A guide and review for 3 Days 4 Nights in Maldives with just RM 1732 per pax! (Free & Easy)

I was reading blog after blog on travelling in Maldives and the cheapest all-in expenses is RM 3000 (~USD 666) per pax for a short trip. Here I'm going to share my adventure and the total cost is just RM 1732 per pax (~USD 385). Yes, it's surprisingly affordable and I was skeptical about it earlier when I plan my trip.

Relaxing in Mahibadhoo's beach

If you are wondering whether it's worth visiting Maldives and reading on...

Stingray just by the beach

Preparation before trip...

1. Flight

  First of all, get yourself a flight. Well, I'm not going to teach you how to get cheap flight in this article. Generally, flying to Male from Kuala Lumpur cost you less than RM 1000, and if you are flying anything more under budget airline, it's considered overpaid.

  I was flying at RM 411 including meal, per pax, to Male and booked 2 weeks before my flight. It was a budget airline but I'm not going to name the airline here :)

  It took 4 hours for Kuala Lumpur-Male flight and we landed on ~8pm+ at Velana International Airport.

Don't believe the fight is so cheap? Here's the payment statement. Free advertisement.......

Total flight cost = RM 822.00

2. Accomodation

Male

Generally it can cost you from RM 200 - RM 20,000 :) However, if you have RM 300+ budget (inclusive tax), you can get a decent room. If you are looking for those resort that can jump into water right from your doorstep, such as this....

High end resort

please prepare a minimum RM 1500 a night. Please note that taxes is very high in Maldives. Nearly 30% has to be added to your basic rate as advertise in major hotel booking websites.

For my trip, I had a stopover at Male's hotel the first night. It cost RM 338.79. And my 2 other nights, I stayed in a guesthouse in Mahibadhoo. It cost RM 773.11/ 2 = RM 380.55 per night.

Mahibadhoo guest house

Total accommodation cost = RM 773.11 + RM 338.79 = RM 1111.90

3. Transportation

Obviously, the main transportation mode in Maldives is via ferry or speedboat. Maldives actually consists of thousands of islands. Hundreds are inhabited. In other to move around, there're 3 modes of transport. Ferry, speed boat or sea plane. Government ferry provider is MTCC.

MTCC ferry

  Generally, transportation to tourist island is only 1 trip a day, yes you read it right, frequency is 1 trip a day. Some popular islands have more trips. But only a few. There's uncountable ferry trips from Velana Airport-Male. There's boat almost every 15 mins - 30 mins, for 24 hours if not wrong, or till late midnight the very least. There's also a lot of boats from Male-Hulhumale. So there's no need to worry about transfer from Velana to these 2 islands.

  So for budget style, plan your transportation using ferry as much as possible. It can cost you quite a fortune the moment you try speed boat or up another level, sea plane. Speed boat starts from USD35 per pax depending on distance, while sea plane starts from USD 450 per pax. Yes, it's on USD. While you might found cheaper speed boat, it all depends on distance and I don't think there's under USD 25 speed boat per pax at all.

  Due to the cost of ferry vs speed boat, it's crucial for you to choose hotel that is accessible by public ferry. If you can't reach by public ferry, then you have to go via public speed boat or hotel provided speed boat which can cost you quite amount of money.

  For me, I took a public ferry Male-Mahibadhoo which cost me USD 10 per pax. For returning home, I took the public speed boat though, as the timing is better. That cost me USD 35 per pax.

Speed boat!

Ferry from Velana Airport-Male and vice versa cost MVR15 (RM 4.21 or < USD 0.97) only.

Cost of transportation for the trip for 2
Night 1
Velana Airport - Male (MTCC ferry) - free, provided by hotel

Day 1
Male (Villinghi ferry terminal) - Mahibadhoo - USD 10 * 2 pax = USD 20

Day 3
Mahibadhoo - Male - USD 35 * 2 pax = USD 70
Male - Hulhumale - MVR 5.50 * 2 pax = MVR 11 = USD 0.71
Hulhumale - Male - MVR 5.50 * 2 pax = MVR 11 = USD 0.71
Male - Velana Airport - MVR 15 * 2 pax = MV 30 = USD 1.95

Overall total = USD 93.37 = RM 420.17

The trip itself.....

Quite a long story. For summary or tldr version....scroll to bottom or click here

Night 1

Okay, that's on the preparation, it's time to enjoy. We arrived at Velana International Airport at 8.30pm. Right after exiting the arrival hall, our hotel representative greeted us, holding the hotel cardboard. We told the representative to wait for us as we need to buy sim card!

Like any modern travellers, we bought a sim card right away. It cost USD 16 (including tax, well tax here tax there). Normally I don't buy sim card when travelling but because there's someone who comment, there's even internet connection after you are in middle of the sea, I would like to try it out. True enough, I have signal even after I travelled quite some distance in the ferry.

