The Maldives is easy to visit and unusually unforgiving of assumptions. A resort island has no second restaurant, no road and nowhere else to go, so a choice made from a photograph is a choice you live with for a week. The costs that surprise people are structural rather than hidden: a transfer priced per person including children, a service charge and tax compounding to about 28.7% on nearly every line, and a phrase like “house reef” that covers four different arrangements — one of which leaves the reef four hundred metres from your beach.
This site is about the decision before the booking. Which atoll, because it sets the transfer and therefore the budget and the usable days. Which format, because a village and a resort are different holidays a third of the price apart. Which month, and what it trades away. Better decisions, not more expensive ones.
Start with the trip planner, or the section you need.
