Maldives is always one of the dream destinations for many couples for their honeymoon. Maldives beaches are unlike any beach destination. But after looking at the tour prices many drop Maldives from the list.
But what if I tell you that we planned our Maldives Honeymoon under 1.5L per couple including flights from Mumbai?
Imagine laying on the soft white sands with your partner, taking a dip in the azure-colored waters while being completely alone on an entire island. Imagine looking out of your water villa and stepping out of it directly into the ocean. All this in budget!
Have a look at our itinerary and see if you are tempted to indulge in the experience.
Flight from Mumbai to Male
We caught a late night flight from Mumbai to Male with a layover at Kochi.
Expense: Some snacks at Kochi Airport for Rs. 441
Male to Maafushi
Reached Male at around 7 a.m (Maldives being 30 mins behind India). After completing the visa on arrival procedure which was very fast we were ready to get on the speedboat by 8 a.m.
After waiting and looking around for sometime, we were able to get a speedboat to Maafushi Island for $25/person.
Upon reaching Maafushi, there was a representative from our hotel Triton Beach and Spa already present at the jetty to welcome us. That kept us wondering how he knew about our arrival time as we did not intimate him.
We reached our hotel after a small tour of the island. We were greeted with welcome drinks and wet towels and told that as we had arrived early, our room will be ready shortly so we can keep our luggage and explore the island if we like. After walking in a few shops and admiring the beauty of the place, we were back in the hotel to find our rooms decked up for the honeymoon couples.
Had simple Maldivian curry and rice for lunch along with a prawns sider which costed around $16.3. Food is one of the major expenses throughout your trip to Maldives.
After roaming around, we finalized Maafushi Dive for our diving experience for $70/person and got 4 spots vacant for the next day. Also booked a Cabana Candlelight Dinner for the next day.
At night, we visited the floating bar where the transfer is free of cost.
Tips for the Day:
1. You don't have to necessarily book your transfer in advance to Maafushi and if you do plan on booking it in advance with your hotel, make sure to bargain with them because $25 is the fixed price for the transport.
2. Look around for good offers, bargain a bit and then finalize. Do not book all the excursions from your hotel itself!!!
3. Buy water bottles from local shops as hotels charge double for the bottles.
Expense: $50 for speedboat, $16.3 for lunch, $16.5 for dinner and 14 rufiyaa for water bottle. Also, all hotels have green tax which is to be paid on arrival so that was $18 for 3 nights 4 days. Total: $82.8 and 14 rufiyaa which is around Rs. 6300.
Scuba Diving and Candlelight Dinner
Eager for the Scuba Diving experience we left early morning. That day our breakfast was on the hotel as we had booked half board. Maldivians are very fond of breakfast I feel as the variety was really good. After gearing up and a small video session from Maafushi Dive we left on the boat for the experience of our lifetime.
We returned at lunch time and had a pizza around the corner shop and went for some rest. In the evening, tried some Screw Pine Juice for $8. A huge amount but must try 😛.
And ended our day with the Candlelight Dinner.
Tips for the Day:
1. While booking Candlelight Dinner, they have 2 options i.e A-la-carte and buffet. Choosing buffet will save you a few bucks as you get to try the various food items.
2. Try and find out local pizza shops for cheaper lunch/ dinner options.
3. The Scuba Diving instructor forgot to switch on the camera when we went inside so we did not get even a single pic. Without fail ask your instructor to switch on the camera on the boat and check if its actually recording.
Expense: $140 for Scuba Diving with goPro. $83 for Candlelight Dinner which included $50 for the decoration, $12 for buffet and a drink for $9. Juice for $8. 57.5 rufiyaa for Pizza. Total $223 and 57.5 rufiyaa which is around Rs. 17417.
Full Day Excursion
We booked a full day excursion with 3 point snorkeling, a sandbank trip and dolphin safari. This one included free lunch and water bottles and photos and videos of the snorkeling activity. They provided snorkeling gears to each one of us. The lunch was limited chicken curry and rice and veg pulav and a few cold drink bottles to be shared amongst the 30 members but it was fun be the only people on the entire island.
We returned in the evening only to be exhausted.
After a quick fresh up session from hotel, went out to explore the local part of the island. On the other side, there is a jail, a few shops, some grounds for sports and schools. When on Maafushi, visiting this part to see the locals life is a must. It is very safe to go out even late in the evening.
Had our dinner at a hotel named Rocket which was cheaper as it was on the local side of the island and tried a few Maldivian chocolates.
We also booked a return speedboat transfer to our next destination Anantara Veli Resort.
Tips for the Day:
1. Keep your eyes open for the dolphins when on the boat. Try to grab a seat on the front to click good pics.
2. Enjoy snorkeling and get pics clicked as you wear floats so you are not going to drown.
3. Not many private resorts allow to arrange your transfer so check with the resort and book the transfer on your own from a local island as it will save you more than $100.
Expenses: $50 for the excursion. $5 and 2 rufiyaa for the Hotel Rocket Dinner. $1 for the Maldivian chocolate. $40 for the return speedboat transfer. Total $96 and 2 rufiyaa which is around Rs. 7381.
Maafushi to Anantara Veli
Before leaving for the resort, we purchased a few water bottles from Maafushi itself as the 500ml bottle would cost you around $5 in the resort whereas we bought it for 7 rufiyaa from local supermarket.
