What a trip to the Maldives costs
The Maldives has a reputation for being expensive, and the reputation is only half right. The country runs across a wider price range than almost anywhere else we work: the same week, on the same water, costs $1,050 or $7,700 depending on which island you sleep on. Both of those are real trips and w
What catches people out is not the room rate. It is the transfer. In most destinations, getting from the airport to the hotel is a taxi and a rounding error. Here it is a seaplane or a domestic flight, it is charged per person, and on a mid-tier trip it can be the second largest line in the budget after the room. That is the structural point this page exists to make.
Everything below is land only, per person, based on two people sharing, and excludes international flights.
The four tiers we price against
| Style | What it looks like | Per person, per day |
|---|---|---|
| Guesthouse island | An inhabited Maldivian island, a small simple hotel, local food, shared day boats to the reefs and sandbanks | $150 |
| Comfortable | A mid-tier resort island, half board, a beach villa, a speedboat or domestic flight transfer | $320 |
| Boutique | A small island, design rooms, a genuinely good house reef, better food, usually a seaplane | $580 |
| Luxury | Top tier, an overwater villa, full board, the best of everything and a premium transfer | $1,100 |
Applied to the lengths that work here:
| Style | 5 days | 7 days | 10 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guesthouse island | $750 | $1,050 | $1,500 |
| Comfortable | $1,600 | $2,240 | $3,200 |
| Boutique | $2,900 | $4,060 | $5,800 |
| Luxury | $5,500 | $7,700 | $11,000 |
The gap between the bottom row and the top row is about seven times, on islands separated by an hour of flying. Nowhere else we plan has a spread like it.
The transfer, which is the line people miss
There are three ways to reach an island from Malé, and they are not interchangeable. They differ in price, in time, and in whether they run after dark.
| Transfer | Typical time each way | Round trip, per person, indicative | Runs at night | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speedboat | 20 to 90 minutes | $150 to $300 | Usually yes | North and South Malé Atoll and parts of Ari. Cheapest and most flexible |
| Domestic flight plus speedboat | 30 to 70 minutes flying, then 10 to 40 by boat | $300 to $500 | Yes | Baa, Noonu, South Ari, Kooddoo, Gan. The flexible way to reach a far atoll |
| Seaplane | 15 to 55 minutes | $450 to $900 | No, daylight only | The far and mid atolls. A genuinely good flight and a genuinely large number |
Read the seaplane row twice. It is charged per person, so a family of four pays four times, and it flies in daylight only, which means a late-arriving international flight cannot connect to it at all. The consequence is a night in Malé or Hulhumalé at each end when the timings are wrong, which is a hotel night, two extra ground transfers and half a day of your holiday.
A worked example. Two people choose a boutique island reachable only by seaplane. The seaplane costs roughly $1,200 for the pair, round trip. On the same budget, a very good island forty minutes by speedboat costs about $400 for the pair. The $800 difference is two extra nights in a better room, or the whole meal plan upgrade for the week. That is why we ask about the house reef before we ask about the villa: if a near island gives you the reef you want, the transfer saving is real money you can spend on the part of the trip you actually experience.
We check your flight times against the seaplane window before we recommend an island. Not afterwards. The full comparison is in the complete Maldives guide.
Four trips, priced line by line
Each of these is seven days, two people sharing, per person.
Guesthouse island, seven days, about $1,050
A local island such as Dhigurah or Fulidhoo, a family-run hotel, breakfast included, day boats out to manta and whale shark sites, and dinner in the village.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Room, 7 nights, per person share | $420 |
| Transfers, speedboat and public ferry | $70 |
| Meals and drinks | $210 |
| Day boats, snorkelling trips and sandbank excursions | $250 |
| Taxes and island fees | $100 |
| Total | $1,050 |
This is the version of the Maldives most people do not know exists. See local islands and Malé in 8 days, and read local islands versus resort islands before you decide, because the rules on an inhabited island are different.
Comfortable resort, seven days, about $2,240
A mid-tier resort island reached by speedboat or a short domestic flight, a beach villa, half board.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 7 nights, half board, per person share | $1,150 |
| Transfer, speedboat round trip | $210 |
| Lunches, drinks and anything beyond half board | $300 |
| Service charge, tourism goods and services tax, green tax | $380 |
| Snorkelling trips and one excursion | $200 |
| Total | $2,240 |
Note the tax and service line. It is close to seventeen per cent of the trip and it is applied to the room rate you were quoted, not instead of it. See classic Maldives in 7 days.
Boutique, seven days, about $4,060
A small island with a strong house reef, design rooms, food worth eating, usually a seaplane.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 7 nights, half board, per person share | $2,300 |
| Seaplane, round trip | $520 |
| Additional meals and drinks | $400 |
| Service charge, tourism tax, green tax | $640 |
| Diving or private excursions | $200 |
| Total | $4,060 |
This is the tier where the money starts buying something you can point at: fewer rooms, a reef you can swim to from the beach, and a kitchen that is not cooking for six hundred people. See boutique Maldives in 7 days.
Luxury, seven days, about $7,700
Top tier, an overwater villa with a pool, full board, a premium transfer.
| Line | Total |
|---|---|
| Overwater villa, 7 nights, full board, per person share | $5,200 |
| Seaplane, round trip, premium cabin or private | $600 |
| Drinks, spa and extras | $600 |
| Service charge, tourism tax, green tax | $1,100 |
| Private excursions | $200 |
| Total | $7,700 |
Our honest note on this tier: about half of what you are buying is real and about half is the room category. An overwater villa over deep clear water with open sea in front of it is worth the money. An overwater villa over shallow sand facing a walkway is not, and it costs the same. We say which one it is, resort by resort. See romantic Maldives in 8 days.
What moves the number
The month. The Maldives has the sharpest seasonal pricing of anywhere we plan. The same villa can double between September and the fortnight around New Year, and the peak weeks carry minimum stays as well as supplements. Late April, early November and the whole of the green season are where the value is. See the Maldives month by month.
The meal plan. On an island with no alternative restaurant, room-only is a trap. Three meals and a few drinks a day at resort prices routinely add $120 to $250 per person per day, which is more than the half-board supplement. We price half board or full board as standard and show you the room-only comparison so you can see it for yourself.
The room category. The step from a garden room to a beach villa is usually worth it. The step from a beach villa to an overwater villa is worth it sometimes.
The number of people. Unlike most of our destinations, this one barely improves with group size. There is no shared guide or vehicle to split. Four people pay four transfers. The only saving is a family room that sleeps four rather than two rooms.
Diving. A ten-dive package with equipment typically runs $600 to $900 per person, and it is a separate budget line rather than something absorbed into the room. See diving and snorkelling the Maldives.
What we will not do
We will not quote you a room-only rate on a remote island to make a proposal look competitive, because you will pay the difference on day two and think worse of us for it.
We will not put a family of four on a seaplane island when a speedboat island with an equal reef exists, unless you have looked at both numbers and chosen the seaplane on purpose.
We will not describe a house reef as good when it is not. That is the whole product here, and a mediocre reef is the most expensive disappointment in the Maldives because there is nothing else on the island to make up for it.
Related
- The Maldives: the complete guide to planning your trip
- How many days do you need in the Maldives?
- The Maldives month by month
- Local islands versus resort islands
- All our Maldives trips
Frequently asked questions
Why does a week in the Maldives cost more than two weeks in Sri Lanka?
Is a guesthouse island really a fifth of the price?
Do the taxes and service charge get added at the end?
When do you confirm real prices?
Plan a trip to The Maldives, where choosing the island is the whole decision All The Maldives, where choosing the island is the whole decision trips
