We all have heard that the Maldives are no longer the super expensive paradise that they used to be, but are they also vegan friendly? In this post I will discuss the topic from two different standpoints: food and the treatment of stray cats.
Moreover, I will show you how to avoid unnecessary costs and keep the expenses as low as possible. Here's my guide to travel the Maldives on a budget!
Arriving in Malé: where to spend the night and how to get there. My first impressions
As my flight arrived late in the afternoon and it was impossible to take a boat to the island we had no choice but to sleep nearby.
We could actually choose between sleeping in Malé or Hulumalé, which is the island where the airport is built on. We chose the latter as it was really easy to get to the hotel by bus and it also looked less crowded.
We booked a room at the Terminal 27 hotel as it was one of the cheapest options with a good quality and it's located a few steps away from the bus stop. The reservation included breakfast and we were glad to see that they had some vegan options, but maybe this is not always the case so be sure to double check.
How to move around Malé and Hulumalé
The easiest way is taking a taxi, but ride haling apps are not as straight forward to use as in other countries and even if FARES ARE DISPLAYED outside of the airport I never feel really safe from scams.
My favorite option here is public transport: you can take a bus to ride around Hulumalé or take a bus or a ferry to Malé. The website of the transportation company is really easy to navigate and you can also buy your ticket online and board with a QR code, we had no issues at all. Ask you hotel which line is the most convenient, check the details online and get your ticket, that' all! This is the first step for a Maldives on a budget holiday, the ride only costs a few cents.
The airport bus stop in NOT outside the international terminal, but outside the domestic terminal instead.
Moving around the islands
There are 3 ways to move around the islands: plane, speedboat and local ferry, depending on the distance and the budget.
I usually try to find the cheapest option, but for this trip it was smarter to pay a higher price for a more time saving journey so I decided to take the speed boat.
You can check the transportation company for information if you want to do all by yourself, but the easiest way is to let the guesthouse book it for you, I did a bit of research and I think that it wasn't more expensive than booking by myself.
How to choose where to stay
When it comes to planning a Maldives on budget holiday, deciding where to stay may be overwhelming: there are so many islands and so many guesthouses to choose from! I really had to study a lot before taking a decision and honestly it's really hard to give recommendations: every island can offer something to someone.
What I did was to join various facebook groups, gather information on the islands that had what I was looking for (great snorkeling near the beach) and then look for reviews and google maps. After that I contacted some guesthouses directly or through intermediaries that I found in the groups. I ditched the ones that only offered packages of room + excursions and the ones that weren't able to provide vegan food, and then it was easy to choose among the others. I chose the guesthouse that was happy to offer vegan food, was near the bikini beach and had a great price, Rayva Inn in Omadhoo.
Of course we could just have booked a room with breakfast and eat outside, maybe we would have saved 5 dollars a day each (or more if we skipped some meals), but honestly we were super happy not to go around looking for food, explaining over and over again what we eat and what we don't, and get bored of the few things restaurants have for us. Instead at the guesthouse the Sri Lankan chef Siri knew exactly what vegan food was and every day he had something new for us to taste.
