Trip to the Maldives without all-inclusive packages: is it doable?

Hi, I’d like to stay on several islands in the Maldives solo with a budget of under 120 € for 2 people per day for accommodation and food. I’m not including transport. Is this possible? On Booking, I’ve found hotels for under 80 € that seem great, some even offer half-board for 20 € for 2. I thought you’d need a much bigger budget… Do you know the price of a meal at a local restaurant on the inhabited islands? And drinks? From what I’ve heard, there’s no alcohol there, right? I’d also like to know if it’s easy to travel between atolls and from one island to another by boat. Do you have any island recommendations? I’m planning to stay for 3 weeks and visit 4-5 islands. This destination is almost always offered as all-inclusive stays with pretty luxurious hotels, so I’m finding very little info on how to do it without pre-organized trips. Thanks for your tips and travel feedback! PS: Long live the return of VoyageForum!

Hi there,

Back in the 80s, you could take a flight to Malé from Colombo or Trivandrum in India, and from there, you could head to different fisherman’s islands. As soon as you arrived in the "capital," touts with their boats would dispatch backpackers to various islands. Locals rented out rooms with full board because there were no restaurants or shops on these islands. The accommodations were modest, and the menus weren’t very varied—rice and canned red beans with a bit of fish—but the price was dirt cheap (around $6 to $10 a day). The villages were really pretty, with all the houses made of coral.

I’ve heard this isn’t the case anymore, but personally, I’m not so sure. You’d just have to go there and check it out—it’s how we used to travel before the era of everything being planned and booked in advance.

One thing’s for sure, though: prices have definitely gone up a lot since then...

PS: When we wanted to change islands, the accommodation owner would call the "dispatcher," who would come with his boat and take us back to Malé or to another island...

Thanks for your reply! I actually went there back in 1997 and I’d love some more recent info since I can’t find anything from that era anymore.

I read that you're planning to stay for 3 weeks or more... Personally, I stayed for 4 or 5 days on two different islands and found that was enough. These islands were tiny—you could walk around them in 20 minutes. I would’ve loved to go spearfishing, but it was forbidden. I got tired of snorkeling pretty quickly, and apart from that and reading, there wasn’t much else to do. Plus, the Maldives remains one of the few countries where my interactions with locals turned out to be rather mediocre.

I should mention that human connections and interactions with the local population are important to me when I travel.

You say you’ve found accommodations at reasonable prices, so why not give it a try? The food budget shouldn’t be too high, in my opinion—there must still be all-inclusive options, because on the islands where locals live, restaurants outside tourist resorts are probably rare.

Personally, if I were planning a trip to the Maldives, I’d combine it with a stay in Kerala or Sri Lanka.