What does a week in the Maldives cost? Budgets for two

The totals

These totals cover everything on the ground for eight days and seven nights: rooms, every meal and drink of a normal day, the airport transfers and speedboats, a snorkelling day, two local SIM cards, service charge and taxes where a price does not already include them, and a 10% buffer for tips and small extras. Only the flight is separate, and it is priced at the end. Per person that is about USD 160 a day on a budget, USD 240 mid-range and USD 400 in comfort. Prices are in US dollars, as most hotels, boats and dive shops quote them; where a price is in rufiyaa we use the Maldives Monetary Authority's reference rate for 28 October 2026, USD 1 = MVR 15.42.

The trip behind the numbers

Two adults share one double room. The flight lands before lunch on day 1 and leaves after breakfast on day 8, so the budget counts lunch and dinner every day and breakfast wherever the room does not include it. The three levels are three ways of spending the same week, because the real choice in the Maldives is between an inhabited island and a resort; the first-trip guide explains what changes between the two.

Budget spends the first night in Malé, at Tourist Inn on Maaveyo Goalhi, whose Deluxe Double comes with a free return airport transfer. On day 2 Kaani's speedboat takes you to Maafushi for six nights at Kaani Village & Spa, with Kaani's shared full-day snorkelling trip on one of the days. Mid-range follows the same start, stays four nights on Maafushi, then moves on day 6 to Grand Park Kodhipparu for two resort nights; this is the trip in our 7-day itinerary with one more Maafushi night. Comfort goes straight from the airport to Grand Park Kodhipparu for all seven nights.

Every move between islands goes back through the airport: Kaani's boat runs between the airport or Malé and Maafushi, and Grand Park's speedboat runs from Velana. Kaani lists sailings from the airport (counter E12, Terminal 2) or Malé (Jetty No. 6) to Maafushi at 09:15, 11:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 18:00, and back at 08:00, 10:00, 12:30, 14:15 and 17:00, 35 minutes each way. Boats can be cancelled in rough seas, so on the last day take a morning boat and leave slack before your international flight.

On any boat trip, listen to the safety briefing and make sure life jackets are provided, as the UK government advises for small excursion boats. Swim only where it is supervised or designated safe, and never alone, even at a resort, where Grand Park states it has no lifeguards. Check your own government's travel advice too.

Budget: about USD 2,520 for two

A guesthouse week: one night in the capital, six on Maafushi with breakfast and the boat in a package, meals at the island's cafés and a shared day trip out to the reefs. At every level the lines below are before service charge and tax, which have a line of their own, except Kaani's packages, whose prices include them.

• Rooms, about USD 1,390. Tourist Inn's Deluxe Double Room with free return airport transfer at USD 120 for one night for two, and Kaani Village & Spa's six-night Soak in the Sun package at USD 1,274 for two. The package covers a Deluxe Double Room with Pool View, breakfast, the return speedboat, one private candlelit dinner, parasailing and a jet ski, and Kaani's Adventure snorkelling trip; its price includes all taxes and service charge.
• Food, about USD 450. In Malé, Island Choice on Ameer Ahmed Magu lists a continental breakfast at MVR 60, a chicken thali at MVR 120, a vegetable thali at MVR 95 and a banana lassi at MVR 50: about USD 42 for two for the day before 8% GST. On Maafushi, about USD 18 for lunch and USD 18 for dinner a person, the price Arena Beach, a Maafushi hotel, charges per person for each meal it adds to a room, since no café on the island publishes a menu with prices, plus about USD 4 a person a day for bottled water and soft drinks, an estimate. One dinner is the package's candlelit dinner and one lunch comes with the day trip.
• Boats and transfers, nothing extra. The airport transfer is in the Tourist Inn room and the return speedboat in the Kaani package; booked on its own, Kaani's boat costs USD 25 per person each way, USD 100 for two return.
• Trips, about USD 80. The package's Adventure trip runs only with at least 10 guests, so the budget counts Kaani's shared Full Day Trip instead: USD 40 per person, from 08:30 to 14:00, with snorkelling at Biyadhoo Reef, Coral Garden and Turtle Reef, dolphin watching, a picnic lunch on a sandbank and snorkelling gear included.
• SIM and extras, about USD 110 for two (USD 50 each plus 8% GST). Two Dhiraagu Traveler Premium tourist SIMs (100 GB, 30 days).
• Service charge and taxes, about USD 260. 10% service charge and 17% T-GST on the Malé room, the Maafushi meals and the day trip; green tax of USD 6 per person per night in Malé and on Maafushi, USD 84 for two over seven nights; 8% GST on the Malé café meals.
• Buffer, about USD 230.

Mid-range: about USD 3,820 for two

A split stay: four nights on Maafushi with a full-day boat trip in the package, then two nights at a resort 20 minutes from the airport.

