Maldives: Summer - January 2026

I’ve been wanting to visit Maldives for quite some time, but whenever I brought it up to family and friends, nobody seemed interested. Most of them said they aren’t into beach holidays. To be honest, I’m not much of a beach person either—I actually prefer lakes, as the combination of salt, sand, and sun isn't really my favorite! 😅

That said, I do have a goal to visit 100 countries by the time I turn 60. So in early December 2025, when I spotted Malaysia Airlines tickets to Malé selling for just RM1,100 on Traveloka, I immediately asked my new travel buddies if they wanted to go. They said yes, and just like that, we’re off to Malé early on New Year's morning!

There is no need to join any tour company if you wish to visit Maldives. Just buy the plane tickets, book a hotel room and you're set to go. It is a Muslim majority country so you can find halal food everywhere. Malaysians can enter the country without visa but you have to fill online arrival card before you reach the country. 

My share of the hotel cost was RM750 for three nights. So my total cost for this trip was RM1100 (plane tickets) + RM750 (hotel room + buffet breakfast + airport shuttle) + RM400 (green tax, food, transportation and souvenirs) = RM2,250 🤩 

Please note that tourists need to pay green tax of USD6/night if you stay at a hotel on inhabited local island with less than 50 rooms. If not, it will be USD12/night. Collected by the hotel on behalf of the government.

Maldives is affordable if you don't stay in private islands 😋 If you're into watersports and activities maybe can add a thousand or two to the budget. 

Our itinerary was as follows:

1 January 2026  Kuala Lumpur - Hulhumale 
2 January 2026  Hulhumale
3 January 2026  Hulhumale - Male - Hulhumale
4 January 2026  Hulhumale - Male - Hulhumale - Kuala Lumpur
5 January 2026  Kuala Lumpur

My World Countdown:
Beautiful Maldives will be country #68 that I have visited so far 😍 I was hoping to go to a lot of new countries in 2026 to make up for the six year holiday hiatus. Not getting any younger either 😋 Need to focus on my target of 100 by 60 😅

POST MORTEM (Updated on 20 January 2026)

Tour Company:

We went on our own. For me was mostly due to not wanting to spend too much money on a beach holiday. Priority, people 😋 If you follow any tour company it will cost you a minimum of RM4k. 

Another reason was I wish to see how the locals live thus our base was on an island closest to Male, which also happen to be where their international airport is located. Very efficient and convenient for eating and shopping too 😍

Itinerary:

My roommate and I were not into water activities but my two other fellow travellers wanted to go snorkelling. 

It is a lot cheaper to sign up for an excursion after you have landed in Maldives. We initially booked an excursion via Booking.com, which we subsequently cancelled, the cost of the same excursion booked direct at a travel shop in Maldives cost half the price of the travel apps. Be careful however of those selling at the beach (tourist trap), they may charge more than the apps!

When you plan your activities, be mindful of the day, during Friday prayer from 11.30 am to 3 pm public transportation will stop and all government offices and most shops will be closed. So Friday is a good day to plan for private excursions.

We managed to catch locals feeding the stingrays near the fish markets. My friends were commenting, if in Malaysia the stingrays will become "asam pedas ikan pari" in no time. It turns out the locals traditionally did not eat stingrays due to the abundance of other superior types of fish (like tuna) and cultural taboo. Today, stingrays are listed as one of the protective species.

The locals were pretty aloof. Not overly friendly nor generous with smiles, but if you approach them for direction or information, they will help you. 

Having said that, I think their immigration officers were one of the nicest in the world. Very friendly and efficient too. 

First time ever in my decades of travel that I saw at the passport control the officer asked all the group members to submit their passports together. So if there were 12 of you in a group, all 12 will be processed at the same booth. It was a pretty smart move, the officer can then see, assess and interview the group at the same time. Smooth process, super efficient 👏🏻

Airlines:

We flew via Malaysia Airlines. Direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Hulhumale (vice versa). Both return flights were on time.

