Destination: Maafushi Island, Maldives Google Map Location
Date: May 2016
Family Size: Couple with children (total 4 members)
Visa for Indians
Being a member of SAARC, we can get visa on arrival, there is no visa fee also, entire process of visa stamping happens in less than a minute, no questions asked, process is so simple, you don't feel you are travelling outside India. You feel you are welcomed to this country. 5 star rating to the Maldives immigration team at the airport. (in fact I had issue at Bangalore airport with immigration officer, but no issue in Maldives)
Route
Bangalore to Male by AirIndia, journey is 2 hours, Male is 30 minutes behind India time.
Airport Transfer to Hotel
my final destination was Maafushi Island. There are two modes of reaching this island.
Public Transport:
Ferry daily once, starts at 1500hrs, costs Rf 12 / person.
Good thing about this ferry is, you get to see locals and get to travel with them
Downside of this is, it takes 2 long hours and noisy engine.
How to use this:
Step 1, take a ferry from airport to Male city, costs Rf 10 / person
Step 2, from Male city take a taxi and reach Villingili Jetty Terminal, costs Rf 30 / trip
Step 3, From Villingili ferry terminal, take the ferry to Maafushi, only one ferry in a day, it starts at 1500hrs, takes 2 hours, reaches 1700hrs, note no ferry on Friday's.
Speed Boat Transfer:
You need to inform about you requirement of speed boat to your hotel in advance, there is a private operator who operates at regular time, speed boat transfer which can accommodate 20 people, it picks you directly from Airport, takes just 35 minutes, costs US$ 20 / person.
Hotel:
Stayed at Water Breeze Hotel a good budget hotel, with very clean rooms and friendly staff,
they can also arrange your daily activity.
Read me reviews of this hotel in TripAdvisor site click here
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival (Airport to Hotel transfer used public ferry)
Day 2: Fihalhohi Island Resort - Water Breeze organised it for us, it cost US$ 40 / person for transfer plus US$50 for entrance to the resort, without buffet lunch, if you want lunch add US$ 25.
Day 3: Package of two point snorkeling, dolphin cruise and Sand bank visit, US$ 40 / person
Day 4: Water sports activity by Active Watersports at Maafushi
Day 5: Return to Home (Airport transfer took a speed boat)
Food:
Being a Indian vegetarian, this was a challenge for us, for breakfast hotel chef was kind enough to understand our requirement and prepared some Indian veg food.
Lunch was, what's available at the place we visited
Dinner, we had carried some ready to eat, for which we used hotel kitchen, chef helped us to prepare it.
for some Bakery items, don't forget to make a visit to Fine Bake, its near football ground, walk-able distance from jetty terminal, our evening snacks was from here.
General feedback of Maldives
Very good, being a tourism dependent country, they really take very good care of their tourists, not just govt department, even the general public are tourist friendly, you don't get cheated, rates quoted matches in the market. Despite being an Islamic country, don't find public to be conservative, they let you be the way you are, however there are some restrictions the way you dress in an inhibited island like Maafushi, bikini is allowed only at the Bikini beach and not at the general beach, which is used by local also.
Found lot of Europeans and quite a few honeymoon couples from India.
Lovely place to spend some time in the beautiful lagoons with crystal clear water.
Enjoy your holidays.
If you have any questions do leave them in comments section, will try to answer them.
Some Photos
A warm welcome at the Airport, with very quick immigration process
Quick transfer from Airport to Male city (10 min ride)
Ferry service from Male to Maafushi (2 hours journey)
Hotel Water Breeze
Beach front in Maafushi Island
Dolphin Cruise
Sand bank visit
Deep water snorkeling
Jet Ski ride
Canoe Ride
Knee Board Ride
Fun Tube Ride
Sailing
Date: May 2016
Family Size: Couple with children (total 4 members)
Visa for Indians
Being a member of SAARC, we can get visa on arrival, there is no visa fee also, entire process of visa stamping happens in less than a minute, no questions asked, process is so simple, you don't feel you are travelling outside India. You feel you are welcomed to this country. 5 star rating to the Maldives immigration team at the airport. (in fact I had issue at Bangalore airport with immigration officer, but no issue in Maldives)
Route
Bangalore to Male by AirIndia, journey is 2 hours, Male is 30 minutes behind India time.
