Maledivian dream with student budget! 10 days paradise for the adventurous :)

EN-The winter was coming and we wanted to escape the cold in Germany, so we were searching for a paradisiacal place where there is sun and warm temperatures all year round. After a short search we knew it should be the Maldives! But wait...Maldives must be super expensive, with all the water villas and seaplanes you can always see on Instagram. Not for a student wallet - or is it? 🤔

EN-1. Arrival

Departure: Frankfurt am Main

Arrival: Malé, Maldives

After about 20 hours of travelling and a stopover we finally arrived in the sultry, very warm Malé. The airport is really small for a capital city, but keep in mind that it is actually located on a single island. We quickly exchanged some money into the local currency (you can also pay with dollars, but its always cheaper for you to pay with the local currency !) and bought a ticket for the speedboat to our island Maafushi. A little advice: Organize your transport by your own and don't book it with your hotel reservation, that saves valuable vacation money).

After about 45 minutes of wild boot ride we finally arrived at the local island. There we were welcomed friendly by the hotel staff at the port and that brought us to the hotel.

EN-2. Accommodations

3 stars, half board, pool, nice staff and clean rooms - no luxury, but it has everything you need. We have deliberately chosen 3 different hotels for our stay on the island, because you often only notice where the best location is when you are already there and you have variety too, so it doesn't get boring. Our hotel was not directly in the 'center' where all the other hotels where, but if you consider that we are talking about an island of about 1.5km length, almost 50€ less per night were worth the 10-minute walk!

All hotels were equipped with 3 stars. All had great breakfast and dinner buffets and clean large rooms. Per night the room price per person with half board was between 30-50€.

All hotels at a glance:

- Beachwood Hotel (http://www.booking.com/Share-cEReNee)

-Kaani Beach Hotel (http://www.booking.com/Share-8S00dwy)

-Crystal Sands (http://www.booking.com/Share-tGkHe2O)

-Unima Grand (Malé) (http://www.booking.com/Share-RO6ChK)

EN-3. The island

The island is probably less known by the typical Maldives vacationers. The reason for this is that it is a local island. This means that locals also live on the island and there is not only 1 hotel on the whole island as you know it from Instagram pictures.

Clear advantage: You get in touch with the culture; you have contact to locals; you save a lot of money at the hotels and also you don't need the overpriced seaplane from the airport, because the island is very easy to reach by boat.

Disadvantage: you can hear the music at full volume at any time of prayer, even at 5 a.m.; you can only swim in your bikini at specially marked beaches, as this is a Muslim culture.

EN-4. Activities

We always need action! 10 days lying around on the beach? Not for us. Thanks to a freind who is married to a local of the island, we got a great recommendation for the best travel organization for day trips around the island. We went on a trip almost every day. Starting with diving with whale sharks, swimming with dolphins or nurse sharks, a picnic on a lonely sandbank, caressing wild manta rays, or exploring other local islands, everything is included. My personal tip here: Save money at the hotel but never on the activities! The Maldives consists of 99% water and only 1% land, so a trip on the water is a must!

On the island are also some diving schools that offer diving on the most beautiful reefs in the world. If you are lucky you might see a shark or two. But don't worry, they just wanna play ;) Even if you don't have a diving license, it's no problem, since you will be accompanied by an experienced dive master. The best part of the trips were definitely the tour guides! All at our age, young, friendly and crazy. Additionally, great drone photos and Go-Pro videos were provided free of charge after each trip.

-The best travel organization for day trips: Shadowpalm (https://www.instagram.com/shadowpalmmaldives/)

-The best diving school, also for beginners: ecodive (https://www.instagram.com/ecodiveclubmaafushi/)

EN-5. Capital

As we had an early flight home we decided to return to the capital island a day earlier, as it is shorter to the airport from there and we could explore the city for another day. I was especially excited because I had no idea what the capital of the Maldives could look like, did you? Arriving in Malé we had a big surprise: You really feel like in little Bangkok. Everywhere skyscrapers, dirty streets, small stores to stroll around and cute cafés and restaurants on every corner. Thousands of scooters on the streets and stagnant traffic. That was definitely worth an experience!

EN-6. Finances

All in all, we paid 1500€ per person for the whole 10-day vacation with flights, transportation, trips, hotels, other expenses. If you decide for a relaxed vacation with less trips and more sun on the beach you can save about 250€ extra.

EN-7. The most important tips:

-book flights with a stopover - is much cheaper.

-If possible go at the end or beginning of the main season, then it is emptier and cheaper; or in the transition periods to the rainy season. It has 28-30 degrees all year round anyway.

- organizes the boat to the island itself and do not let the hotel pick you up

- Half board is enough! Lunch is always included on day trips anyway, and there are also super delicious local restaurants or small supermarkets (but consider this is only on local islands!)

- chooses a hotel that is not directly in the tourist center, but a little outside. This safes a lot of money and the whole islands can be walked in 10-20 minutes on foot anyway!

-Buy several tours all at once in order to get often a discount.

-be sure to go to a local island!

For more pictures please visit me on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/salzwasserherzz/?hl=de