6 Tips on How to Save Money in Maldives

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The Maldives is well known as a stunning, exotic, yet pretty expensive destination. There's no way around it: if you want the whole experience, you need to accept the fact that it will cost you a bit. But with a bit of careful planning and research, you can avoid any unwanted surprises that could stress your wallet even more.
Here is what you should take into consideration if you want to visit the Maldives in the near future:

1. Get a meal option with your room. Food and drinks are very expensive on the islands and given their remote location this is somewhat understandable. You can usually get a better deal if you book a room that has a meal plan included. You can often choose between breakfast, half board, full board, and all-inclusive. It's a great way to save money in Maldives.
My recommendation is half-board, meaning you get breakfast and dinner included. That's because during lunch you might find yourself eager to do other activities like snorkeling, swimming, or laying on the beach.

2. Ask how you reach the hotel and what are the costs involved. While some resorts include transportation from the airport in their room rate or offer it complimentary (for example Sheraton Maldives recently started to offer the boat ride from the airport for free to all individual guest bookings), most don't. And the cost can be substantial especially if you need to take a seaplane flight to reach the hotel. Besides for some resorts you might need to take a combination of domestic flight/seaplane and boat ride. So you should be aware of how much transportation to the resort is gonna cost before booking your room.

3. Be aware that taxes are not included. Most resorts don't include taxes in their prices. So always take this into consideration before buying something and be prepared to pay a bit more upon checkout.

4. Have a credit card ready at check-in. When you check in, you'll most probably be asked to provide a credit card for the room deposit. The sum of money the hotel will freeze usually depends on the type of room you booked. So expect a larger amount for an overwater bungalow.
When you check out, they will usually ask if you want to use that money to pay for your checkout bill or you to pay cash or by another card, in which case they'll refund it for you.

5. Have some extra money for activities. Activities are also pretty expensive on the islands, especially things like romantic dinners that are super popular with honeymoon goers. So budget accordingly.

6. Choose a resort with a house reef. In order to save money on snorkeling trips, you should choose a hotel that has a house reef.
A house reef is a coral reef that can be easily accessed from a resort, usually being right off the beach and/or comfortably within swimming distance. Such an example is the Kurumba Maldives resort.

Now that you figured out most of the things that you should take into account when budgeting for your Maldives trip, you can go ahead and book your hotel and flights. I bet you'll have an awesome time on the islands!

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