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Maldives on a Budget (yes, I'm serious!!!)

This week on my Facebook page, pictures/memories popped up from a very special trip we took exactly two years ago. It was our first vacation as a couple and we went to…(drum roll please)…

Maldives.

Talk about setting the bar high!
Panaroma. All pictures copyrighted and mine.
Disclaimer: This is not going to seem “budget” to most of you, but trust me, it is. A family could easily spend $20k+ on a vacation there, but that's not feasible for us, so we did the trip our way. **Also, leaving from Singapore (where we were living at the time) cut out one major expense: flights. That alone saved us a couple thousand dollars. 💲💲💲

As I mentioned, this was our first real vacation as a couple, 6 months into our relationship. It was Chinese New Year weekend, so we knew most of our local friends would be busy with family gatherings and most local shops would be closed. We decided it was time to leave for the holiday! We went for 4 (but really 3) nights, Feb. 19-22, 2015, to the North Male Atoll. It was an all-inclusive, and with taxes, transportation, fees, and all food and drinks covered, it was almost $2000. This may sound like a lot, but it is as budget as it comes if you want the true Maldives resort experience. Sometimes transportation to the resort island alone can be $500/per person, but our transportation was even included in this price. Overall, we felt it was doable for the trip of a lifetime!

Aerial view!
As always, we saved money where we could to offset the costs. We took a budget airlines: Sri Lankan Airlines there and Tiger Air back (it was literally a couple hundred dollars). Sri Lankan Airlines isn't technically in the budget class, but it was very cheap and good! We landed Thursday morning around 2am, and instead of getting a hotel room for a couple hours, we saved money and slept on the benches outside of the airport until our speed boat picked us up. It was safe and we were perfectly fine. However, we were young and resilient back then (a whole two years ago) and could sleep anywhere, so I’m not sure if we could do it now. The hotel speed boat picked us up around 8:00am to take us on a beautiful ride out to the resort: The Adaaran Select Hudhuranfushi (link here).

Resort bar
A good portion of our trip was spent just enjoying the beaches, snorkeling, and swimming in the crystal clear water, as well as drinking and chatting with other guests at the resort. We went on a deep sea fishing trip the first evening. I caught a ton of triggerfish, snapper, and other small fish (way more than Jon 😃). Watching the sunset over the water left us speechless, and the staff was great. The captain found it hilarious when I kissed the fish. As a Southern girl, I thought it was normal--- for good luck????


The next afternoon, we rented jet skis and drove them out to explore the surrounding islands. We even caught a pod of dolphins and rode with them for a while. I love dolphins (but not as much as the Bachelor girl this season --- I love you Alexis!), so it was an amazing day! What I would've given to have a GoPro!!


The next day, we hung out on the beach. One of the other guests told us that he had been snorkeling every morning and at the same time each day, nurse sharks came out to swim near the dock of our resort. We weren’t sure if he was serious or if it was the alcohol talking, but we decided we didn’t have much to lose and followed him. Low and behold, he was right! A couple of black-tipped sharks swam near our docks, circling around and grazing the bottom. They were so close to us that I vividly remember being scared and holding onto the legs of the dock for dear life, but they never bothered us. It was super cool! Later that evening, we got a 2 hour couples massage. It was as amazing as it sounds!!

Our last day (Sunday) consisted mostly of dreading going home. We enjoyed our last bit of the beach and cocktails, and then took the speed boat back to the airport. Maldives is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we wholeheartedly agree. It would be a DREAM to go back one day as husband and wife!

Our office for the week
What I wish we had done in Maldives: Though it would have been even more expensive, I wish we had stayed in one of those over-the-water bungalows that the Maldives is famous for. Our resort was sold out of them, so we got an awesome bungalow right on the beach by the water, but of course you can’t beat your own little house over the water!

Bungalows in the background
I truly hope you all can experience the Maldives some day. You can spend as much as you want here 💲💲💲, but if you're normal people like us, consider these tips for making it as affordable as possible: Shop around. Compare prices. Shorter trips are obviously cheaper. Pick only a couple excursions to do. Settle for the beach bungalow instead of the over-the-water houses. Remember that it's easier and cheaper coming from Europe or Asia, so consider adding it to the end of another trip. You WON'T regret it!!

Xoxo
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Location: Male, Maldives

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