasailing, to
staying in a water villa.
After 2 months’ of frantic destination searching, we zeroed
in on Maldives. From what we had
heard from everyone, Maldives was one of the costliest places to visit, and it
was meant only for couples. Well, clearly, we chose to disagree. And, it came
out to be good. Maldives is a perfect destination, be it you are visiting with
your friends, or you are visiting with your spouse, or girlfriend. And you
don’t need a whole lot of money to visit Maldives, as suggested by loads of
websites and friends who have visited the place. This is the sole purpose of
writing this long article. To give you an idea, of how to enjoy yourself to the
fullest in Maldives, without going overbudget, or compromising on your wishlist
owing to money problems. Let’s break it down in points, from choosing the
perfect hotel, to the various resorts or islands you do need to visit. We will
take it day wise, after giving you an idea about booking hotels and air
tickets.
1
. THE TICKET: Travelling from India,
visiting Maldives is not that costly. The airfare is cheap all-round the year,
the catch is to book it around 2 months in advance. But it’s preferable to book
your tickets from either Chennai, or Cochin. This is because no matter which
flight you choose, it will land in either of these two airports before
departing for Maldives. It costs you around 12k for the round trip in economy,
which is quiet cheap, considering a one way flight to Kolkata from Bangalore
itself will cost you 9-10k.
2
. THE PLAN: You need to plan your travel
according to your flight tickets, as a flight to India, from Male is generally
in the afternoon. So you need to reach the airport before 12. There are over
1000 islands, and it’s impossible to visit even 10 if you are on a budget trip,
let’s say for 5 days.
It’s best to plan a trip for 5 days to the
max. This is because you will have ample time to relax, and also complete
whatever activities you wanted to, in the required budget; and 5 days is not
too much, and you will not get saturated by the trip. What we did was, we
planned for a 5 day trip, which involved visiting 4-5 islands, 1 resort, and
also a day’s stop at Male city, the capital of Maldives. I will describe in
detail how we had spent our days below.
We had planned our 1st day around Male
city, so we booked a hotel in Male city (More about the hotel in the 3rd
section). This was because we wanted to see the capital on the first day
itself, as most of the activities take place on islands which are far away, and
we didn’t want to spend time going to and fro from the capital. For activities
in Male city, you can visit the presidential palace, the museums, and a central
library. There’s also an awesome restaurant (I forgot the name) just opposite
the ferry station, where u can hop in for a brunch and customize the dishes
according to ur taste and need. You can also visit another island near Male,
using public ferry which runs till midnight. The name is Hulhumale, and it’s
mainly an island where local people stay. You will get to see some really
beautiful houses beside the beach and enjoy the local culture.
The 2nd
day, we wanted to visit a resort, and wanted to feel its richness and its
beauty. Since staying overnight in resorts are very costly, we decided we will
just go for a day visit. In a day visit, you can do everything a normal guest
can, except that you will not be provided any room, and you will need to go
back to the place you had come from at night.
After a lot of internet research, and
tripadvisor reviews, we booked Bandos Island and Resort. It’s a
resort located around 20-30 minutes from male city, and is only accessible
through a speed boat, or a sea plane. They charge you $100 per person including
tax, for spending the day. There’s an extra $20 per person for transfer in
either direction. We chose to avail the transfer from Male to Bandos. It was a
beautiful boat, and the resort was even more beautiful. In fact, it was one of
the most beautiful places we had ever seen, . It had various activities,
including diving, snorkeling, parasailing, kayaking, etc., for which you
obviously need to pay extra. We didn’t avail any of these facilities, as we
knew that these activities were lot cheaper in the island of Maafushi, which I
will describe to you in the next section. Instead, after spending an awesome
day, in the sky blue sea, we decided to go for a dolphin cruise. It involves
20-30 people going on a Yacht to watch dolphins in the middle of the ocean,
some 20-30 km’s away from the island. Following the dolphin watching, you get
to see the sunset over a glass of fresh juice. Yes you heard correctly, not
wine or alcohol, but fresh juice. Did I forget to mention? Alcohol is strictly
banned in Maldives, it being a Muslim country. Don’t even think of carrying
your own alcohol with you, as you will be detained in the airport. Also, avoid
wearing skimpy clothes in public places. You get alcohol on the resorts, and
you are allowed to wear swimwear in the beaches in the resorts. Going topless
is still a no-no.
