TRAVEL SPECIAL ........MALDIVES

TRAVEL MALDIVES





This beach lovers' destination has 1,190 coral islands, which form 26 natural atolls.
These are categorised into 20 atolls for administrative reasons. As the country's largest economic industry is tourism, the atolls are full of resorts, hotels and inns.

This is the most expensive of the five destinations and, hence, the most dif ficult to fit into the `1 lakh budget. “A holiday is budget or luxury, depending on accommodation,“ says Yatra's Dhall. For Maldives, both stay and flight are expensive.This is the reason that while packages may not be possible, you could build your own trip for three nights, four days. You also don't spend on visa, commute or sightseeing.

Flight

“The one area you can cut on costs in Maldives is flights,“ says Wego's Jayasankar. “Still, the air fare comprises about 46% of your budget,“ says J.P.Singh of Thomas Cook.

As you are unlikely to find any Delhi-Male flights for less than `25,000 per person, it's better to break up the journey from Delhi to Chennai or Bengaluru and from there to Male. “Research and look for the best permutation among low-cost airlines,“ says Expedia's Ahluwalia.

Also, instead of a single airline, go for multiple choices. So you could get a Delhi-Chennai flight for `7,500-8,500 and Chennai-Male flight for `14,400-15,000 in endApril, bringing the sum to `23,000.“However, the cheapest may not always be best because you must consider the layover and connecting time as well,“ adds Ahluwalia.

Flight duration: Direct (nonstop) Delhi-Male one-way flight takes 6 hours, 45 minutes.

Accommodation

While it is possible to get a budget accommodation in the form of guest houses and city hotels for `2,500-3,000 a night, it doesn't make sense for you to spend so much on air travel and then skimp on stay here. The country can be split into North, Central and South atolls and all have good 3-star resorts with prices starting from around `10,000 a night. You could choose these from the official Maldives tourism site, http:www.visitmaldives.comen.

If you are travelling from Chennai or Bengaluru, your air fare will drop drastically and you could opt for more expensive cottages since your budget can go up to `46,000. If you want to further upgrade your stay, skimp on water sports, but this is not advisable since the clear waters make for excellent water activities.

Food

As you are likely to be in the resort all the time, you could spend as much as `2,000 per person on food a day. Says Ranjeet Oak, Chief Business Officer, Holidays, MakeMyTrip.com: “It's better to take all-inclusive meal plans in the resort as the rates for food are 30-40% higher, if you buy from the resort.“

Cut cost by carrying ready-to-eat meals from home or pick up basic food like sandwiches from Male.

Internal commute

About the only commuting you'll do is from the International Airport Island Hulhule to the capital city Male, and from there, to your island resort an or directly from the airport to atoll.You can do so via seaplanes, speed launches and ferries. The latter are cheaper. Typically the booking agent or resort staff transfer you and the price is included in the package.If you want to hire a private speed boat, which run at specific times and intervals, you could pre-book online from various islandatoll transfer websites. If you decide to look around Male, either walk or take cabs which have their fare capped at a fixed price per ride.

Sightseeing shopping

The most famous shopping street in Male is Majeedhee Magu, but given the budget constraint, it's best to avoid shopping. For sightseeing, there are mosques and museums, but you can skip these too and focus on diving, snorkelling, dolphin watching, etc.

Packages

Operators find it hard to build a `1 lakh package, but at `1.25-1.3 lakh, you can get a good deal.

YATRA: STUNNING MALDIVES @ `1.28 lakh per couple.

EZEEGO1: MALDIVES MAGIC starting from `1.2 lakh per couple.

ETW18APR16