Besides I feel that it is a worthwhile cause to do it as there is really limited information on the net about those remote islands. Even by borrowing books from library doesn't help much as data may be decades ago or only focus on the Male city. So folks sit back and slip your cup of kopi or tea and enjoy the read.... :)
How it's started....
In November, My girlfriend, Jeannie spotted a promotion ad from Singapore airlines that states SQ direct flight from Singapore to Male for SGD$500 nett (return trip with taxes and surcharges all in).
That was very cheap compared to the usual $800 plus. Jeannie was excited as this is one destination she wants to go and have been querying me when can I bring her there. So opportunity present itself, and I did my sums (well, at this moment my company wasn't doing very well and chances that I may be out of job at any time), ok not so bad within my expected budget... We proceed with the booking... We were quite lucky because after 2 hours or so that promo price was reverted to the usual 800plus bucks
The bookings and other sort of information...
FRIDAYS:
The reason why this has to be top of the list and in bold is because it may break your piggy bank or affect your plans.
Being a Muslim country, they don't follow the usual work days, in fact they work from Sundays till Thursdays and rest on Fridays and Saturdays
While most of us follow the legal working week which is Mondays to Fridays, we need to plan carefully when we wish to arrive or depart from the islands. This is because there are no ferry services on Fridays!!
The only mode of transport on this day will be via Sea plane (200USD per hour per pax) or Speedboat (30USD per pax)
So take note of this...
Accommodation :
TLM retreat (TLM Retreat Agoda)
We will be staying for 5 days and since we will arrived at 11.35pm on XMAS day, we decided to book a hotel stay within the same island as where the airport (Ibrahim Nasir international airport) is. That moment, we were unsure if there is any ferry that late to ferry us from airport to Male city. So by not taking any chances, we decided to book a night's accommodation near the airport for the first night before switching to another on a different island the next day.
Wind Breeze Sunset View Inn (Wind Breeze Sunset View Inn Agoda)
On the 2nd day onward, we opt for this guesthouse at Guraidhoo island. I actually spent half a day to read through each and every reviews in Agoda and finally opt for this with a review scoring of 9.4 (one of my best decisions in life, you will understand why at the later part of this post)
Do note that there are many islands and they are collectively known as Maldives islands. Each island may be owned exclusively by a 4-6 stars resorts which charges between 700USD to 10,000USD a night. Of course, with that mojo being paid, you can be sure you will be well taken care of the moment you step foot on the airport till the last step you took off to enter the plane on the last day
However there are some islands which are in fact inhabited by the natives and only recent years (like 2-3 years ago), the government decided to lax the rules and permitted some sort of "AirBnb" so that the island folks can make some decent living.
So islands like Gulhi, Maafushi and Guraidhoo have guesthouses that charged between 30USD to 200USD a night for those on budget conscious.
Frankly, if you are one whom is adventurous, love to do planning and not one whom like to spend a lot on accommodation, i would suggest adopt the guesthouses plan. You would be amazed how easily to get around in Maldives and communicate with the locals.
Hidden costs - Taxes
There are many taxes that would be added to your accommodation cost and are as follows:
12 % TAX
US$ 3 Environmental fee per person per night
10 % Property service charge
These Taxes may not be included in your total payment when you check out the cart as you are required to pay over the counter when you arrived.
Airport Transfer:
When we are at the airport, we are clueless as we expect taxis of some sort. No taxis at all! That is because taxis are prohibited to enter the airport (I believe is to prevent touting or congestion, it is a very small airport space after all)
What you have are just airport transfers from respective resorts/guesthouses/inns/hotels
So you need to email to them about your arrival details so that they can wait for you and we didn't do that.... :(
By the way, airport transfers from those establishments may not be complimentary, check with them beforehand and they only accept USD as payment. They may accept their local currency but they will use USD as the base to convert and it is not worthwhile at all...
For mine, I need to pay USD 10 for 2 pax per trip for a 10 minutes ride.
Do note that there is a customer service counter outside of the transit area and there is local phone line which you can use to make a call to the hotel/guesthouse to query about the pickup. You may approach the staff for assistance (i.e. like making a call to the hotel/guesthouse on your behalf.)
Currency:
Do note their local currency is know as Maldivian Ruyifaa and it is rare, in fact almost non existent in Singapore. Their currency is as exotic their islands, haha....
So we decided to change to some USD since we gathered that they accept that too.
