Touring Maldives' Maafushi Island - Meet the Locals, See What Mass Tourism Has Done

Maafushi is the most popular island in the Maldives for budget travel tourists. The proximity to the airport and good connection with the capital make it the number one destination for people who want to experience the Maldives on a budget. About 2,000 people live on the island and the island offers a relatively large selection of restaurants, tourist agencies that offer diving, trips to other islands and various marine activities. Several large hotels have been built on the island directly on bikini beach and in the vicinity of that beach, which further increases the tourist capacities of this island. There is only one bikini beach on this island, and with such a large number of visitors, it becomes quite overcrowded during the day, in our opinion.
Our journey begins at the Airport in the capital of the Maldives. The tip for all those who travel in their arrangement is to travel directly from the airport because it is much easier to navigate and find the right boat that goes to the desired destination than from the port in the capital. A ticket to Maafushi by speedboat costs $25 per person and should be booked in advance. We didn't have a reservation, but we were lucky because the ship was half empty, which is not always the case.
We booked Hotel Island Ambience in advance for two nights. The staff picked us up immediately upon arrival, they put our things on the trolley and gave us umbrellas because it had already started raining. The staff was really very kind and ready to help at all times. The room is quite large, clean and tidy. We had no complaints about this hotel. The location was about a 5-minute walk from the bikini beach. The price for two people with all fees and taxes came out to $95 per night.
After settling in the hotel, we went to explore the island. It was raining lightly, but it did not discourage us. Unfortunately, after a short tour, it started to rain quite heavily, so we spent the rest of the day in the hotel.
Only in the evening did we manage to go out for dinner. On google maps we found a restaurant called Mr.Octopus that had the highest and best reviews. We ordered a seafood plate and grilled jumbo prawns, and cookies and chocolate cake for dinner. We didn't really like the food. Probably ordered things that weren't that good.
We spent the rest of the evening exploring the island.
The next morning, the sun greeted us and we immediately headed to the beach. After swimming, we decided to try the local ice cream, which was excellent. We decided on coconut and cheesecake flavor.
Finally, we got the chance to explore the island during the day, so we walked around the island and then took another bath.
It's getting dark and it's time for dinner. This time we decided on something more remote...
The restaurant looks quite decent. We decided on chicken fried rice and fride noodles with vegetables. We had to wait quite a long time for the food. More than half an hour, but after it arrived, it was quite tasty. All in all, it was not a bad choice.
The next day it's time to leave. We go back to the capital from where we take a new speedboat to Difushi.
After arriving in port, a problem. Since the ship was half empty when we arrived, we didn't make a reservation, and of course there were no seats this time. Luckily, we got a seat on the next boat and happily arrived at the destination.
Regarding transportation to Maafushi, as far as I know there are two companies that provide transportation with speedboats. One is called icom tour while the other is maafushi tours.

[@EshaAhmad-xl4qo]

Beautiful view and good explanation.

[@jeancalverley9872]

Thankyou Goran 🙏 great video. Very helpful ❤

[@ihavenoidea7699]

The tourists live wayyy more luxurious than the locals lol

[@gorandr]

I don't think locals are poor there. They are earning decent.

[@lorenazambrano5087]

Visiting Maafushi next month!
May I ask you some questions?
How much do you tip? What currency did you use?
Thank you for this video!

[@gorandr]

I usually tip 10% on top of the price. They also have service fee of 10-15%. So keep that in mind. You can pay with USD everywhere, no need to change in local currency.

[@ceyloncyclepayanangal6055]

👍👍🇱🇰🇱🇰

[@user-cl6pc4rt9p]

🇲🇻❤️🇳🇵