When I arrived at Male airport, Dave and I were the only backpackers in sight. When I visited, I felt like one of the only independent travellers in the country - I even turned up on one island and learned that my boyfriend, Dave, and I were the only tourists currently staying there! At present, many budget travellers remain unaware that it’s possible to do this. For the first time, tourists were allowed to stay with locals and gain an insight into Maldivian life. Ten years ago, however, the government changed its regulations to allow guesthouses to open on the local islands. The first resort in the country opened in 1973 and for thirty years, the only way to visit as a tourist was via these expensive island retreats. Tourism in general is relatively new to the Maldives. Here’s everything you need to know about travelling the Maldives on a budget.īikini Beach on Maafushi Independent and Budget Travel is Very New to the Maldives
But there are, of course, ways to do it even cheaper.
As a budget traveler, you can expect to spend $30 a day on a private room in a guesthouse $10 a day on food and $10 a day on activities. How much does it cost to travel the Maldives on a budget? As little as $50 a day. I spent three weeks in the country and visited three of the local islands - Maafushi, Fulidhoo and Guraidhoo. I also splurged on two nights on a resort stay at Olhuveli Island in an overwater bungalow so that I could experience the differences between the two ways of travelling. So, now is the perfect time to travel to the Maldives. The number of guesthouses on some of the more popular islands are doubling each year as more and more travellers turn up in search of paradise on a budget. On one of the islands I visited, Dave and I were the only tourists - we had every beach to ourselves! I suspect this won’t be as commonplace five years from now. When it comes to the latter, each resort is built on its own island, isolating you from the rest of the country so you never get a chance to experience local life. Staying on the local islands has given me an insight into life in the Maldives that very few people have experienced so far. The Maldives is a fascinating country to travel to independently, not least because it’s only been possible to do so for the past decade. Now, guesthouses are springing up on local islands on a weekly basis, offering budget travellers an affordable way to explore the country.Īnd, in many ways, travelling on a budget in the Maldives is far superior to staying in one of the luxury resorts.