I changed to USD500 (at a rate of 1.45, about 700plus SGD).
At their airport, I changed another SGD$100 to their local currency (at a rate of 1 SGD = 10.21)
Actually, the Maldivian money changer (Maldivian bank) do earn alot... For every transaction, they charge an admin fee of 15 Ruyifaa (approx. SGD $1.50) and the rate they gave is way below market rate, which is supposed to be 1 SGD = 10.51.
*Remember to keep the exchanged receipt as you need that slip of paper to change back the remaining Ruyifaa to your dollars at the airport. After you passed through the immigration, there will be a money charger in there to perform the conversion back.*
Language:
English is commonly spoken and I would said 99% of them speak simple English. So there isn't any issue getting around or seeking assistance. Anyway, you will be surprise many PRC working in there. Yes, they have only 5 embassies and one of them is China, PRC.
Local Time Zone:
Maldives are 3 hours slower than Singapore, time zone is GMT +5
if you own a G-shock watch, you may search for "KHI" in the World Time function.
"KHI" is Karachi in Pakistan and it is in the same time zone as Maldives.
Monsoon Season:
Their monsoon season is in June and July. Avoid at all costs unless you want to remain in your quarters the whole day throughout.
Best moments to go is between October till February. Sunny Sun and rather clam waters....
Snorkeling Gear:
I would suggest you get your own snorkeling gear unless you don't mind sharing with other folks whom used it over the years. Hygiene purpose.
It is very easily obtained from Taobao, Lazada or Qoo10. Jeannie got hers and mine from Ali Express at a cheap rate (about 5-10 USD each, not too sure about the price as she pays for it. HAHA!)
Transport between Airport and Male city:
These 2 islands are very nearby, you may refer to below screenshot.
Getting from Airport to Male City at this point is via ferry but in the future, there will be a highway to link up these 2 islands (now it is in the process of construction)
2 ways to hitch a ferry...
Nearby the Airport - There is a ferry terminal nearby the airport, like 3 mins walk. cost 10 Ruyifaa per pax (like SGD$1). About 10 mins ride, free seating.
At the Residential area further north of the Airport - there is a ferry terminal known as "Hulhumale Ferry Terminal". you only take from here if you stay within the vicinity which I did on the 1st night.
Cost 5.5 Ruyifaa (SGD50Cents). About 15 mins ride, free seating
Taxis around Male City
You will arrive at "Hulhumale Ferry Terminal" at Male City (yes, it is same name as earlier) or the "Airport Ferry" if you took from the Airport.
These 2 ferry terminals on Male are very near each other. Refer to the Purple Circle
Sadly, to get to our next island, Guraidhoo, the ferry terminal is on the west side of Male, Refer to Red Circle. You cannot walk to there as it is quite far. Take their local cabs!
They are almost everywhere and it is easy to flag one down. Do note they do not have meters at all! so you need to query for the price to take you to your destination.
So to get from the Purple circled point to the Red circled point, it just cost us 40 Ruyifaa (SGD$4), a 15 mins ride.
The condition of the Taxis vehicles are generally in good shape. Have working air-con without any foul smell and they are clean.
Transport between Male City and Guraidhoo
Upon reaching the ferry terminal (known as Villigili Ferry Terminal) at the west end of Male, you need to know that there are 2 types of ferry to Guraidhoo, direct and indirect ferries as known to the locals.
Direct ferry (Privately owned) - There is only one such ferry (refer to the below screenshot for reference).
No ticket counters at all. The tickets are purchased when you are on-board the boat or if you want to feel assured of a seat beforehand, simply head inside the boat to look for the ticket-man (he will be holding a stack of tickets sitting down and usually a crowd of people will gathered around him).
If you are still clueless where to locate this ferry or whom to look for to purchase tickets, ASK... Like I mentioned earlier, they speak and understand English and they will advise you accordingly.
Tickets cost 20 Ruyifaa per pax (like SGD$2)- Boat ride takes 1 hour plus directly to Guraidhoo island. Boat will leave at 3pm (Maldives local time) SHARP!
InDirect ferry (Government owned) - Not far away from the Private ferry, you can locate the government ferries which is a stone throw away.
Tickets can be purchased from the counter and they cost 12 Ruyifaa per pax (like SGD$1 plus)- Boat ride takes 2 hour plus. Boat will leave at 3pm (Maldives local time) SHARP!
