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Maldives
Advice
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AIRPORT TAX: All airport tax is built into the
price of your flight tickets.
CAMERAS:
Please do ask permission before taking photographs of
people and respect their wishes if they refuse. If you
do take a photo including local people, especially children,
do share the picture with them if you have a digital camera
as it is often greatly appreciated.
CLIMATE:
The Maldives generally offers warmth and sunshine throughout
the year. Temperatures average between 28-38°C all
year round with very occasional monsoon conditions, but
mainly high winds rather than heavy rain. Wettest months
are generally May and November. Key advice: Protect yourself
from the sun with creams (even when cloudy), hats and
sunglasses, drink plentiful bottled water to avoid dehydration
and stay safe in the event of a thunderstorm.
CLOTHING: Pack for heat and humidity.
Long-sleeve shirts might be advisable after dusk because
of mosquitoes. The use of bikinis is generally considered
acceptable while on the beach, nudity is strictly forbidden
and will cause considerable offence. Most resorts are
informal and casual but some have relatively smart restaurants
so packing a decent shirt and a pair of trousers is advisable.
Also despite the advent of “Barefoot Tourism”
a good pair of shoes will be necessary.
COMMUNICATIONS:
The Maldives has a good modern communication system based
on up-to-date technology and its own international satellite.
International Direct Dial facilities are available on
all resorts and most will have internet access, but be
patient with the slowish connection speeds on some islands.
CUSTOMS AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCE:
The Maldives is almost a completely Sunni Muslim country.
This means that during prayer times, which happen 5 times
a day, shops in Malé will close for around 15 minutes
to allow staff to take part in the rituals. It also means
that consumption of alcohol, drugs and pork is prohibited
and must not be taken into the country. The only alcohol
in the Maldives is found in duty-free at the airport and
in resorts’ bars.
EMERGENCY:
Police: 119. Fire: 118. Ambulance: 102
EXCESS BAGGAGE: Beware of breaking the 20kg baggage
limit (plus one piece of hand luggage). Additional charges
may be levied, or equipment left behind. Requests for
a higher limit can be made on your behalf, but success
is not guaranteed. Red Dot automatically requests 30kgs
for all cricket tours.
FOOD AND DRINK:
Resorts on the Maldives usually have most international
cuisine and interpretations of local dishes put on during
a, usually weekly, buffet. Those who want to try true
Maldivian cuisine rather than the fancy buffets are best
to drop into a café in the capital, Malé.
Here vast varieties of “short eats”, snacks
usually based around pastry samosas, are laid out and
served to your table. Larger meals like fish and curries
are eaten with roshi- unleavened pancake style bread that
is used, with the hands, to grasp food into a nice sized
bite. Most Maldivian cuisine is spicy and invariably has
an emphasis on fish.
FESTIVALS:
The Maldives follows the Muslim calendar, the most important
festival being Ramadan which is strictly adhered to in
the Maldives. There is also a number of national days
in the calendar but these do not usually affect the resorts.
HEALTH: You are strongly advised
to contact your own GP or vaccination centre in respect
of required vaccinations for the Maldives. Check on recommended
inoculations as least a month before travel, however relatively
few are required in comparison to other South Asian countries.
Malaria has been claimed to be eradicated from the Maldives,
but there are mosquitoes so pack that repellent. Among
the items you might pack are: sun creams (factor 12 and
above), insect repellent, sting relief cream, antiseptic
cream, a lightweight hat and sunglasses.
LANGUAGE:
Maldivian or Dhivehi belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of
languages and is very pleasant language to listen to even
though pretty incomprehensible. English is the easiest
language to get yourself understood by the locals and
all the resorts’ employees will have excellent grasp
of it.
MONEY: Credit cards are
widely accepted and there are ATM machines in major centres
and some resorts, American dollars are the most practical
foreign currency to use.
PASSPORT AND
VISAS: Holders of passports from the vast majority
of countries, including UK, Ireland, United States, Germany,
France, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and
India, can holiday in the Maldives as bona fide tourists
for up to 30 days.
SHOPPING:
Shopping almost exclusively takes place in Malé,
unless you want local handicrafts or hotel or national-branded
garments from the resorts.
SECURITY:
Use hotel security boxes for your money, travellers cheques,
passport and other valuables: this service is normally
free of charge. Do not carry unnecessarily large amounts
of money on your person. Pickpockets and con-men exist
in all the world's tourist areas. The Maldives however
is comparably safe and it is very hard to find characters
of nefarious nature.
TIME ZONE: GMT +5 hours. Note some resorts run on their
own time zone, supposedly to move sunsets to a practical
time for dinner.
TIPS: Taxi
drivers, hotels and restaurants: 10 per cent is common.
TRAVEL: Travel in the Maldives
is pretty limited- cars are only found on the larger islands
if at all. Boats, especially traditional Dhonis, Sea-planes
and Helicopters move passengers and goods from island
to island.
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