• Rooms, about USD 1,860. Tourist Inn for the first night (USD 120); Kaani Village & Spa's four-night Reset & Wander package at USD 883 for two, with a Deluxe Double Room with Pool View, breakfast, the return speedboat, one candlelit dinner, a night-fishing trip and a full-day tour, taxes and service charge included; and two nights at Grand Park Kodhipparu at USD 429 a night for two with breakfast, the lowest advance-purchase rate it publishes for bookings made 21 days ahead.
• Food, about USD 590. The Malé day as above; on Maafushi the same USD 40 a person a day as at the budget level, less the candlelit dinner and the tour's lunch on a sandbank. At Grand Park, both meals at Breeze, open from 10:00 to 23:00, averaging three lunches on its menu (a chicken tikka pizza at USD 25, a club sandwich at USD 25, fish and chips at USD 23) and three dinners (seared tuna at USD 39, Indian fish masala at USD 27, butter chicken at USD 29), about USD 56 a person a day. Water, coffee and soft drinks come to about USD 20 a person a day, an estimate, as the resort publishes no drink prices; it is about half of Breeze's USD 45 afternoon tea set for two with tea or coffee.
• Boats and transfers, about USD 280. Kaani's boat is in the package and takes you back to the airport on day 6. Grand Park only accepts its own shared speedboat from Velana, at USD 140 per adult return, USD 280 for two.
• Trips, nothing extra. The package's full-day tour, the same trip the budget level books, has snorkelling at Biyadhoo Reef, Coral Garden and Turtle Reef, dolphin watching and lunch on a sandbank. At Grand Park the advance-purchase rate includes guided snorkelling on the house reef, booked ahead.
• SIM and extras, about USD 110 for two (USD 50 each plus 8% GST). Two Dhiraagu tourist SIMs, as at the budget level.
• Service charge and taxes, about USD 630. 10% service charge and 17% T-GST on the Malé room, the Grand Park rate, the meals and the resort speedboat; green tax of USD 6 per person per night in Malé and on Maafushi and USD 12 at the resort, USD 108 for two; 8% GST on the Malé meals.
• Buffer, about USD 350.

Comfort: about USD 6,460 for two

A resort week at Grand Park Kodhipparu in North Malé Atoll, with breakfast in the rate and lunch and dinner from the resort's menus.

• Rooms, about USD 3,000. Seven nights at USD 429 a night for two with breakfast, Grand Park's lowest advance-purchase rate. Busier dates and larger villas cost more.
• Food, about USD 1,060. Lunch and dinner at Breeze and drinks as at mid-range, about USD 76 a person a day, for seven days.
• Boats and transfers, about USD 280. The resort's shared speedboat, USD 140 per adult return, charged with service charge and T-GST.
• Trips, nothing extra. Guided house-reef snorkelling with the resort's marine biologist is in the rate.
• SIM and extras, about USD 110 for two (USD 50 each plus 8% GST). Two Dhiraagu tourist SIMs, as at the other levels.
• Service charge and taxes, about USD 1,420. 10% service charge and 17% T-GST on the room, meals and speedboat, and green tax of USD 12 per person per night (USD 168 for two).
• Buffer, about USD 590.

One day at each level

Packages already include the room, breakfast and boat, so the day below shows what you spend on top. Costs are per person, with service charge and tax.

• A day on Maafushi, about USD 50. Lunch at USD 18, dinner at USD 18 and USD 4 of drinks, plus 10% service charge and 17% T-GST, at budget and mid-range alike; the room, breakfast and boat are already paid in the package.
• A day at Grand Park, about USD 100. About USD 56 for lunch and dinner at Breeze and about USD 20 of drinks, plus service charge and T-GST.
• The Malé day, about USD 20. Breakfast, two thalis and a lassi at Island Choice with 8% GST.

Taxes and service charge: who pays what

Taxes make up a large share of a Maldives bill, and they depend on where you sleep and what you buy. Hotels, guesthouses and resorts charge a service charge of at least 10% by law; most places charge exactly 10%. The 17% tourism goods and services tax (T-GST) applies to rooms, meals and services in the tourism sector, and also to the service charge, so a price quoted before taxes rises by 28.7%. Ordinary shops and cafés outside the tourism sector charge the general 8% GST instead.

Green tax is charged per person per night: USD 6 at guesthouses and hotels with 50 or fewer rooms on an inhabited island, USD 12 at resorts, liveaboards and other hotels. No GST is charged on green tax, and children under two are exempt. Kaani Village & Spa and Arena Beach on Maafushi both list the USD 6 rate; Grand Park Kodhipparu adds USD 12.

When a price is quoted as including all taxes and service charge, as Kaani's packages are, nothing is added again except green tax: at Kaani it is USD 6 per person per night on top of the package, which Kaani's booking terms collect at the hotel. The Airport Development Fee and departure tax, USD 50 each in economy, are usually included in the air ticket, so they are not counted on the ground.

The flight from London and the total with it

Economy returns from London to Malé cost GBP 600-1,800, about USD 800-2,390 per person, based on the fares airlines displayed for the route on 28 October 2026 and converted at the Maldives Monetary Authority's rate for that day (GBP 1 = USD 1.3305); the date you fly decides where in that range you land. Added to the ground totals, the whole trip comes to the figures below.

No visa fee is added: most visitors, Europeans included, get a free tourist visa on arrival, and the entry guide lists the conditions, the exceptions and the traveller declaration to file before you fly.

Ways to spend less, or more

The biggest saving is to stay on an inhabited island throughout: Maafushi, Thulusdhoo and the other guesthouse islands in our local islands guide cost a fraction of a resort, and their packages fold the boat and breakfast into one price. Packages are non-refundable at Kaani, so book them only once your flights are fixed. To save on the boat as well, take the MTCC public ferry from Malé's Vilingili (Maafannu) Ferry Terminal: Maafushi Dive's transport page lists it at about USD 3 per person each way, 90 minutes, with no sailings on Fridays, against USD 25 per person each way for Kaani's speedboat.

On Maafushi, the easiest upgrade is a private boat: Maafushi Dive & Watersports' snorkelling trip with nemos and turtles costs USD 150 for two, with a captain and guide of your own. Spending more on the stay usually means a resort further out, reached by Trans Maldivian Airways' seaplane, which flies only between sunrise and sunset and is booked through the resort, at a fare each resort sets; or one of Grand Park's half-board, full-board or all-inclusive plans, which move meals into the villa rate. Alcohol is sold only at resorts and on liveaboard boats; you cannot buy it on, or bring it to, Malé and the inhabited islands, so the guesthouse days have no bar bill. At a resort, drinks are the item that grows fastest.