Inexpensive holidays in the Maldives
We flew from Kyiv via Sharjah (UAE) and Colombo (Sri Lanka). AirArabia planes are new, clean and a pleasure to fly. But they don't feed. You can buy food, but the prices and assortment leave much to be desired.
We arrived in Colombo late, but there is more than enough time before the flight to Male. Therefore, these delays did not affect us in any way. But we barely figured out the transition from one plane to another - we were given a temporary visa in our passports, we received our luggage and searched for an entrance to the landing hall for a long time. It turned out that we had to go outside and go to another building. We flew from Colombo by the 330th Airbus - an old car, but well-groomed. Despite the fact that the flight was only an hour and a half, we were fed breakfast. In general, all flights survived quite easily.
In Male, only thanks to the instructions left on the Internet by experienced tourists, we managed to catch the ferry departing at 10.00 - we took several queues at passport control, jumped into the outgoing boat (a dollar per person) from the airport to Male, immediately caught a taxi on the shore (30 rufiyaas , but on the course the taxi driver deceived us, and at the airport the exchange office was closed and we did not have local currency). We immediately bought tickets for the ferry (as I understand it, a little less than 2 dollars per person) and in an hour and a half we were already on Maafushi. The ferry turned out to be torture because of the pitching, but three flights in a row probably made themselves felt.
No one expected to see us at Maafushi so early. But those who met their tourists called the owner of our hotel. At 11.45 we were already sitting in the hotel, wiping our tired faces with wet, odorous, cool towels and drinking cocktails from freshly squeezed fruit. We were checked into our rooms at 13:30. During this time, we filled out questionnaires, got acquainted with the list of excursions, set up Wi Fi...
They settled us not in the Arena Lodge, as promised, but in the Arena Lodge Sky. This read the same thing, but there are 3 rooms in the Lodge, and 6 in the Sky Lodge. It may not matter. But at Lodge Sky, the window of our room looked directly at the reception. And everyone who talked there, we listened against our will. And all blowing your nose, etc. , is audible to all the inhabitants of the hotel. Breakfasts, as experienced tourists wrote, always included an omelet with 2 sausages, pancakes with chopped chicken and toasts with butter and jam (which many people took with them probably instead of lunch). Tea-coffee throughout the day without restrictions for free. In the room, water is only available upon arrival, soap and shampoo are not provided, there is a mini-bar in the refrigerator for a fee. But in stores everything is the same cheaper.
Maafushi Island is 1.3 km long. It is inhabited by local residents - Muslims. Therefore, you can swim in swimming trunks and swimsuits only on designated beaches with a wicker fence. But the beach is quite decent, besides us there were a couple of other people there. Turquoise water, immediately collected beautiful shells. Everywhere, of course, there is only sand, but shells are rarely thrown out by a wave. The hotel provides free beach towels and flippers with a mask and snorkel.
Dinner is very tasty. Of course, no one will do much for 6 numbers of variety - meat, fish, soup, a couple of side dishes and a couple of salads, as well as dessert. But everything is delicious - we liked it. And milkshakes with ice cream and fresh juices are just a fairy tale! Moreover, they are so nutritious that they cost half the dinner according to the sensations (although they come for a separate fee - $ 6 Cocktail and $ 3 fresh).
A trip to the island of Biyadhoo (at the entrance to the island - $ 11 per person, plus an average transfer of $ 30). This is an island hotel, very green clean and beautiful. There, as it turned out, come from many neighboring islands. We spent the whole day on the beach under dense vegetation. For 10-15 minutes along the path you can go around the entire island around the perimeter. Swimming in a mask is a pleasure - the water is clear like in a bath. Fish swim the most exotic, starting from the shore. But the biggest delight was caused by the place where the sandbank ends. A steep cliff, overgrown with corals, gives the impression that you are on the edge of an abyss. In general, the views are amazing.
Night fishing ($20) It is impossible to determine the exact price of excursions, because, firstly, they don’t take money right away - they say “later”. Secondly, it all depends on the number of people who went on the tour. Thirdly, everything is then taxed. So, we went fishing from 18.00 to 21.00 and during this time we caught two small fish for eight tourists. Bad luck…
Picnic on an uninhabited, but equipped for this island. On the way to the island, we stopped near the shallows and snorkeled. To be honest, the underwater world there was poorer than on Biathu. We arrived on the island at about 11:00, paid $11 for entry. per person and went to explore the surroundings - lush greenery, picnic tables with awnings, paths between palm trees... We swam, sunbathed, just looked at the ocean. About a kilometer from the land, the shallow ends and the open ocean begins - very beautiful. At the same time, the shallow water is very warm and clear. Although the bottom surprised us with its clogging - every now and then there were jars, bottles, etc. Lunch was also served to us very tasty, the meat was fried on a grill over charcoal. All in all, the time flew by quickly. And at 17.00 we went back - literally flew to Maafushi. And in the evening we were expected by the performance of local musicians-drummers, who sang very well, danced and involved all the tourists in this action.
Fihalhohi Island. The island is very beautiful, with houses on stilts, clean long beaches... The sea is gorgeous. Swimming, sunbathing and taking pictures all day long. The impressions were the most positive (as well as from Biathu). But the day was a little darkened by an incident in the calculation. The fact is that on this island, payment is taken upon departure. Not only that, instead of the 20 dollars per person announced at the beginning, we were also charged a tax (on other islands the amount was announced and collected immediately), they also refused to accept 100 dollars. bill due to the fact that it was, as often happens, a little torn in the middle. They said the bank would not accept them. But before we had time to drive away from the island, a flock of dolphins appeared. We admired them, took photos and videos of them and drove back to Maafushi, where in the morning on our beach we watched with great pleasure a large flock of dolphins (I think there were about 30 of them). They frolicked for so long near the beach that everyone managed to enjoy this spectacle.
Upon departure, it turned out that on some days the ferry to Male goes not only at 7.30, but also at 12.30. So we got back by ferry too. We walked around Male for several hours, leaving our luggage in the luggage room at the airport. And here, too, be vigilant. One piece, regardless of bag size, costs $5. And the money is also taken "later". So, even after spending 10 days in the Maldives, we got stuck again. They handed over their bag and a small package. Despite the assurances of the airport employees at the beginning, they charged us not 5, but 10 dollars. When paying. But these are trifles - the rest was a success!