This ferry will passed by 2 islands before arriving Guraidhoo.
The first island is Gulhi then followed by Maafushi island.
Look at the below screenshot for reference.
I would suggest you take the direct ferry in order to save time unless you would like to view how do the other 2 islands look like.
Guraidhoo Island:
This island has about 2,000 residents and basically you can walk around it within 30 minutes.
Do note that Maldives is a Muslim territory so we need respect its culture and the traditions over there.
For the Ladies, if you wish to wear bikini and sun bath or play at the beach, I would suggest not to do it on this main island, instead head to another smaller island (Lhosfushi) which is connected with a bridge. This island is known to the locals as BIKINI ISLAND (refer to below screenshot for reference)
On this island, you can flaunt your figures and relax. Snorkeling can be done as well since the waters are shallow.
Wind Breeze Sunset View Inn Review:
Wind Breeze Sunset view Inn Facebook
First day
When the ferry docked at the shore, we were greeted by a petite-size man called as Sherrif (At first, I thought he was a boy, refer to below photo of him) holding up a sign that states "Wind Breeze Sunset View Inn" and he immediately looked at both of us which I reckon he has been expecting us. I believe we are the only Chinese couple whom was coming on that day.
Quickly, he offered assistance to carry our 2 languages onto his cart and pull to the guesthouse (about 5 minutes walk)
Upon reaching, we were immediately greeted by 2 guys, Salaam and Mohammed whom brought us 2 welcome drinks in a very well-decorated glasses (we wanted to purchase it but sadly we couldn't find it on the island)
Then Salaam came over to welcome us while we were slipping our drinks, he sat us down and explained to us that there is a situation at the moment. Our room which supposed to be vacant for our arrival is still occupied with the current tenants. Reason being that the wife is ill and couldn't take the ferry out.
Salaam apologies for inconvenience caused and request us to stay in another guesthouse (opened by his friend) for a night. We can returned to our room the next day morning at 9am. Salaam also threw in complimentary snorkeling for both of us the next day as a compensation.
Well, though I wasn't quite pleased with the situation but given that we had no choice but to bite the bullet then. Besides, Salaam is very apologetic and sincere in dealing with the work around.
So he personally escorted us to the temporary stay-in and told us to be ready for dinner at 6.30pm which he will fetched us back to his guesthouse.
When we reached the dinner area which is outside of the guesthouse and near the sea shore, immediately we experience loving sea breeze and overwhelmed by the fabulous sunset...
No wonder, this guesthouse is called as "Wind breeze Sunset view inn"!
DINNER TIME!!!!!!
The 3 dishes was cooked by Sherrif, they are seaweed with ikan bilis, octupus with tomato sauce and french fries which go along with white basmati rice (the one that we used for biryani)
These dishes are authentic Maldivian food which tasted not bad. After the meal, they even served sliced watermelons. once we had our stomachs filled up, we took a stroll along the shore to enjoy cool evening land breeze and grazing the stars..... what a peaceful and loving night after all....
Second day
We woke up and pack our stuff up before Sherrif pick us up at 9am and company us to the guesthouse. Once reached, Sherrif quickly apologies to us that the room had not been tidy up and he will notify us once it is done.
He told us to wait at dinning area to have our breakfast and served us a beautiful meal made by him
Basically, Sherrif is a very hardworking person. Literally, he is our butler, our chef, our porter, our cleaner, our waiter and our good man! A very humble chap with passion to ensure each and every guest is happy and well taken care of!
While we are having our meal, Salaam came to notify us that he is taking us out for our complimentary snorkeling at 1pm. We acknowledged his goodwill and thank him for the arrangements.
Then Sherrif came along to inform that the room is ready and we may unpack our stuff. here are some photos of the room. Very spacious and neat indeed. There are only 3 rooms in this guesthouse so it will not be too crowded at any point of time.
Then we proceed with our exploration around the island. We went to Bikini beach and took photos of the surroundings and a local boy which I reckon is a beautiful photo as shown below
At 1 pm, we took Salaam's speedboat and Mohammed came along as his deputy. Below is the video of the speed boat and back view of the 2 good men.
This complimentary snorkeling actually lasted 3 hours! It was a pleasant surprise because both of us actually expect to be at most an hour since it was done out of goodwill. This really demonstrated Salaam's generosity and his professionalism!
