Clever ways to visit Maldives on a budget – with £4 meals & lesser-know islands

FOR most people, a dream holiday to the Maldives is prohibitively expensive, with the cost of flights and luxury resorts beyond what they can afford.

However, there are ways in which you can keep costs to a minimum when visiting the paradise islands, without missing out on the best they have to offer.

What’s more, now could be the best time to go for a cost-cutting trip to the Indian Ocean.

That’s according to travel blogger Lauren Juliff, founder of website Never Ending Footsteps.

She claims that there are still plenty of islands in the Maldives that are yet to be taken over by mega resorts that cost thousands to stay in.

However, she warned that it’s not going to stay like that for much longer and explained why now is “the perfect time to travel to the Maldives”.

According to Lauren, it’s possible to spend as little as $50 (£39.40) per day and even have a better time than those who will stay in the really expensive accommodation.

She does that by staying in a budget guesthouse, for £24 a day, while spending no more than £10 a day on activities and £10 a day on food.

She explained: “On most islands, for $30-80 (£24-£63) a night, you can expect a clean, modern, and spacious room, with air conditioning, hot showers, free breakfasts, snorkelling gear, a bottle of water each day, twice daily room cleaning[!], and fast Wi-Fi.”

For anyone worried about the standard of the rooms, Lauren argued that they are “seriously nice” and much better than hotels in Europe.

Additionally, she recommends using Couchsurfing, which offers free homestays for travellers, or WorkAway, where people can find cheap or free accommodation in exchange for work.

The majority of the cheap accommodation in the Maldives are found on what are referred to as “local islands” i.e. an island that isn’t owned by a resort.

They include places like Fulidhoo, a place that still offers the white sand beaches with clear turquoise seas, only at a fraction of the cost of those found on resort islands.

One of the other main holiday costs is food, with a lot of travellers planning their trips around what they eat.

Lauren said she was able to spend no more than $10 (£8) per day eating out at restaurants where it’s far cheaper than other more frequently visited islands.

She added: “Food will set you back around $5-10 (£4-8) per meal, but with most guesthouses offering an enormous free breakfast, so we found ourselves skipping lunch and only paying for dinner. You can’t complain about spending $5 (£4) a day on food!”

Of course the main expense with a trip to the Maldives is the flight there, but there are still ways that you can avoid spending a fortune on those.

They include flying via the Middle East, or India, according to travel experts Lonely Planet.

They said: “One way to cut the cost is to fly via transport hubs such as those in the Middle East. Airlines serving Male include Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways, transiting in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Doha.

“It’s also worth considering transiting in India and continuing on to Male with an Indian airline such as Vistara or IndiGo.”

They also recommend going during the off season, claiming that visitors won’t really notice much difference.

They continued: “Visiting the Maldives during the off-peak monsoon season, between May and November, can mean serious savings. Although there really isn’t a bad time to visit the Maldives.”

Getting from one island to another can be another large expenditure that people don’t consider, with speedboats and seaplanes racking up the costs.

However, there are local ferry services available that travel from place to place, for a fraction of the price.

Beyond the Bucketlist explained: “This is the cheapest option.

“They typically cost around $1-$4 (80p – £3) per person and service the inhabited islands.”

Meanwhile, this 16-rule checklist could help you keep costs down when booking holidays.

And these travel hacks could also help you make a saving when taking that dream holiday.