A traveller has shared how she holidayed in the Maldives on a budget, spending “less than £500” for a six-day trip.
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00:00I thought I'd have to wait till my honeymoon to go to the Maldives until I realised that you can
00:03actually travel the Maldives on a budget so bye bye boyfriend and hello girls trip to the Maldives.
00:08I jumped on a flight to Mali with my friend Tasha because we realised if you stayed on
00:11the local islands instead of the resort you'll save so much money. Hotels were on average £25
00:17a night per person and that was for beachfront hotels with breakfast included. Meals were on
00:21average £6 each and I cannot tell you how unreal Maldivian food is, got to go there just to try
00:26this alone. Getting around the islands is super affordable as well because you can jump on the
00:29local ferries which cost us an average of £1.70 a journey and you can make the most out of beaches
00:34like this and this and this completely for free. The most expensive part is definitely the
00:38excursions, they are about £100 per person to go and swim with sharks or about $40 per person
00:43to go on a deserted island but definitely worth your while because they are just bucket list
00:47activities. So let me know if you'd like a full guide or a full breakdown of everything we spend
00:51on our trip or if you've got any questions at all because I'm more than happy to help
00:53and follow along to see what we get up to. What would you do if you were on a deserted island?
00:57Well I don't have to guess because that is exactly where I am now. We're currently at
01:01budget travelling around the Maldives and we've taken an excursion to one of the deserted islands
01:05here so it is literally just me and my friend Tasha on this entire island. Oh and a couple of
01:10hundred of these little guys. Got here on a jet ski and we saw dolphins on the way which is absolutely
01:14insane. Then we got dropped off and the jet ski man left us here so fingers crossed he remembered
01:18about us otherwise we could be stranded. We spent a few hours here just relaxing on this gorgeous
01:23white sand beach and swimming in crystal clear blue water and it was so nice not having to worry
01:28about a single other person bothering you because we were here completely by ourselves. After a few
01:33hours thankfully our driver came and picked us up and took us back to Diffushi Island just as the
01:37summer set in which was such a gorgeous journey and on the whole it was such a nice way of spending
01:41the afternoon. And I have been posting loads more videos about my budget trip to the Maldives so
01:45make sure you follow along for more. So I did realise on the local islands in the Maldives you
01:49actually can't drink alcohol, you can't buy in the shops, you can't get it in the restaurants,
01:53none of the hotels serve it so it's literally impossible to get it. So I suppose we've got
01:57three main options while you're here. Number one just don't drink which is obviously what we were
02:00originally planning on doing. Or we just found out today is that you can jump on a boat and go to a
02:05floating bar out into the sea. So come with us to a floating bar in the Maldives where we're
02:10apparently going to get a smaller boat out to a bigger boat where we can get a couple of drinks.
02:14The only brown is called Toulouse. I think I'm definitely pronouncing that wrong. So I booked
02:17this experience through WhatsApp and it cost us 10 US dollars to get the boat and that each.
02:22So it's 20 dollars just to get to the bar and then we will have to obviously pay for drinks when we
02:26get there. That transport or anything does not include any of the drinks. Be told to meet the
02:30boat 5.15 in Bikini Beach. I think it's him. So we're on the boat, we're currently the only people
02:38here but we've got a private boat in the Maldives so who cares? And look at the sunset. So I'm not
02:43really sure why it's illegal to sell alcohol on land here but legal to sell it here. I'm not
02:48complaining. Sales are from about eight dollars to twelve dollars but I think I'm going to go for a
02:52Corona beer which is five dollars. So it's currently we're the only people on this boat but I've heard
02:57that more people are on their way. So we're just on the boat on the way back now and that will be
03:00about 240 rupiah each which is like 12 pounds each for getting to the boat, going back from the boat
03:06and a beer each which is pretty good value. The sunset from the boat ended up being absolutely
03:10gorgeous. Honestly, the view alone made the price 100% worth it. I know that there's going to be a
03:15lot of comments about the fact that you can't drink on these holidays but obviously there is
03:18a worth around so if you are desperate for a drink you can get on one of these boats. And I'm not
03:21going to lie, it actually made the trip far more relaxing because there was no pressure drink at
03:24any point on the trip and basically everything on the island is shut and closed by half eight
03:28which means it's lovely and relaxing and there's no disturbances whatsoever throughout the night.
03:31So let me know what you think. Would this be a deciding factor for you for going to the Maldives
03:35or would you still try it? And follow along because I'm posting daily videos about our budget trips
03:38to the Maldives. Day one of potential to travel the Maldives on a budget has gone pretty well.
03:42We've just been for our first ever meal in the Maldives. We're currently staying on Tustaloo
03:46Island. I'm 100% pronouncing that wrong and I apologise. But yes, we did be for our first ever meal.
03:50It was 230 Maldivian Rufnia which is like 11 pounds which is crazy because that was for both of us.
03:56That was for two curries that were both really really nice, one rice to share between us, two
04:01naan breads, a water and two coconut roasts. So a very very very affordable price. The only note that I've
04:07got to say is that it's definitely true that even if you ask for no spice, you're gonna get spice.
04:12Now to be fair, I think that's a pretty good go in. Pretty impressive for travelling around the Maldives
04:16and being an absolute paradise for the day. So there honestly isn't very many options for food
04:20on these local islands because they are so small. So we did actually return to the same place the
04:23next day and again it was just £6 ahead for a really really nice local Maldivian meal. I'm
04:28going to be posting daily videos of our trips to the Maldives and our attempt to travel it on a
04:32budget. So if you've got any questions or any specific videos you'd like to see, please feel
04:35free to request them in the comments and I'm doing my best to share all the different prices
04:38with you so you know just how affordable it can be.