A traveller has shared how she holidayed in the Maldives on a budget - spending less than £500 for a six-day trip.
Kara Wilbur, 23, and her friend, Natasha Whitley, 28, bagged a £950 return flight from London Heathrow on April 1 for their jaunt to Thususdhoo and Dhiffushi in the Maldives.
The island nation is known for its sandy beaches and turquoise water and stays at the famous water hut resorts can cost up to £1,300 per night.
But instead of staying in the resort islands, Kara decided to book a hotel in the local islands - Thususdhoo and Dhiffushi - and was able to nab a room overlooking the ocean for £25-a-night.
Kara said she spend around £50-a-day food, activities and travel - she caught a ferry for £1.70, spent £7 on meals out and enjoyed the beaches for free.
She said that a disadvantage of the island is that it doesn't allow drinking and most places are closed by 8:30pm but said it means you wake up feeling fresh every day you're there.
Kara Wilbur, 23, and her friend, Natasha Whitley, 28, bagged a £950 return flight from London Heathrow on April 1 for their jaunt to Thususdhoo and Dhiffushi in the Maldives.
The island nation is known for its sandy beaches and turquoise water and stays at the famous water hut resorts can cost up to £1,300 per night.
But instead of staying in the resort islands, Kara decided to book a hotel in the local islands - Thususdhoo and Dhiffushi - and was able to nab a room overlooking the ocean for £25-a-night.
Kara said she spend around £50-a-day food, activities and travel - she caught a ferry for £1.70, spent £7 on meals out and enjoyed the beaches for free.
She said that a disadvantage of the island is that it doesn't allow drinking and most places are closed by 8:30pm but said it means you wake up feeling fresh every day you're there.
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FunTranscript
00:00 I thought I'd have to wait till my honeymoon to go to the Maldives until I realised that you can actually travel the Maldives on a budget.
00:05 So bye bye boyfriend and hello girls trip to the Maldives.
00:08 I jumped on a flight to Mali with my friend Tasha because we realised if you stayed on the local islands instead of the resort,
00:13 you'll save so much money.
00:15 Hotels were on average £25 a night per person and that was for beachfront hotels with breakfast included.
00:20 Meals were on average £6 each and I cannot tell you how unreal Maldivian food is.
00:25 Got to go there just to try this alone.
00:27 Getting around the islands is super affordable as well because you can jump on the local ferries which cost us an average of £1.70 a journey
00:32 and you can make the most out of beaches like this and this and this completely for free.
00:37 The most expensive part is definitely the excursions.
00:39 They are about £100 per person to go and swim with sharks or about $40 per person to go on a deserted island
00:45 but definitely worth your while because they are just bucket list activities.
00:48 So let me know if you'd like a full guide or a full breakdown of everything we spend on our trip
00:51 or if you've got any questions at all because I'm more than happy to help and follow along to see what we get up to.
00:55 What would you do if you were on a deserted island?
00:57 Well I don't have to guess because that is exactly where I am now.
01:00 We're currently at budget travelling around the Maldives and we've taken an excursion to one of the deserted islands here.
01:05 So it is literally just me and my friend Tasha on this entire island.
01:09 Oh and a couple of hundred of these little guys.
01:11 Got here on a jet ski and we saw dolphins on the way which is absolutely insane.
01:15 Then we got dropped off and the jet ski man left us here so fingers crossed he remembered about us otherwise we could be stranded.
01:20 We spent a few hours here just relaxing on this gorgeous white sand beach and swimming in crystal clear blue water.
01:26 And it was so nice not having to worry about a single other person bothering you because we were here completely by ourselves.
01:32 After a few hours thankfully our driver came and picked us up and took us back to Diffusia Island just as the summer set in
01:38 which was such a gorgeous journey and on the whole it was such a nice way of spending the afternoon.
01:42 And I have been posting loads more videos about my budget trips to the Maldives so make sure you follow along for more.
01:47 So I did realise on the local islands in the Maldives you actually can't drink alcohol.
01:50 You can't buy in the shops, you can't get it in the restaurants, none of the hotels serve it.
01:54 So it's literally impossible to get it.
01:56 So I suppose we got three main options while you're here.
01:58 Number one just don't drink which is obviously what we were originally planning on doing.
02:01 Or we just found out today is that you can jump on a boat and go to a floating bar out into the sea.
02:06 So come with us to a floating bar in the Maldives where we're apparently going to get a smaller boat out to a bigger boat where we can get a couple of drinks.
02:14 The only brown is called Solution. I think I'm definitely pronouncing that wrong.
02:17 So I booked this experience through WhatsApp and it cost us 10 US dollars to get the boat and that each.
02:22 So it's 20 dollars just to get to the bar and then we will have to obviously pay for drinks when we get there.
02:26 That transport or anything does not include any of the drinks.
02:29 Be told to meet the boat 5.15 in Bikini Beach.
02:34 I think it's him. Is it him?
02:37 So we're on the boat, we're currently the only people here but we've got a private boat in the Maldives so who cares?
02:42 And look at the sunset.
02:43 I'm not really sure why it's illegal to sell alcohol on land here but legal to sell it here.
02:48 I'm not complaining.
02:49 Sails are from about 8 dollars to 12 dollars but I think I'm going to go for a Ferona beer which is 5 dollars.
02:54 So it's currently we're the only people on this boat but I've heard that more people are on their way.
02:58 So we're just on the boat on the way back now and that worked out to be about 240 rupiah each which is like 12 pounds each.
03:04 But get driven through the boat, get a drink of that from the boat and a beer each which is pretty good value.
03:08 The sunset from the boat ended up being absolutely gorgeous.
03:11 Honestly, the view alone made the price 100% worth it.
03:14 I know that there's going to be a lot of comments about the fact that you can't drink on these holidays
03:17 but obviously there is a workaround so if you are desperate for a drink you can get on one of these boats.
03:20 And I'm not going to lie, it actually made the trip far more relaxing because there was no pressure drink at any point on the trip.
03:25 And basically everything on the island is shut and closed by half eight which means it's lovely and relaxing
03:29 and there's no disturbances whatsoever throughout the night.
03:31 So let me know what you think.
03:32 Would this be a deciding factor for you for going to the Maldives or would you still try it?
03:36 And follow along because I'm posting daily videos about our budget trips to the Maldives.
03:39 Day one of potential to travel the Maldives on a budget has gone pretty well.
03:42 We've just been for our first ever meal in the Maldives.
03:45 We're currently staying on Tustaloo Island.
03:47 I'm 100% pronouncing that wrong and I apologise.
03:49 But yeah, so we did be for our first ever meal.
03:50 It was 230 Maldivian Rufnia which is like 11 pounds which is crazy because that was for both of us.
03:56 That was for two curries that were both really really nice.
03:58 One rice to share between us, two naan breads, a water and two coconut air roasts.
04:03 So a very very very affordable price.
04:06 The only note that I've got to say is that it's definitely true that even if you ask for no spice,
04:11 you're gonna get spice.
04:12 So to be fair, I think that's pretty good going.
04:14 Pretty impressive for travelling around the Maldives and being an absolute paradise for the day.
04:17 So there honestly isn't very many options for food on these local islands because they are so small.
04:21 So we did actually return to the same place the next day and again it was just £6 ahead
04:25 for a really really nice local Maldivian meal.
04:28 I'm going to be posting daily videos of our trips to the Maldives on our attempt to travel it on a budget.
04:32 So if you've got any questions or any specific videos you'd like to see,
04:34 please feel free to request them in the comments.
04:36 And I'm doing my best to share all the different prices with you
04:38 so you know just how affordable it can be.