1 January 2026  MH485    KUL-MLE   10:10  11:25

4 January 2026  MH486    MLE-KUL   23:15  06:50(+1)

Tour Leader: 

Since we go ourselves, we were the tour leaders 😋 Of course I will rate us A++ 😂

Local Tour Guide:

Our tour guides were the internet and social medias 😋

Currency:

Their currency is MVR Maldivian Rufiyaa. On our way to the hotel, our airport shuttle driver asked us if we wanted to buy Rufiyaa. He said to use the Google rate (at that point USD100 = MVR1545). Since we already planned to go to a local money changer near our hotel, we did not commit to buy from him. 

After we checked in, we went to the Aqsa Exchange and managed to get MVR1959 for USD100. Beside the money changer, there is a shop selling the same excursion that we bought (& later cancelled) online for only MVR850 (RM178). Online price was USD85 (RM352).

Bus:

We took their public transport. Very nice and new double decker buses. No cash accepted, so tourists can pay using credit card. One way ticket for bus or ferry cost MVR10 (RM2.10) from Hulhumale to Male. 

Because of the the Friendship Bridge built by China, bus replaces ferry as the main transportation between Hulhumale and its capital, Male so ferry service became infrequent as a result. Therefore, check the schedule if you wish to experience their ferry service. During our ride, only a few people took the ferry, mostly tourists like us 😅

Bus Driver:

The public bus drivers were very all very conscientious 😍 

Hotels:

We stayed at Season Holidays Hotel, Hulhumale. The hotel's location was superb. Ten minutes from the Velana International Airport, walking distance to the ferry terminal. Plenty of bus stops nearby for a short trip to the capital. A lot of restaurants, supermarkets and souvenirs shops surrounding the hotel. It was also facing the sea with access to the local public beach, you can watch sunrise from there.

The rooms that we got was on the third floor with no lift. The size was good but there was no view whatsoever. Just facing a wall 😅 For RM500/night, in Malaysia you can stay at a 5* hotel 😋 The bathroom was recently renovated (I think) but the size was very small. 

Hotel Breakfasts:

The buffet breakfast selection was good. Not extensive but have enough varieties and quite tasty. I am happy if I can have fresh fruits, eggs and a good cup of coffee every morning. So no complaints 😍

Lunches:

We mostly had late lunch due to the heavy breakfast. We shared a jumbo size fried rice at Lanka Cafe, Hulhumale. The portion was so big that the four of us did not manage to finish it 😅 Should have tapau for dinner 😋. 

I had grilled reef fish at the Riveli Beach Club & Restaurant, Hulhumale (twice), the first time tasted better though 😋 We also had an Indian buffet lunch at a food court near the ferry terminal in Male.

Please note that there will be an extra cost of 8% GST and 10% service charge on top of the published price. Not all shops impose service charge though. Lanka Cafe did not add service charge to their bill. I have no problem with Riveli Club charging the extra 10% since we did get good service from them but for a food court to add a 10% service charge for a buffet meal that we served ourselves? What a scam. 

Dinners:

Since we had late lunch, we skipped dinner altogether. Which suits my intermittent fasting routine. Normally if I joined a full board tour I will tend to overeat but for this trip the amount of food consumed was perfect 😍

Rapport With Fellow Travellers:

Went on this trip with my new travel buddies. We first met as strangers on previous overseas tours and ended up as friends. We're all frequent travellers, so everyone understands the joys, challenges and little quirks that come with travelling abroad. That made this trip even more fun and memorable. Such a wonderful bunch of people. Feeling lucky to have met them and I'd love to go on more adventures together in the future 😍✈️

Timing:

Personally I think that the timing was perfect. The sun was shinning throughout the duration of our holiday. It wasn't too hot due to the wind blowing from the sea surrounding the islands. The position of the buildings in Male also helped provide shades to the pedestrians so you can explore the islands on foot without suffering from a heatstroke or sunburn 😋

Overall:

It was a short and sweet holiday. A wonderful trip to start a new year 😍 No fixed itinerary. No need to rush anywhere. Ample time for shopping. Beautiful blue sea everywhere you care to look. A truly relaxing holiday. Highly recommended!

I've uploaded all the daily photo videos of the trip in my IG account mkhasha.n.travels and daily photo videos of the food at mkhasha.n.food 😀 Do check it out.

Hashtags specific for this trip:
#mks2026Maldives #mks20260101 #mks20260102 #mks20260103 #mks20260104 #mks20260105

Njoy!