The speedboat reached Anantara in just 15mins. It was so near that we could actually see the resort from Maafushi only.
Upon arrival, we were greeted with welcome drink and wet towels. After the check-in formalities, we were told we can stroll around the island while they get our rooms ready.
The island was so beautiful, felt like a piece of heaven and a day was definitely not enough to explore the entire place. Anantara has two islands Veli and Dighu and a boat to take you from one island to another every 5mins.
After sometime, we were given a tour of the island and taken to our villa. It was right at the end as we requested. The most luxurious stay I have ever seen. We received complimentary cheesecakes and a bottle of non alcoholic drink as we were non drinker.
After a dip in the ocean right from our villa and walking on the nearby sandbank all alone, we watched the sunset from the sundeck.
For dinner, we choose a Maldivian Buffet which was on Dighu island. Hopped onto the boat and set out to explore the new island. The island had a similar vibe. Tropical trees on the inner side to you keep you cool and walking onto the outer side you see the amazing ocean calling you.
The restaurant had a soft music playing in the background and we were again shown around a variety of options available for dinner. From live counters to fresh fruits. You name it, you have it.
Tips for the day:
1. The resort provided 2 bottles per day for free so don't buy a lot from the local island but do buy a few.
2. Try and stay at the resort for atleast 2 days where 1 day can be in the overwater villa and another at a beach view room.
3. Book a full board package because buying even a single item is very costly.
Expense: 17.5 rufiyaa for water bottles which is around Rs. 87.
Anantara Veli to Hulhumale
We called for our boat in the late afternoon so we could explore the island more. Not wanting to leave the heaven, hopped onto it. And reached Maafushi in 15mins.
Had some pizza while waiting for the shared boat to Male. The shared boat was cheaper than a private one so we selected that. The weather was so bad that the boat actually started to move so roughly we were not sure whether we will actually reach the Airport or not.
Upon reaching the Airport safely, we quickly enquired for the bus to Hulhumale and waited at the stop for it. The bus arrived quickly and a gentleman helped us with the nearest stop to our hotel. The ticket costed us 40 rufiyaa.
We reached the destination in around 40mins and walked a few minutes looking at the street numbers and located the hotel really quick. It was a very small hotel with small rooms and no view, Manta Beach Hotel. But since we had to stay only for the night so we were okay with it. We quickly checked into out rooms. It was raining heavily so we requested the hotel staff for a few umbrellas. We set out to explore Hulhumale on foot. Searched for restaurants, viewed their menus, had dinner, shopped for a few souvenirs and then returned to our rooms.
Tip for the day:
1. Consider staying at Hulhumale for 1 more night or atleast reach there by afternoon.
2. Shop for souvenirs in Hulhumale as they are really cheaper. Bargain a lot while buying those.
3. Check cab rates before going by bus as they have flat rates depending on the time of the day you are travelling.
Expense: $40 for Maafushi to Airport Speedboat. 115 rufiyaa for the pizza. Airport to Hulhumale bus costed 40 rufiyaa. Souvenir for $44. $4.5 for Dinner. Total $88.5 and 155 rufiyaa which is around Rs. 7578.
Hulhumale to Mumbai
Before leaving for Airport, we visited the beach nearby which was clean and peaceful like all other beaches in Maldives.
This hotel also, we had complimentary breakfast. But they really disappointed us with their food availability. After the breakfast we called for a cab this time as the hotel staff told us it will cost around $4. The cab driver was the first person in the trip who tried to cheat by asking for a few more dollars for no particular reason . Maldives is a very tourist friendly country. After a few minutes of arguments and calling a cop standing nearby, he returned the change which was due.
After the final goodbyes to the most amazing place, we boarded our flight back to Mumbai.
Tips for the day:
1. Even if you come across someone like the cab driver asking for a few extra bucks, you can quickly look around and find people who are eager to help you out.
2. There is a souvenir shop inside the Airport so keep some spare time to visit it and a few bucks if you like something.
Expense: $4 for the cab. $5 for souvenir from the airport shop. Lunch on flight costed Rs.140 and $4. Total is $13 and Rs.140 which is around Rs. 217.
We pre booked our flights in April for Rs. 24762 with seat reservations. We booked all three hotels online by applying all the available discounts so it costed us Rs. 14205 for the hotel in Maafushi, Rs. 32893 for the overwater villa and Rs 3619 for the hotel in Hulhumale. Currency exchange was done in India only and took $650 with us out of which $100 were saved and brought back to India. We did not take rufiyaa but got it in exchange of dollars from the shops as they have a flat conversion rate of 15MVR = $1. We also kept a few MVRs for our collection while returning.
We were two couples travelling for our honeymoon so at a lot of places the cost was divided which otherwise the couple travelling alone has to bear. Still for clarity, all the rates mentioned are for per couple.
That's it, hope you save a few bucks on your honeymoon to Maldives.
All pictures used in this blog are clicked by me, my partner and my friends. If you like the clicks, do follow me on Instagram.
I write on IndianGirlWhoWanders! Show Some Love!
We have a YouTube Channel as well Wandering Souls. Like, Share and Subscribe!
#Lockdown gave me one good thing and that is the motivation to write this blog! If you have any questions, suggestions or anything, feel free to connect.