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Hello Friends,
Welcome back to my blog! Hope you all are safe and sound. Today I am going to share my experience of visiting Maldives. I will tell you about the visa process, flights and hotel booking and all the other related information. So don't go anywhere!
Me and my husband were exploring for options where we can go which isn't far away and would take a maximum of 4/5 days including travel due to our hectic schedules. So we finally agreed upon going to Maldives.
The Maldives is a picture-perfect archipelago, situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and home to 1,190+ tiny coral islands. Nothing screams "paradise" quite like the Maldives, a 26-atoll chain of islands with powdery beaches, turquoise waters, and dreamy overwater bungalow resorts. Its capital is Malé.
Visa :
For all nationals including Indian Citizens, Maldives provide visa on arrival which is valid for 30 days. It is absolutely free and does not come with any hidden clauses. Anyone applying for the visa should have valid documents along with the passport.
Documents for visa :
- An official passport valid for more than 6 months post the date of your journey.
- Copies of booking confirmations of hotels or any other accommodation chosen for the trip.
- A confirmed return or onward ticket from the Maldives.
- Duly filled immigration form.
- Covid negative RT-PCR report
You can also find latest information here : Maldives Immigration
How to Reach :
Taking a flight to Maldives is the only option for those planning about how to travel to Maldives. There are 2 international airports, Malè Airport on Male’ island and Gan Airport in Addu city. Malé Airport is the largest airport in the country. Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, etc are the main airports to board an India to Maldives flight. Depending on lay-over time, it takes approximately 7 to 11 hours to reach Male Airport from Indian cities.
We took a morning Air India Flight from Delhi to Male departure 5:15 am and arrival 10:05 am with a layover at Thiruvananthapuram. Our return Air India flight from Male was at 4:35 pm and we arrived Delhi at around 10:35 pm again with a layover at Thiruvananthapuram airport.
You can search and compare flights here : Google Flights
Resorts/Hotels :
Most of the islands in Maldives are private islands with a resort occupying complete island. So you will be staying at one island for most of your stay. Transfers from Airport to Resort is mostly provided by the Resort mostly by speedboats which run at scheduled times of the day. The ferry pier for speed boat transfers is just outside the arrival hall. The cost of speedboat transfer is included in your resort cost. Seaplane is scheduled to the long distance from Male Airport to the destination resorts area mostly South and North Atoll of Maldives If you wanna see the true beauty of Maldives seaplane transfer is the best option but it is quite costly. The price of a seaplane transfer varies by Hotel but is usually a flat fee of $270 to $450 per person (roundtrip).
Some of the budget friendly hotels/resorts which we explored :
1. Paradise Island Resort and Spa
2. Adaaran Select Hudhuran Fushi
3. Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort and Spa
5. Meeru Island Resort and Spa
All these provide two category of rooms : Beach Villa and Water Villa along with Airport Transfers. They also provide meal plan full board and half board. You can customize your stay with different room options and meal plans.
Some of the luxury hotels/resorts which we explored (which btw were way out of our budget 😛)
1. Soneva Fushi
2. Soneva Jani
3. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
4. Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa
They also provide different category of villas and rooms with different meal options. They usually charge for airport transfers.
We stayed at Paradise Island Resort which was mesmerizingly beautiful and had all the 5 star amenities. We booked 2 nights for beach villa and 1 night water villa with full board meal plan. We loved our stay there and would love to go back once travel restrictions are lifted.
Things to Do :
There are various things which you can do at your resort like Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Private sightseeing to nearby islands, Day trip to Male, Dolphin cruise, Beach photography the list is endless. Our resort provided all of these facilities along with daily entertainment shows in the evening, morning Zumba, Yoga and Salsa sessions. They had trained professionals for all these activities who would guide you. They were all really friendly and encouraged you to participate. Our resort also had in house tennis court, basketball court, squash court, billiards and ping pong tables for children and adults to play. You will never get bored even for a second during your stay. And if you want to do nothing then you can sit and gaze at the endless blue ocean and enjoy views by the beach. There is a bar also which is 24x7 open where you can get your favorite drinks and cocktails. I am sure you will get all these amenities at almost all of the resorts in Maldives.
Cost of travel:
Our total trip for 3 nights and 4 days for 2 persons costed us around $2070 including flights, meals, transfers and miscellaneous expenses.
A typical round trip fare from India will cost around : $260 pp
A budget friendly hotel for 3 nights with all meals will cost approx : $1200
Scuba diving : $80 pp
*All these prices are indicative and may change at the time of booking.
Most resorts, guesthouses and hotels around Maldives offers free wifi for its guests. Still you may need a SIM card for calling and internet in case of emergency. Maldives has two cell companies, Dhiraagu and Ooredoo are the two main phone operators. You can get a prepaid SIM with calling and 4G for around $20.
We booked our complete tour from Traveltriangle. You can also do the complete booking on your own since all you need to do is book flights and hotels which can be done directly from respective websites without any hassle. We realized this later 😒
Our Experience :
We once saw Deepika Padukone's interview somewhere where she mentions her favorite holiday destination as Maldives. And since then it was on our bucket list of places to visit. We visited this amazing place in March 2019. It is undoubtedly very beautiful and feels and heaven on earth. We enjoyed every bit of our vacation from exhaustive food menus to evening entertainments. From morning yoga sessions to sunset watching by the beach. It is the most beautiful place I have seen till now. Here are some pictures from our trip.
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| Way to Paradise Island Jetty |
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| Sunset Point |
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| Water Villas at Paradise Island |
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| Water villas side view |
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| Healthy and Delicious Breakfast |
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| View from Beach Villa |
Maldives is definitely a worth visiting place with every penny you can afford. Lets just hope that Covid situation gets better in India and travel restrictions are lifted soon, so that we can visit the much talked about place. I know you don't wanna miss out those beautiful sunsets and scenery which all Bollywood stars have been posting about recently! If you want any help regarding your travel and planning or have any queries regarding my trip, you can post in the comments section. I would be happy to help.
You can also watch the vlog on my YouTube Channel here :
Till we all can Explore the world again, Stay Safe Everyone! 💓
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