what is the first thing that comes to our mind when we hear about the country Maldives.. Honeymoon destination. yes you're right! well this a true and a good option for honeymoon, but only if you consider the few points which i would like to address today in this post.
well I would start by How to reach Male (capital) from india. The cheapest ticket you could book is from Bangalore or Mumbai, and that's only because of the distance. yes male is very near to the South coast of india. Well you always have option to book it from your home city, but if you're staying in any one of these cities you should consider Maldives as your stop destination ! you can consider skyscanner or easemytrip for cheaper tickets.
now if we're yeah about the best session, well its definitely after June end because that's when the weather would be sunnu and pleasant and not much of a rain. i went in June mid and we did face a bit of rain and that's what makes it more humid.
Ok when it comes to weather, i definitely would like to highlight that if you have ever been to Europe in summer then you understand the difference between Indian summer and European summer whicj isn't hot or humid at all ! Well this isn't the case in Maldives, its pretty humid and hot like Indian coastal region.
Now let's shift to stay. since i am a budget traveller i definitely prefer the cheaper options which could be homestay, hostel, airbnb,hotel etc. In Male, i would recommend you to lool for affordable airbnb as per your budget. now you must be thinking that what about the beautiful and serene huts and resorts which we see in most of the photos on social media, will those are the ones which are the on the different private islands in Maldives country.
For a cheaper option you can stay in any airbnb or hostel near to the beach. And also one point to note here is that there are two places in Male itself, i would recommend you to stay in Hulhumale region which is a man made island and much pretty,clean and safe as compare to main male city. there is just one bridge of five min drive which connects there two places.
Now i would like to really about food, well we all know that its totally beach then of course the seafood is famous here, i haven't honestly tried a lot since i didn't like the taste much, so i preferred to eat at indian restaurant which was not costly, aprox 2000rs for 3 people. And rest of the time i also cooked at my rented apartment (perks of staying in home) ! But its totally ok if you can't afford to cook after a tired day.
there is one more very important thing which i would highlight that when it comes to cruise, sea adventure, travel to private islands, sea excursions, diving,scuba, snorkeling etc please Don't take these packages online beforehand ( before arriving to male), the only reason is that you would end up paying a lot of money while these are actually much much cheaper in the city itself. Also don't fall for your hotel receptionist if he/she try to lure with some amazing package options. Now what you have to do is that arrive in Male and look for local shorts or dress diving equipment shops (there are lot of them) and go there and inquire about the different packages as per your convenience and budget ! isn't that pretty easy? trust me this would definitely save a hole in your pocket. ex - Online i saw the price of a package including snorkeling,dolphin watch,ride to private island lunch for 200 USD, while i got the same deal in 110 USD when we took from the local shop.
About the currency i would recommend you to get it exchanged in india itself as currency exchange rate is much higher in male, but since we needed it we had to go for exchange in male due to shortage of the same.
Last but not the last, i would say that do not keep your expectations very high in terms of the crowd. You woudl very normal people and not fancy ones likes women and men in their bare minimum because it's a 100 percent muslim country and you are not allowed to wear anything showy garment at the beaches. Ok the photos which you see are of the private beaches on the private islands ! On the public beaches (at male) you are not allowed to wear any shorts. You might also see women in burkha and on the beach.
If i have to talk about the cleanliness its definitely clean as compared to India, well not that clean if i have to compare it honestly with any European countries. There are few bottles here and there but still the beaches are undoubtedly beautiful. That serenity at the dawn on the beach is amazing to relax and the pristine blue water of course.
I hope i have covered most of the things which you could do to make a memorable trip on a budget.
Let me know if you want to know more about the county and have any questions.