Airport Transfer to Hotel
my final destination was Maafushi Island. There are two modes of reaching this island.
Public Transport:
Ferry daily once, starts at 1500hrs, costs Rf 12 / person.
Good thing about this ferry is, you get to see locals and get to travel with them
Downside of this is, it takes 2 long hours and noisy engine.
How to use this:
Step 1, take a ferry from airport to Male city, costs Rf 10 / person
Step 2, from Male city take a taxi and reach Villingili Jetty Terminal, costs Rf 30 / trip
Step 3, From Villingili ferry terminal, take the ferry to Maafushi, only one ferry in a day, it starts at 1500hrs, takes 2 hours, reaches 1700hrs, note no ferry on Friday's.
Speed Boat Transfer:
You need to inform about you requirement of speed boat to your hotel in advance, there is a private operator who operates at regular time, speed boat transfer which can accommodate 20 people, it picks you directly from Airport, takes just 35 minutes, costs US$ 20 / person.
Hotel:
Stayed at Water Breeze Hotel a good budget hotel, with very clean rooms and friendly staff,
they can also arrange your daily activity.
Read me reviews of this hotel in TripAdvisor site click here
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival (Airport to Hotel transfer used public ferry)
Day 2: Fihalhohi Island Resort - Water Breeze organised it for us, it cost US$ 40 / person for transfer plus US$50 for entrance to the resort, without buffet lunch, if you want lunch add US$ 25.
Day 3: Package of two point snorkeling, dolphin cruise and Sand bank visit, US$ 40 / person
Day 4: Water sports activity by Active Watersports at Maafushi
Day 5: Return to Home (Airport transfer took a speed boat)
Food:
Being a Indian vegetarian, this was a challenge for us, for breakfast hotel chef was kind enough to understand our requirement and prepared some Indian veg food.
Lunch was, what's available at the place we visited
Dinner, we had carried some ready to eat, for which we used hotel kitchen, chef helped us to prepare it.
for some Bakery items, don't forget to make a visit to Fine Bake, its near football ground, walk-able distance from jetty terminal, our evening snacks was from here.
General feedback of Maldives
Very good, being a tourism dependent country, they really take very good care of their tourists, not just govt department, even the general public are tourist friendly, you don't get cheated, rates quoted matches in the market. Despite being an Islamic country, don't find public to be conservative, they let you be the way you are, however there are some restrictions the way you dress in an inhibited island like Maafushi, bikini is allowed only at the Bikini beach and not at the general beach, which is used by local also.
Found lot of Europeans and quite a few honeymoon couples from India.
Lovely place to spend some time in the beautiful lagoons with crystal clear water.
Enjoy your holidays.
If you have any questions do leave them in comments section, will try to answer them.
Some Photos
A warm welcome at the Airport, with very quick immigration process
Quick transfer from Airport to Male city (10 min ride)
Ferry Ticket
Hotel Water Breeze
Beach front in Maafushi Island
Shallow water Snorkeling
Deep water snorkeling
Jet Ski ride
Knee Board Ride
Fun Tube Ride
Sailing
Have Fun at Maldives!!!
6 comments:
How much did u spend for the whole trip??
Give me a rough figure and how many days?
Hi Dhivya,
please give me your email id, will share details.
or
email me at medasbabu at gmail dot com
An amazing article it’s nice to read a quality blog post. I think you made some good points in this post
resor till Aruba
Thank you glad this blog was useful, have a nice trip.
Extremely useful tips. Cogently printed. Thanks for this.
Thank You Sir.
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