Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Maldives can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Maldives itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are required to enter the Maldives unless you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, in which case you must show a yellow fever certificate. Most travel clinics recommend being up to date on routine shots (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio) and getting hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines, with hepatitis B for longer stays. Dengue is present and has no widely used vaccine for travelers, so use mosquito repellent, especially on local islands after rain.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Maldives, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Islam shapes daily life on the Maldives’ inhabited islands, so cover your shoulders and knees in villages and wear swimwear only on marked bikini beaches or at resorts. Do take off your shoes before entering homes and mosques, ask before photographing people, especially women, and use your right hand when giving or receiving things. Don’t bring alcohol, pork or religious materials other than Islam’s onto local islands, and avoid eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours in Ramadan. Women should expect mosques to be off-limits during prayer times and may feel more comfortable in shared taxis or with groups at night. Public displays of affection are frowned upon for everyone and illegal for same-sex couples, so save them for resort islands.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Maldives.
- Mas huni: Shredded smoked tuna mixed with grated coconut, onion, chili and lime, scooped up with warm roshi flatbread. It is the standard Maldivian breakfast and the dish locals miss most when they travel.
- Garudhiya: A clear, salty tuna broth eaten with rice, lime, chili and onion. It has been the everyday meal of fishing families for centuries, and its thick reduced form, rihaakuru, is a pungent paste many islanders keep in every kitchen.
- Mas riha: Tuna curry cooked in coconut milk with curry leaves and chili, served with rice or roshi. It is the main dish at family lunches and celebrations.
- Hedhikaa: Short eats such as fried bajiya (fish-filled pastries), gulha (spiced tuna balls) and keemiya, served in teashops with sweet black tea. This late-afternoon ritual is the cheapest way to eat like a local.
- Fihunu mas: Whole reef fish or tuna rubbed in chili paste and grilled over coconut husks. It is the classic island barbecue dish, especially on uninhabited picnic islands.
Tap water in Malé and Hulhumalé is desalinated and treated, but many Maldivians prefer to drink rainwater or bottled water, and on local islands tap water may be untreated groundwater. Tourists are advised not to drink tap water, especially outside the capital. Bottled water is sold everywhere, but many guesthouses offer filtered refills, so a reusable bottle cuts both cost and plastic waste.
The main language in Maldives is
Dhivehi. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Dhivehi skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Maldives includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is widely spoken across the Maldives. In Malé, Hulhumalé and the guesthouse islands, staff, boat crews and shopkeepers handle it comfortably, and most younger Maldivians learned it at school. On small islands that see few visitors, older fishermen and their families may speak only Dhivehi. A smile and “shukuriyaa” (thank you) go a long way, and a translation app with Dhivehi support covers the rest.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Maldives is MVR (ރ.).
Bank of Maldives and other banks run plenty of ATMs in Malé, Hulhumalé and at the airport, but many local islands have only one machine or none, so withdraw enough rufiyaa before leaving the capital. Local ATM fees are usually small, and the bigger cost tends to be your home bank’s foreign withdrawal fee and daily limit. Guesthouses, dive centers and excursion operators often accept Visa and Mastercard with a 3 to 5% surcharge, while island cafés, teashops and ferries are cash-only. Bring clean, recent US dollar notes as a backup, since guesthouses and boat transfers often price in dollars, while euros are far less useful. Exchange money at bank branches or the bank counters at Velana airport rather than with informal street changers.
Tipping in the Maldives is appreciated but not mandatory, since most restaurants and guesthouses already add a 10% service charge to the bill. On local islands, leaving US$5 to 10 for a snorkel or excursion boat crew, or a few extra rufiyaa for a helpful guesthouse host, is a kind gesture. At resorts, guests often tip room and dining staff at the end of their stay, as wages there can be low.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.