DINNER TIME!!!!!! on the 2nd evening
Dinner was cooked by Sherrif again which are, Steam Tuna fish (seasoned with Assam paste), raw cabbage with carrot with a little lemon zest sauce and Italian Pasta.
While we were dinning, Mohammed came over to mingle with the guests. At our table, Mohammed share a lot about his family, the folks on this island and Maldives history. Very nice interaction with Mohammed and a humble man he is.
After the meal, Jeannie and I headed to our room for an early rest to prepare ourselves for the next day Turtles and Dolphins viewing!!!
Third day
Since Salaam has his own boat, he is able to bring his guests out for activities at any time and at a very reasonable rate.
For example:
Dolphins viewing - 40USD per pax
Turtle viewing - 30USD per pax
Snorkeling - I believe it 10USD per pax but you need to check with Salaam as I got mine complimentary.
Sand bank panic - I think it is 50USD per pax but you need to check with Salaam again.
As such, we took the Dolphins and Turtle viewing so in total it was 140USD for 2 pax and it lasted about 4 hours. (The thing I really appreciate about this group of good men is they are very sincere and professional. They really wish all their guests enjoyed themselves and take good care of us during snorkeling.
Even after the trips, Salaam didn't ask for the payment until I approached to pay him. I gave him 150USD and asked him to keep the change...)
It was such an eventful outing that we totally forgotten to take photos of our 3rd day dinner! Haha! Anyway it was a nice dinner again whipped up by Sherrif.
Soon, we back in our rooms to pack up for our departure and we rested early as we need to wake up at 5.30am to catch our ferry back to Male city at 7am. Then the thunder roars!!!
*Apologies for the lack of photos shown in this blog, in fact we took about 900+ photos but mostly are at Jeannie's handphone and she is uncomfortable to post them online as she prefer to stay in a low profile.*
Last day (the fourth day)
Finally, we witness the rain in Maldives. It started from 9pm on the previous night and lasted throughout the whole morning of the next day. The rain is very erratic and Thunderstorm comes at an unpredictable moment when you thought it was done for the day and it will stop suddenly when you thought it is going to last for awhile.
I was told this is how it is like during the monsoon season so beware of coming during this period!
Despite the howling winds and the noisy water droplets, we managed to wake up at 5.30am. Tied up any loose ends and done a final check if we had left anything behind. Then we headed for breakfast that was made by Sherrif (though it was the same breakfast set for the 3 days in the row, it was still a very heart warming one that was cooked by a good man)
We had out fill then headed to the dock that we last touched down days ago along with Sherrif towing our luggages. Since we are taking the Direct ferry to Male city, we bought the tickets within the boat with Sherrif's help. I gave Sherrif 50 Ruyifaa as tips for the good care and work he had given. Then said goodbye to him and waved with a heavy heart to this beautiful island and the great hospitality that was presented by Salaam, Mohammed and Sherrif.
I shall return to this island some day in the near future!!!!!!!
Total Cost spent by me on this trip
Return trip SQ flight - SGD$500
Airport transfer to first night hotel - 10USD (SGD$14.5)
Ferry from Hulhumale Ferry Terminal to Male city - 5.5 Ruyifaa (SGD50Cents)
Taxi to Ferry terminal on the west side of Male- 50 Ruyifaa (SGD$5)
Ferry from Male city to Guraidhoo -12 Ruyifaa (SGD$1.2)
Wind breeze Sunset view inn accommodation (4 days, 3 nights) - USD$281.89 (SGD$408)
Dolphin viewing - 40USD (SGD$58)
Turtle viewing - 60 USD (SGD$87) - I paid for both of us
Ferry from Guraidhoo to Male city - 20 Ruyifaa (SGD$2)
Taxi to Airport Ferry Terminal - 35 Ruyifaa (SGD$3.5)
Ferry from Male city to Airport - 10 Ruyifaa (SGD$1)
Total price in SGD -> 500 + 14.5 + 0.50 + 5 + 1.2 + 408 + 58 + 87 + 2 + 3.5 + 1 = 1080
*Quick tips of the day:
For Singaporeans only:
Use this site (Shop Back) to gain more discount when booking from Agoda. A whopping 7%discount and I saved SGD$20 for this Maldives guesthouse booking. The money can be redeemed and transferred to your bank account
Use this credit card (Stand Chart Singpost credit card) to pay for your online purchases (flight and accomdations) and enjoy a whopping 7% discount as cashback to deduct from your statement.