Picture taken the next day. Still has signal after 1 hour of ferry away from Male

  Then, our hotel representative escorted us to the ferry and gave us ferry ticket he bought earlier. We took the ferry to Male City almost immediately, without any waiting time. It took 15 minutes to reach Male.

  Right after we step out of the boat, another of our hotel representative greeted us at Male. Then we took their van which transferred us to hotel doorstep. Check-in. Thought of going out for a walk but a bit scared as it seems not safe. Many males are hanging around the streets, loitering, and standing there doing nothing. Spoke to the hotel staff and he ensured us that it's 100% safe. But decided to hide in room for the night despite the assurance.

  It's recommended to take hotel with airport transfer as it can be quite confusing in searching the hotel without guide especially at night.

Day 1 and Night 2

Male's beach

  Woke up at 6am naturally! Maybe due to jet lag. The sky was bright, and we went to search for breakfast. Our RM 338.79 hotel didn't include breakfast but include airport transfer. Had breads as breakfast, tasted normal, and returned to hotel.

  After packing, we checkout. By then, our Mahibadhoo guest house representative already at our hotel and presented us the public ferry ticket to Mahibadhoo. Great service! And no need tip!

  As our Male city hotel include airport transfer, we had a free transfer from hotel-Villingili Ferry terminal (Actually, it's just 10 minutes walk lol, but of course we don't know since it's first time)

  Then our Mahibadhoo representative escorted us to the correct ferry to board. 4 hours+ of journey. It's long but well worth it. After all, you are going to Maldives for the sea. Why not 4 hours of sea view, instead of 1 hours of speed boat view!

  Talking about great service, once our ferry reached Mahibadhoo, our guest house owner greeted us at the ferry terminal! Incredible service, and escorted us to the guest house. Once we reached the guest house, we are introduced to the facilities and sea activities provided. Sea activities... Time to earn your money lol.

  However, the owner is not pushy at all. Just introduced us the sea activities and if there's any we would want to try, just inform him when dinner time. Cool. Then, we are handed our lunch menu, and the chef cook right after we ordered. Seems like your private chef.

  We are lucky that there's only 4 guests including us in the guesthouse. And 2 of them went to a remote island for overnight. So, it's like having the whole area to yourself. RM 380.55, to have the whole restaurant on your own, whole beach on your own, whole guest house on your own, it's just value for money!

  Too much of text, lets have picture do the talking.

USD 12.00 for this fish. Value for money

Day 2 Night 3

  Again due to jet lag, we woke up at 5am this time! But re-sleep till 7am. Had a breakfast included meal (just bread and jam), then prepared for snorkelling. Initially wanted to take a package to see manta ray, USD 140 per boat to the manta point. Unfortunately, and credit to the owner for honesty, he told us that since yesterday cannot see manta ray, there's very low chance, the location can see manta ray today. If can see yesterday, then can see today.

  Disappointed, we took the snorkelling package. 2 locations cost USD 100 and 3 location cost USD 160 per boat. Again the owner is very good, didn't force us to decide right away but provided us option to choose after we tried the snorkelling. After 2 locations of snorkelling, was very tired and decided to save USD 60 :)

  Had lunch which we pre-ordered the night before after snorkelling. In other words, once we returned from snorkelling, food is ready for us! Again service +1.

  Pictures speaks more than a thousands words

Map where you can find diving and snorkelling point in this atoll

  Night looms. I was quite far off the beach in search of stingray. My girlfriend was at the beach relaxing. Then the chef came out with a broom and cleaned the beach. I thought, tough job, chef need to clean beach.

  Then, the chef asked if we would want to have dinner by the seaside. He did say it's possible to do so on the very first lunch day, but we didn't requested it as we scared of mosquitoes:)

  But due to his warm intention, we say OK for tonight dinner by the seaside.

  And it's really an amazing experience. A dinner on sandy beach of Maldives, the Maldives' sea just beside us, and thousands of starts above us. And it's FREE! Yeah, free for such arrangement. What more can you asked for.

  A night that I won't forget for the rest of my life.

USD 26.50 for this Maldives' beachside dinner!

Day 3 Night 4

  It's time to go home. Public speed boat is at 7.00am! Thanks to jet lag we woke up at 5.00am. Had our breakfast, watched the sunrise, and off we went. Again service +1. Guest house owner woke up early and escorted us to the speed boat right until we boarded it!

  Only took 1 hour by speed boat and we found ourself at Male by 8.00am. Took a public ferry to Hulhumale which is nearby. It cost MVR 5.50 per pax and took like 20 minutes. There's a ferry almost every 15 minutes and quite fast waiting time.

