Maldives: Itinerary and Budget

Hey folks!

How's your 2023? I'm sure it's better than 2020 for most people. Yeah I know it's been awhile. Hubby and I have been to several local places like Genting, Cameron, Bukit Tinggi and Perlis since the beginning of the year but I prefer to blog about oversea travels. 

Maldives has always been in my bucket list. We first booked Thulhagiri in 2019 even before our last minute Bangkok trip on Jan 2020. However the resort requested us to cancel when there was worldwide lockdown. We made a promise to ourselves to be there after the pandemic. 

Then we booked the same resort again on 2022 right after we came back from Bhutan because if not now then when? Why we chose Thulhagiri again? It's due to the affordable price for water chalet. Most water chalet within short distance from Malè cost a bomb! We also took the risk to book on a monsoon season which was June2023. 

At first it was just the old water bungalow. Then I saw that superior water bungalow has nicer upgraded interior but more expensive. We cancelled the old one instead and booked the most expensive type of room for July 2023. 

 

Initially it was for our wedding anniversary but unexpectedly became babymoon! Thank God I'm in my 2nd trimester now or I would puke 24/7 and won't be able to enjoy food. My first trimester was horrible but that's another story.

Omg I've written way too much. So here's the important part....

ITINERARY

 Day 1

7:45pm PEN to KUL

8:50pm Arrive KLIA2

9:15pm Check in Tune Hotel

Day 2

5:00am Wake up

10:00am Arrive Velana Airport (Maldives time)

11:30am Check in Ripple Beach Inn

1:00pm Lunch at hotel

Free & easy for the rest of the day

 

 

Day 3

8:00am Wake up

9:00am Breakfast

10:30am Taxi to Male

10:50am Collect ticket at Art Gallery

12:00pm Speedboat to Crossroads

2:00pm Lunch

5:30pm Speedboat back to Hulhumale

7:00pm Dinner

 

Day 4

8:00am Wake up

9:00am Breakfast

11:30am Taxi to Velana airport

12:00pm Lunch

1:30pm Speedboat to Thulhagiri

2:00pm Check in Thulhagiri island resot

Free & easy for the rest of the day. Dinner is 7:30pm daily

 

 

Day 5

Free & easy for the rest of the day. Breakfast starts 7am daily.

Day 6

Free & easy for the rest of the day. Live band on Fridays 9pm.

 

 

Day7

8:00am Wake up

9:00am Breakfast

12:00pm Check out

1:00pm Lunch

2:00pm Stroll the island

5:00pm Speedboat to Hulhumale. They arranged later boat for us.

9:15pm MLE to KUL

 

Day8

4:30am Reached KLIA2 (Malaysia time)

6:35am KUL to PEN

7:40am Reached Penang

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TEMPERATURE

Maldives is hot and humid all year round. It was rainy season when we went in July.

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EXCHANGE RATE

As in July 2023

MVR1 = RM0.30

USD1 = RM4.66

 

Maldives uses USD most of the time so when you see $ here it means USD.

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BUDGET

Below are costs for 2 persons (not including food) otherwise stated. I'm not sure about the exact figure this time. We are not broke students anymore so the older we get the more we care less about how much we spend. Do bring about $1000 per person if you are not taking full board and also to spend on excursions, water activities, rentals, transport, souvenir etc.

Flight

Air Asia

PEN - KUL - MLE

Flight + baggage + tax&fuel = about RM4k (2 Pax)

Accomodation

Tune Hotel (Double room 1 night) = RM274.95

 

Ripple Beach Inn (Deluxe Double with balcony 2 nights) = $209.32

 

   Thulhagiri Island Resort (Superior Water Bungalow 3 nights) = $1577.19

  Here's a little background about the resort. Managed by Angiri Resorts Management & Operations pvt ltd. Besides Thulhagiri, they alsso managed Angaga Island Resort & Spa, Dreamland The Unique Sea & Lake Resort Spa and Safari Island Resort. Interior design of the resorts are almost similar.

 

Sim Card

$40 for 20GB Ooredoo tourist sim card. You can buy at airport.

Transportation

Speedboat to Crossroads = FREE due to special week

On normal days it's $20 per person for return transfers

Speedboat to Thulhagiri = $100 per person

25 minute ride to the private island

Taxi = usually $10 - $12 per trip to Male or Velana airport but we got complimentary transfer from Ripple Inn Beach.

Food

We did not take full board package but we were lucky enough to get an upgrade so we got FREE buffet dinner alongside daily breakfast throughout the entire stay at Thulhagiri! For other meals at Crossroads and Hulhumale it was around $40 - $50 per meal.

 

Attraction Fees

Got our free tickets to Crossroads. We get to save $20 each. 

 

Click HERE for excursion prices and timing for Thulhagiri resort. It can be quite expensive. There are also other activities such as water sports, spa, scuba diving, fitness etc.