A few points about Bandos:
- The food really is awesome here.
- The bar is costly, n so is the water. 1 bottle is $10. Do carry your own water, and you will save a lot.
- They have an amazing club house with loads of activities, which is open to day visitors. We took an amazing steam bath here.
- Do have a look at the water villa (from inside), even though you may not be able to stay in it (its freaking $1000 for 1 night).
After the end of an awesome day, we had
booked a speed boat from Bandos resort, to Maafushi Island, where we had booked
a hotel for the rest of our trip. It’s a 1 hour journey in a speed boat, and it
cost us around $330, but do bargain before fixing the price. It’s very costly
travelling in speed boats, so always try to plan your visit according to public
transport, which is way cheaper.
For the rest of our trip, we had planned
for doing all the adventure activities, so we chose the island of Maafushi. The
reason being, everything in Maafushi is cheaper than rest of the Maldives.
Also, you actually get to interact with fellow travelers, and the locals,
without the sophistication, which you see around resorts and 5 star hotels.
Day
3rd saw us starting with getting up late, as we were really
tired of yesterday’s visit to Bandos. We proceeded our day with a visit to the
beach, which was really beautiful, and it had a separate enclosure for
visitors, where swimwear is allowed. There were a few shops here and there, but
overall, the island is not as crowded as rest of the public islands in
Maldives. We then moved on to book a few adventures. There are many institutes
in Maafushi, who conduct various adventures. We chose ‘Maafushi Dive’ as they
were the only diving people who were ready to take non-swimmers like us for
deep sea diving. It was also our first time inside the sea, so we were
obviously a little skeptical about it. But these guys were really awesome, and
I would recommend them in a blink of an eye.
About
diving: Guys, it’s an outside world feeling to take a dive. The silence,
the beauty, the peace; It’s really there as soon as you take the dive. You
shouldn’t miss it for anything, and there’s really nothing to fear. They charge
you $100 per person if you want to dive in the middle, away from islands. They
will first show you a 15-20 minutes video, teaching you all about various hand
signs you need to know. They also make sure that you get the right equipment,
which is double checked to make sure it’s working. Inside shallow water, they
teach you the basic skills, like passing your oxygen mask to someone else with
you, and taking sea water out of your eye mask (it really is important to
master these skills before you actually go in for the dive). There was 1 guide
for 2 people taking the dive. Moreover, as both of us didn’t know how to swim
and my friend being 100kgs, the instructor had to work doubly hard, and he
really did a great job with us. For beginners like us, they take you 12mtrs
down. The sea from inside is very beautiful. The fishes are at peace, and it’s
suggested not to touch the corals and disturb the fishes. We were lucky to see
loads of fishes, which till now we had only seen in discovery. The only thing
that disappointed us was that we didn’t get to see a Manta Sting Ray.
We
say diving is heavenly; well, it’s true. But the better part is the feeling
you get when you have come out of the water, and are just realizing it on the
boat. You don’t feel like talking. You just want to enjoy the moment. It’s like
falling in love for the first time. That silence brings tears to your eyes, and
you never realize it.
P.s.
For all the Manta lovers, visit around October, when Manta’s come to nearby
Maafushi. For those who don’t know what a Manta Sting Ray is, just google it.
The next
day, we went for a night snorkeling
trip. This too, we didn’t want to do on the same island. So our hotel
arranged it for us. We were accompanied by 2 instructors on the speed boat,
taken to the middle of the ocean again, with all the equipment including
powerful torches. They charged us $30 per person. I have to agree, this was
better than my first dive. The visibility is low, and the fishes get frightened
by the light, but still, it was a lot more peaceful, and u can see numerous
types of fishes and creatures in night from the parrot fish to star fish, sea
cucumber and the flying fish , we enjoyed it a lot more. There’s no why to it,
it’s just that we felt better than we did the day before. We were also very
lucky to see Eagle Ray Manta in our
snorkeling trip even in the off Manta season. It was huge, and it scared the
crap out of us (read Steve Irwin’s story if you don’t fear sting ray’s). But
still, we had seen a Manta, and that had paid for our trip.
