Maldives on a budget

We chose to visit the Maldives in April 2021, because we had read that because of the pandemics, this dream destination, which usually costs a fortune, this year is pretty affordable because of the lack of tourists. Especially in April, which is already the end of the high season. So, overall, we managed to book our water villa for two nights with a huge discount: for about only 10% of the original price. It was an amazing experience to spend 3 days on a resort island. The ocean was warm and clean, and we could do snorkeling right next to our water villa. We saw many fishes and even some huge stingrays. The food served in the restaurant of the resort island was delicious and the best thing: the island was not crowded at all. Only about 20% of the rooms were booked, so we never had to wait for anything. It was a real paradise.

If you cannot afford to spend even 1-2 nights on a resort island, you can still travel to the Maldives. We spent two nights on the island of Maafushi, which was our favorite island in the Maldives, as you can find there literally everything you need. It is a inhabited island, which means that you will see local people, but the hotels are located at the so-called bikini beach, where you can enjoy the sunshine and the water without disturbing the religious locals. There are plenty of agencies that are happy to organize your activities. I tried jet skiing, and we went on a day trip to the neighboring island of Gulhi. And both the sunset and the sunrise are unbelievably wonderful. The prices here are much cheaper than on the resort islands, but the quality of the services is almost the same. I wish we had more time to spend in Maafushi!

To finish our trip, we traveled to the island of the capital, Male city. In Male, there is not much to see, it is a huge metropolis, but we loved Hulhumale, the neighboring island. As Hulhumale is an inhabited island, you should keep in mind, that no matter how nice is the beach, you cannot swim, unless you wear appropriate clothes. So, we booked a trip to a sandbank. I would say that this was the best part of our trip because we could spend an entire hour on a deserted island without any company. It was a really unforgettable experience. We did some snorkeling there as well, and was the noise of the ships did not disturb the animals, we saw many fishes and crabs. We took many pictures too, of course. For this excursions, we also got some discount, for the lack of tourists, so I could say that our trip to the Maldives was pretty affordable.