Sandies Bathala Maldives (Land only)

Before going through Madives packages figure out your prerogative, whether you would be travelling solo, as a couple or with your family. Interestingly, there are several packages meant exclusively for the solo traveller, for plenty of people around the world love travelling solo to The Maldives. An island most popular with backpackers is Maafushi, about 27 kilometres from the capital Male, on the South Male Atoll. The reason for the island’s popularity with backpackers and solo travellers is its vast array of opportunities and considerably low prices of accommodation. This biggish island with its population of around 3000 people is replete with little attractions and places to sightsee and, not to mention, snow-white beaches skirting an azure sea, diving sites and places to go angling in. There is a glut of plush guesthouses, holiday homes and hotels on the beach and amid scenic wilderness too, which are more budget-friendly than those you would find at remoter beaches with a solitary resort. Backpackers love Maafushi’s Bikini Beach, the narrow strip of sand which has several seafood restaurants along with a few hotels and a dive centre.

Maldives tour packages can be booked around the year, but you need to be aware of the archipelago’s seasons and which is most ideal for a visit. The only season in Maldives is the monsoon. But there is a distinctly different monsoon it experiences; the dry and wet monsoon. The wet monsoon is typically in the summer months, from May up to November when you might find frequent rain showers and humidity through the day. The average day temperature reaches a maximum of 29 degrees Celsius in these months. The frequent rains lower the water temperature making it imperfect for scuba diving or snorkelling, and with no seasonal oceanic currents you wouldn’t have any visibility for spotting marine life. But it is a good time for budget travellers since the hotel rates are significantly slashed owing to lower footfalls. The dry monsoon spell from December to April is when tourists arrive by busloads to the Maldives. The humidity is under control in these months and the rains have nearly petered out, limited only to a light mizzle in the afternoons and night. The temperature at this time lingers between 27 and 29 degree Celsius. But since Maldives does not receive cyclones or high winds at any point, you can have a pleasant time in this tropical paradise.

Before settling for one of the Maldives holiday packages you need to first book your flights and look for direct connectivity from your city to Male, the capital of the Maldives. Maldives’ closest neighbours are India and Sri Lanka, lying to the southwest of Trivandrum in Kerala and to the east-west of Sri Lanka. There are direct flights from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Male and now there are non-stop flights to the Maldives from all major Indian metros such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kochi. The domestic carriers that connect Indian cities to the Maldives include SpiceJet, IndiGo, AirAsia, national carrier Air India, Vistara and GoFirst, and the international airlines serving the route comprise Sri Lankan Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, China Southern, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Hong Kong Airlines to name a few. There are flights from Delhi to Male too, but it comes with a stopover in either Kochi, Bangalore or Mumbai.

The Maldives is an archipelagic country with nearly 1200 islands formed out of natural atolls. It lies on the Indian Ocean to the southwest of Kerala’s capital, Trivandrum and on the east-west side of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan airlines, for instance, operate flights from Colombo that get you to Male in an hour straight. India and Sri Lanka are the Maldives’ closest neighbours.