The
best part?
Three friends sitting on a boat, the moonlight
shining on each other’s face, the sea making lovely sound, and you realize,
this is the best feeling you have ever had in life. You feel like crying, and
this time, you don’t stop. If you visit Maldives, do take a boat and go for a
ride at night, away from people and the light, to the middle of the ocean, and
just stay there for half an hour. You will understand what I am trying to say
right now.
Over the next 2 days, we tried our hands on night fishing, kayaking and
scooter riding. It’s all very cheap here, and you actually get to ride the
scooter, unlike in Goa, where you just sit behind some guy riding the scooter.
We also spent our last day not doing much but idling our time on the beach.
This was our ‘we time’, and we wanted to spend it in peace, before we joined in
the hectic life that each of us had.
On our last
day, we took a public ferry from maafushi, to male city. It’s a 2 hour
journey which costs you $2. Had we taken a speed boat, it would have been $250
for the trip. We reached the airport before 12, and were well in advance to get
a few items from the duty free store. Thus, ended our trip.
3. THE HOTEL: This is THE MOST IMPORTANT
decision you need to take before you visit Maldives, since almost half your
budget will go in booking a hotel. A hotel which suits your budget, but also
takes care of your comfort needs. Let me be clear, I am not writing for people
who have loads of money, and never care for the price. This is for people who
want the hotel to be cheap, but good. Since almost all the hotels in Maldives
are costly, and the tax is beyond your thinking, choose your hotel wisely. I
say this because, suppose you took a hotel that will cost you $35 for the
night, you will end up paying more than $70 after you include the tax. So don’t
go just by the rates, but also include the taxes, which really is too much for
a tourist destination.
For
MALE:
We chose ‘House Clover’ for Male city. It
cost us around $100 per room (twin sharing) including tax. It was a great place
to stay, and was more like a flat with different rooms given to different
guests, and included a common hall with washing machine and a small kitchen.
The staff were really friendly, and I would recommend it to anyone who would
like to stay in Male.
For
MAAFUSHI:
For Maafushi, we chose ‘Venturo Maldives’.
It’s one of the cheapest hotels in whole of Maldives, but its service outplays
the cost by a mile. The staff is really really friendly. The rooms are very
clean and include all the necessary requirements (LCD TV, a mini fridge, an
A.C). They also provide a host of activities (Day resort visits, Dolphin
cruise, Shark cruise, Snorkeling). Diving is not conducted by them, but there
are load of institutes where you can try diving.
4
. FEW POINTS FOR FELLOW TRAVELERS
- Water in Maldives (specially the resorts, and male City) is very costly. Try to carry as many bottles you can when you go to Maldives (We took 16 litres).
- People say it’s the end of the world for vegetarians. Well, it’s not, as all three of us were vegetarians, and we survived. There are plenty of menu options for vegetarians. Also, do try the typical Maldivian dish ‘kuttorushi’. It’s a non-vegetarian dish, but they will prepare a modified vegetarian version of it if you request.
- If you are a Bengali or know Bengali, you are in for a treat. Turns out, most of the workers in Maldives are from Bangladesh, and knowing Bengali entitles you to better service, and an option for bargain (We Indian’s do love to bargain no matter where we are).
- Do tip wherever you go. Tips are well appreciated, and it’s kind of a custom over there to tip people.
- Do take a go pro camera if you own 1. Since we were first timers, we didn’t have any idea about it, and it really cost us, as we couldn’t capture innumerable moments due to lack of a camera.
- Best time to visit is from December to March, as temp starts to soar after that, and then the monsoon starts.
- Do carry a sunscreen (waterproof and at least 50spf)
- For more details, feel free to contact me in gmail, and I will be happy to guide/help you more.
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