Maldives vacation cost: how to travel to The Maldives on a budget?

The Maldives is known as a super expensive destination where only luxury travelers with a big budget can go. This is not the complete truth: You can also enjoy a vacation in The Maldives on a low cost. We visited The Maldives in 2025 and hereby share our expenses and our tips for visiting The Maldives on a budget. In doing so, we have created a handy overview of our expenses and costs and answer the question: how much does a Maldives vacation cost?

Which currency is used in The Maldives?

The official currency in The Maldives is the Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR). Yet you will see the MVR almost nowhere on a menu or pricetag. In fact, everything is counted, communicated and even settled in American Dollars. So to make it easy, in this article we put everything in dollars as well.

In this article, we take you through the budget for The Maldives. Costs are broken down into activities, accommodation, transportation, food and beverages and other. This is all based on two people. At the bottom of this article you will find a handy chart of common expenses in The Maldives. The exchange rate of the Maldivian rufiyaa to the U.S. dollar is usually between 15 and 16 Maldivian rufiyaa for $1.

How much does a vacation to The Maldives cost?

This is the most frequently asked question: how much does a Maldives vacation cost? What is your budget for The Maldives? The answer to this is quite simple: how expensive you make it yourself. You can go all-inclusive with a stay on the expensive and luxurious resort islands, but you can also choose to stay on the local islands. There the cost of accommodations, activities and food and drinks are a lot cheaper.

Tip: also read our 11 Maldives tips you’ll want to know before your trip to the Maldives!

Costs for accommodations in The Maldives

As mentioned above, you need to make a choice between staying on a luxury resort island or a local island. The price of hotels in the Maldives varies, below we take you through the differences. Check-out the best budget resorts in the Maldives in this article.

Cost resort island

For a night on a resort island, you should easily think of a minimum of €350 per night. For this price, you usually don’t book the iconic cabins on the water, which are often only available from €500 per night. In addition to the high cost of accommodation, you also need to consider the cost of food and drink. The restaurant on the resort island is of course the only one, so you’ll pay a lot more for a meal here. At most resorts, you can also opt for an all-inclusive stay.

Finally, getting to a resort island is also usually a lot more expensive. You will almost always have to take a speedboat, or you may even choose to take an expensive seaplane. Therefore, it is relatively more economical if you stay longer on a resort island, because it allows you to spread the cost of transportation over several days. This photo was taken at the Sun Siyam Olhuveli Resort, which we took a day trip to. This was fantastic!

Cost of accommodations on a local island in The Maldives

The accommodations on the local islands are very good value for money. You already have a nice, clean hotel room from €60 per night. For example, on Fulidhoo we slept at the beautiful Kunaa Beach Inn for €60 per night and on Dhigurah for €65 per night.

On Maafushi, we splurged a bit more with a more luxurious stay at the most beautiful hotel on the island: Arena. Here you pay €100 a night for a beautiful room with a rooftop pool. Please note that we traveled in the Maldives during the low season. In high season, hotel prices are much higher.

Cost of eating and drinking in The Maldives

We found the cost of food and drink on the local islands in The Maldives really not that bad. You pay an average of $5 – $10 for a really good and tasty meal. So you can find local Maldivian meals everywhere like the tuna-coconut shavings combination eaten with a roshi in the morning, or tasty curries.

Drinks are also not that expensive at all. Alcohol is not served on the local islands, so that already saves a lot in costs. However, you can order mocktails and non-alcoholic wine and beer. For a soft drink you pay around $2.

The two of us spent an average of $36 per day on food and drinks. At all the hotels we had free breakfast, so we only had to have dinner and sometimes some small lunch. Of course, we also had quite a few yummy ice creams. All this for less than $20 per day per person so! Free breakfast is included at all hotels, so this also already saves on the cost of the Maldives.

Cost of activities

Activities in The Maldives is where most of our budget went. Of course, that is also what you go on vacation to The Maldives for. The underwater world is so fantastically beautiful, of course you want to experience that.

The cost of activities in The Maldives very much depends on where you want to do the tour / activity. The popular island of Maafushi is by far the cheapest with all tours, as there are a lot of tourists staying here and therefore a lot of supply. If you plan to do quite a few activities, we definitely recommend staying on Maafushi.

The best activities in The Maldives + price

To keep it easy, below we put down the price charged in Maafushi. From other islands the price is often a bit higher, but then you have a bit of an idea of the costs. Also read our article on the best activities in The Maldives here.

Cost of transportation in the Maldives

Transportation in The Maldives can be as expensive or cheap as you like. It mainly depends on how much patience and time you have. For example, you can take the local ferry from the airport to Malé and then the local ferry to Maafushi for a total of $4 per person. The local ferry does take 4x as long compared to a speedboat, which costs $25. Also from Dhigurah, you have to weigh the difference in cost (+/- $40) against 5 hours longer and less comfortable travel.

You can always check with your accommodation in The Maldives to see if – and when – there is a local ferry going from one island to another, to save on costs. Also read our blog “Transportation in The Maldives” for more information on the different types of transportation and helpful tips.

Average daily budget for The Maldives

After 14 days in The Maldives, we arrive at a daily budget of $80 per person. This, of course, does not include the flight to and from The Maldives.

It is certainly possible to visit The Maldives even a lot cheaper. Then you will do a lot less activities than we did. However, for us it was our first “real” vacation in over a year and we wanted to enjoy this to the fullest. We love all kinds of underwater activities and thoroughly enjoyed this. If you are traveling as a couple, a budget of $60 is also definitely possible.

Cost overview budget The Maldives

In order to properly determine your costs for your vacation to The Maldives, we have written down below the common costs of your trip through The Maldives. This will make it easier for you to establish your budget for The Maldives.

Please note that this is an average: in high season, prices are a bit higher everywhere, and in low season, of course, lower. Also, it saves a lot of money whether you travel together or alone, since most of your budget will go on your accommodation and there are (almost) no hostels in The Maldives.

So, how do you travel cheaply in The Maldives?

You can travel cheaply in The Maldives by staying on local islands and using local transportation. This does take a little longer, but if you have the time it won’t be a problem. You can judge for yourself what you think is worth the money and what is not. We found the cost of the activities and the food and drinks to be really not that bad.