10 MUST SAVE ITEMS FOR THAT DREAM MALDIVES TRIP

Photo grabbed from website - photo credit to owner

Maldives ever been in your bucket list? Yeah, me too! Big time.

When we spent our holidays in Maldives, I had some of my family and friends saying it is theirs too. And the question I all had is "how much did it cost us to get there?"

So here is an estimate of what we've spent - all will actually depend on your choice of the beach resort and the time of the year you want to be there. June was a comparatively low season...costs gets higher starting September until Jan. 

1. Airfare - SGD 340 per person - booked these 2 months in advance via Air Asia. There are a few airlines that flies to Maldives. Your choice. Obviously, airfares will vary depends on where you are coming from. Ours flew from Singapore.

2. Visa - zero - not required if you are staying for 30 days or less as long as one posses a valid passport with Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) and should have at least 6 months validity. You have a valid ticket to continue the journey out of Maldives. You have enough funds to cover the expenses for the duration of your stay (estimate USD100 plus USD50 per day) or a confirmation of reservation in a tourist resort or a hotel. Note that the 30 days stay is up to the discretion of the immigration officer. Check out the website the government website for details  http://www.immigration.gov.mv/pages/entry.html

3. Beach resort or Hotel - estimate USD 2300  for 3 nights, 4 days - good for 3 people. We chose the full board package (that means including breakfast, lunch and dinner). We decided to do this because based on research with some friends who previously went there, this is a safer choice. 

Otherwise, if you choose to book packages with breakfast only (which by all means you can), the moment you decide you want to have lunch or dinner (and by all means you would) it will be more expensive. As you will have no other choice but to dine in their own restaurants. This would be more extremely difficult if the resort you have chosen is isolated (which in most cases it is).

You can choose any beach resort from 100 inhabited islands in Maldives - the farther you are from the airport, the more expensive it would be. Reason being is that everything you consume depends on the resort you are choosing. Since this is our first time, I only chose the resort near the airport. 

Check out and compare prices before booking and note fine prints!

4. Speed Boat ride - USD 60 per person, 2 way (pick up and return transfers from the airport) - since our resort was only 15 minutes away from the main airport which is located in Hulhule, North Male Atoll. 
Some resorts you need to be chartered via sea plane which would cost you almost the same as your budget airline fare or even more (I saw some at USD 600 per person!). Again, this depends on the resort you intend to stay. These information would be available in the resort you plan to book as these are all exclusions. 

5. Environmental green travel tax - USD 6 per person per day of stay. Imagine that! This serves as a tax for environment protection which is good if you ask me. They need to protect the area, otherwise what is there for you to enjoy!

6. Island activities - varies and depends on your choosing - there are a lot of choices to make, from water sports to island hopping. For example, our glass bottom boat 60-minute activity chunked us USD 25 per person. 

7. Ferry Boat ride to and from the main city (coming from the airport) - USD 1 per person, one way. The airport is also located in an island and should you decide to go to the main city to do some shopping, then you have to ride another ferry.

8. Airport fast food - a Burger King meal would cost you about USD15 per meal (and I mean just burger, fries and soft drinks!)

9. Coffee - USD4 - who can't live without coffee? The hubby - duh! 

10. Save some extra for souvenirs... 

And this is prior to buying that 2-piece swimsuit you've always wanted to wear and post on IG!


Remember, you are paying for experience and lasting memories.

So have fun and be safe travel buddies! Until the next adventure!