How to visit the Maldives without spending a lot of money

A scattering of tropical islands in the Indian Ocean numbering close to 1200, the Maldives is a unique nation with only about 200 of these islands being inhabited including the resort islands which are famed for the natural beauty around them. It is not only the honeymooners who seek solitude and romantic settings that are eager to visit these islands, most others have the Maldives on their bucket list. Let us discover how to tick off this bucket list item without denting your wallet.

Island Hopping | img by 陳 揮之 via flickr

Be selective with accommodation

Usually, a large chunk of one’s travel budget to the Maldives is on accommodation, in most cases, spent on Maldives luxury hotels which are priced exorbitantly during season time. Travelling off-season and making use of hotel offers like those at Adaaran Club Rannalhi can help go easy on your wallet.The Maldivian Government has now enabled the establishment of guesthouses and homestays on inhabited islands providing additional room nights for travellers to the Maldives at quite affordable rates. Whilst these rooms on inhabited islands are at attractive rates and can be booked online from various hotel property sites for convenience, you benefit in two ways. You contribute responsibly to uplift the income of the locals whilst enjoying a stay in the Maldives at much more affordable rates.

Activities you can do on a budget

With your accommodation taken care of focus on how you are going to enjoy your time in the Maldives. With plenty of activities available here are just a few sought-after trips you can look at. Do make sure these tours are booked through the Guest house you are staying in to enjoy competitive rates.

Surfing – With some outstanding surfing spots available offering all levels of surfing, this is an easy possibility even if you are a beginner.

Diving and Snorkelling – These are also possible with ease as facilities and trained personnel are on site. Pick the right spots to experience these activities to be rewarded with good views of marine life within the ocean.

Day excursions – An array of interesting day excursions are available out of which you can select your preferred choice, such as a picnic at a sandbank, dolphin-watching tours, snorkelling tours and Fishing tours etc

Island Hopping

This is a fun activity to interact with more locals, enjoy food and explore a different island. For this purpose, you can visit the capital city Male on the main Male Island or proceed to one of the southern atolls which are close to the main airport and are not far by speed boat service.Male Island – This can be a day tour to view the National Museum, explore the fish market near the harbour, the Grand Friday Mosque and many other places of interest in the capital city.South Islands – These being close to Male, transportation is not too costly and you get to experience local food, you can even plan to stay overnight as accommodation is cheap.

Food during your stay

Good food is fairly cheap on these islands making it possible for budget travellers to savour various seafood delights and other traditional Maldivian dishes. Fried yams as yams are grown in the Maldives, are a favourite being crispy as you bite it and moist on the inside so are Masroshi, the tuna stuffed chappatis, fish cutlets a savoury crumb fried snack and delicious sage pudding if you have a sweet tooth are only some of the local dishes visitors enjoy. As almost all the guest houses offer free breakfast as it is already included in the room rate, if you have a good breakfast, the lunch can be a light snack and you can get dinner for under 10 USD with meat and seafood from the many eating places on the local island.