Maldives Very expensive
Resort food is priced accordingly; a full-board plan usually beats paying per meal. On local islands, mas huni for breakfast and garudhiya fish soup are what people actually eat, for a few dollars.
Budget travel in Maldives
What a visitor's money does in Maldives: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Very expensive average across 1 guide · 5 is very cheap
Money
Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR) · 1 EUR = 17.7 MVR · 1 USD = 15.4 MVR (pegged)
Resorts price and bill in US dollars and there is no need to hold rufiyaa unless you are staying on a local island, where small purchases are easier in cash. Resort bills carry a 10% service charge and 16% GST on top of the quoted rate, which is a bigger addition than people expect.
ATMs
Avoid: expecting any machine on a resort island — there are none
Use: BML, MIB (Malé and larger local islands)
Resorts bill in dollars to your room, so cash is only needed on local islands. Draw it in Malé before the transfer.
Getting around
From the airport: Malé airport to the city is a MVR 100 taxi over the bridge; everything else is a boat or a seaplane
City by city, cheapest first
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
