How to plan a trip to the Maldives - Your senses ready for some tropical charm!

With a collection of stunning coral islands, mesmeric beaches and atolls, Maldives offers an array of tropical experiences to all leisure travellers from all around the world. If you are not familiar with the breathtaking beauty of this slice of paradise, make sure to add it to your bucket list.

Image via The Residence Maldives Falhumaafushi

Overview

Being a paradise island located in the Indian Ocean, Maldives comprises 1190 islands and 26 atolls. Its white sandy beaches are known the world over and the surrounding waters are home to many marine ecosystems. More than 80% of the land is covered by water and composed of coral islands. Apart from stunning coral reefs, there is a huge variety of fish, dolphins, sea turtles, echinoderms, molluscs and many other ocean species. The earliest settlers in the Maldives were from Sri Lanka and South India. Therefore, the ethnic identity of Maldives is a fusion of different cultures. The official language is known as ‘Dhivehi’. ‘Local Islands or islands that are inhabited by people are the only places where you will get a chance to mix and mingle with locals as well as to learn the true Maldivian culture. Now you are equipped with basic information about the Maldives. Discussed below are some tips every first-timer to the Maldives should know.

Visa for the Maldives

For those who are planning to visit Maldives for the first time, a pre-arrival visa is not required. Whateveryour nationality is, there will be a visa on arrival policy. In order to get this privilege, you should have areturn ticket to ensure you won’t stay in the country confirmed hotel reservation and a passport with a six months validity. Alcohol is strictly prohibited in Maldives especially in public places. You’ll receive an immigration form to fill all your inbound and outbound dates, passport details and a declaration that you don’t bring alcohol to the country. However, there is no maximum or minimum amount of money you can take to Maldives. It is better to carry a sufficient amount of money to bear all expenses during your trip since Maldives has a range of exciting activities to try out.

Where to stay

From honeymoons to family holidays, there are top picks for every kind of holiday. With its mesmeric beaches, private island resorts and crystal-clear lagoons, this island paradise offers the ultimate castaway fantasy. All resorts in the Maldives are located on their own island. You will only have access to use the facilities (water sports, restaurants, entertainment, and bars) of the resort that you choose. The accommodation and standard facilities in resorts vary from one another, from the budget, average to the best of everything. Many a beach villa and Maldives 5 star resorts the likes of Residence Maldives Falhumaafushi offer excursions to the capital Male and other fishing village islands. You will have many choices to choose your holiday retreat. There are about 106 resort islands ranging from ultimate luxury to affordable rates. Depending on the distance, airport transfers to your resort are done either by domestic flight or seaplane.

Transportation

Needless to say, the majority of the land area in Maldives is covered by water. All the first-time travellers would think that sea travel is the only mode of transportation here. It is half of the reality! Those who want to travel to respective islands from Velana International Airport can take a seaplane or speed boat. All islands which are located nearly 40 minutes away from respective airports have speedboats to transitguests. If an island is located far away from the airport, seaplane transfers are used to transit guests. The seaplane drops off and pickup costs are usually included in the accommodation cost of the resort.