  Had another breakfast at Hulhumale. Kinda expensive. USD 10 for both of us. Expensive considering what we ate vs in Mahibadhoo. Then we searched for Hulhumale beach. The beach is long, wave is quite big. Impressive. Picked a cafe and loitered till evening. That's our plan.

  Then the disappointment began. Although the cafe doesn't have much customers, we are chased away after 2 hours. We ordered drinks and food almost every 30 mins interval, costing us nearly USD 15 in total. But after 2 hours, perhaps the cafe fed up of us sitting there for a long time, presented us the bill to pay. What a turnoff!

  So, we paid and find a public spot to sit. Had some fun at the sea-side, then another disappointment. The beach looks clear but when I jumped into the sea, I can't see stuff beneath the water. Not clear anymore. Just a normal beach.

  Won't return to Hulhumale next time. Not worth it.

Hulhumale's beach

Hulhumale

3pm...decided to return to Male. Our body kinda sticky and was looking for an air-conditioned cafe. To our dismay, after walking for 30 minutes (which somehow, means we walked half of the island), we found no air-conditioned cafe.

Tired, we just walked into a cafe with fans. Again, the attitude is kinda commercialised. Quickly cleaned our table once we finish drinking and eating. So we can't stay there anymore. Not Starbucks, Coffee Bean style where you can hang around indefinitely... unfortunately.

Again frustrated, we decided to go to Velana airport, despite it's only 4.00pm. Our flight is 9.00pm. Once we reached the airport, wow, there's mini food court with air-conditioned, free electric plug for mobile charging in the food court. Standard costly airport food of course, but good enough for us to hang around till our flight..

Cost of food, activities and tips for 2
Night 1
Sim card = USD 16
Arrived late, ate own instant noodle in room = Free

Day 1 & Night 2
Bread as breakfast = MVR 62
Mineral water & soft drinks & snacks = ~MVR 60 (can't remember but around there)
Lunch at Mahibadhoo = USD 9.50
Dinner at Mahibadhoo = USD 17.00

Day 2 & Night 3
Breakfast included by guesthouse = Free
Lunch at Mahibadhoo = USD 9.50
Dinner at Mahibadhoo = USD 26.50
Snorkelling = USD 100
Tips = USD 20

Day 3 & Night 4
Breakfast at Hulhumale = MVR 130 (expensive!)
Lunch at Hulhumale = ~USD 15 (also can't remember but around there)
High-tea at Male = MVR 140 (expensive too!)
Ice cream and large coke at airport foodcourt = USD 7.50

Total MVR used = MVR 392 = USD 25.45
Total USD used = USD 221
Overall = USD 25.45 + USD 221 = USD 246.45

Summary or TLDR version

Must plan on transport before hotel booking. It can cost you a fortune if travelling by speed boat. USD 40 * 2 person * 2 way = USD 160 = RM 720. More expensive that your flight ticket :)
Public ferry all the way! Ranged from USD0.5 - USD2 usually.
Don't pick tourist islands that's popular. It is commercialised and everything is expensive with poor service
Unlike other blog advice, I recommend use MVR (local currency whenever possible) instead of USD. For example, you buy mineral water for MVR 12 = USD 0.78. If you pay in USD, of course they will just charge you USD 1 instead of USD 0.78. Got it?
Male city is worth as a stopover or maximum 1 day stay. Nothing to do, and you can circle the island within 1 hour of walking.
Sim card is optional. Wifi is pretty good in hotel and most of the time, you will be in the middle of the sea diving/snorkelling or in the hotel.
Prepare to get tanned. Immediately tanned even with suncreen.
Humalele has quite a number of China tourists.
Don't expect to live in resort where you can jump into the water directly without paying more than RM 1500 a night.
Maldavians are friendlier than Malaysians, personal opinion.
Maldavians'food are tasty but Malaysians'food is tastier.
Maldavians claimed it's safe to roam at night in Male city. Verified with 3 Maldavians. Didn't verified myself as I didn't roam the city at night :)
USD rate for this blog is USD1 = RM 4.50
It's possible to watch sea creatures just by standing at the beach! Depends on your luck and the island you chose.
The sea is truly crystal clear as you see in picture.
Last and most important, you Maldives experience really depends on the island you choose and the hotel you booked!

Final countdown

Flight = RM 822.00
Accommodation = RM 1111.90
Transportation around Maldives = RM 420.17
Expenses in Maldives = USD 246.45 * 4.5 = RM 1109.03

Overall expenses for 2 = RM 822.00 + RM 1111.90 + RM 420.17 + RM 1109.03 = RM 3463.37

Overall expenses per pax = RM 3463.37 / 2 = RM 1731.69 !