# How to travel going Maldives?



## Aara (May 1, 2016)

Hello! I am an UAE expat here in Abu Dhabi,
can anyone advise me any agency arranging vacation to Maldives?
me and my friends want to spend 3 day vacation there.
Thank you for any response.


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## stevieboy1980 (Sep 9, 2008)

when we went we flew fly Dubai, was relatively cheap
then we booked on island called bandos was nice, booked it direct with the resort, they also arrange the boat/sea plane transfers
I am not sure who flys from abu dhabi though


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

expedia or cleartrip for online hotel + flight booking.
Flight.google.com can also help in hotel + flight. 

If trying offline, check out dnatatravel (there are zillions others). There may be some Groupon or Cobone deals as well (but generally not much cheaper than booking yourself) - most of them are from an agency called Holidayfactory.

There is not much to plan in Maldives though - you fly in, go to the resort, stay there, and come back.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Going there tonight.

For short breaks try booking via booking.com or Agoda. I find that Agoda has slightly lower prices for the Maldives. Then book the flights separately. 

Longer bookings - there are a few Maldives tour operators who have special deals with the resorts for a week or two week's stay as many people from Europe stay for 1-2 weeks. Magic of Maldives and Purely Maldives are two well regarded operators.

Maldives is not cheap if you want the resort experience. There's a 23% tax on everything (room and food) and cheaper resorts usually require an expensive seaplane transfer at around $400 per person, or a boat transfer for $150-200 (the resort I'm staying at is only 25 minutes' speedboat ride from Male airport and it's still costing me $185 for the transfer).

There are cheap guest houses on some of the islands including near Male that are more affordable but there will be no alcohol, and you don't necessarily get great beaches. Research is essential if you want a low-cost Maldives trip. This guy posted a few weeks back on Tripadvisor forums and had a low cost trip:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...lling_to_Local_Islands-Maldives.html#74566388

But be forewarned it likely won't be the Maldives of the advertisements and glitzy resorts.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

If booking FlyDubai make sure to take the earlier flight as the later one won't arrive in time to do any Island transfers.


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## Aara (May 1, 2016)

stevieboy1980 said:


> when we went we flew fly Dubai, was relatively cheap
> then we booked on island called bandos was nice, booked it direct with the resort, they also arrange the boat/sea plane transfers
> I am not sure who flys from abu dhabi though



wow. thanks for the info!


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## Aara (May 1, 2016)

oh i see. thank you,
wait. how about visa??
will it be visa on arrival?


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## Aara (May 1, 2016)

oh I see, thanks for the info, and bon voyage for tonight!
by the way, how long will it take from airport to the beaches?
and will it be visa on arrival?


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## Sunder (Mar 11, 2014)

aara said:


> oh i see. Thank you,
> wait. How about visa??
> Will it be visa on arrival?


visa on arrival for all nationalities.

Sometimes google helps !!!


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## Sootydaz (Dec 29, 2014)

*Really???*



Aara said:


> oh I see, thanks for the info, and bon voyage for tonight!
> by the way, how long will it take from airport to the beaches?
> and will it be visa on arrival?


G.O.O.G.L.E is a really new service designed for such questions or i do have a spare spoon in my kitchen if you need more in-depth help


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Aara said:


> how long will it take from airport to the beaches?


Presumably you know what the Maldives is, and how many beaches it has and how many thousand islands there are ?

Would you prefer aircraft, Dhoni, speedboat or to swim ?


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