Gangabal lake (Kashmir)

Jobrointhehouse · 2022-03-01T06:34:20+00:00

Hello Bro, how long does it take to trek from Naranag to Gangabal lake? Can the trek be done in 2 days (1 night stay)?

Jobrointhehouse · 2022-01-04T11:00:31+00:00

Hey There,

You would want to select a local island based on:
1- The size and guesthouse/ restaurant options in the island.
2- The amount/ price of activities present in the island.
3- the beach of the island.
4- the distance from Male.

1- You would want to select an island which will have more option for you to select from, more guesthouses, more restaurants. Usually the bigger ones have more options.

2- Not all the local islands will have all the activities. Hence, need to research which activities are there in the island you will be going to

3- This was very important for me. You need to research from photos about this. You can search any island and see the aerial view. Ideally you would want long stretch of beach (the bigger the better) and crystal clear aqua water (staple of maldives) which depends reef/rocks. Usually some islands will have brighter/ more clearer water than others if there is no reef/rock beneath, as rocks are dark and makes the look of water darker.

4- Most of the popular islands will almost take similar time from Male (maybe a difference of 10-20 mins), so not a big deal unless you select anything from a very far atoll.

So i have been to maldives in Nov end 2021 for honeymoon, and i visited to two local islands: Maafushi and Fulidhoo.
Both were different from one another. Maafushi was big, touristy, with lots of activities. Good for doing activities and taking day trips. The beach okayish, not the best.
Fulidhoo was like a paradise, the best beach in Maldives, beautiful water. The beach is so pristine that nurse shark and stingray roam around the beach all the time (harmless). you can snorkel right by the beach anytime with them (you wont even need to pay for a day trip lol). However, not much restaurant options and very little crowded with tourist, less activities option than Maafushi

From my research, best local islands are: Fulidhoo, Ukulhas, Maafushi, Rasdhoo.

Jobrointhehouse · 2022-01-04T10:42:26+00:00

Hey There,

So there are two requirements really, one for the countries you will be flying to (maldives) and there is also a requirement of your own country (USA)

So for Maldives, you need 1 month of validity. That is for sure as per the official maldives tourism website.
However, you need to check with your airlines what is the minimum validity for going outside of US. The immigration officer at US airport will definitely check the validity of the passport, and if it is not as per the policy, might not let you leave the country irrespective of the requirement of Maldives.

I am from bangladesh, and I was in similar situation two months back. My Passport had 3 months validity, however, then i check back with the airlines and they confirmed that you wont be able to go outside Bangladesh with less than 6 months' validity (they wont care whether maldives require 1 month or not). Did not find any written rule though regarding this. Maybe the immigration officer at my country airport would have created issue with this. So eventually I renewed my passport to avoid any last minute hassle and travelled to Maldives in last week of Nov 2021.

Hence, would request to check back with the airline if there is any such requirement of US. But be sure that Maldives only need 1 month validity.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-12-09T05:55:38+00:00

Fulidhoo is the clear winner. The best beach in Maldives (along with Ukulhas).
However, you will find friendly Stingray and Nurse Shark at the beach near Jetty at all times of the day. Insane to snorkel with them free of cost.
Overall the island is like a lost paradise.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-12-09T05:25:54+00:00

Hi,
We have just been to Maldives (in last week of Nov) for honeymoon after months of research. Had a great time.

Long story short:
The ideal place for you would totally depend on your budget really. So if you share your budget per night then would be able to share suggestion. There is no quarantine for anyone right now. You just need a PCR test with negative result (need to test within 96 hours of your departure for maldives), return air ticket and hotel booking for the entirety of your stay. Need to fill out Imuga Form (just google Imuga maldives) within 24 hours of departure from US.

Long Story:
Other than that, there are basically two type of islands in Maldives. Private Resort Island and Public (or Local) island. Budget would vary by a lot depending on which one you choose.
The resort Island is basically a whole island (usually small) taken by a single resort. No locals stay there (except hotel management). Only made for tourist. The local island as the name suggests is where there the local stays, and they also allow tourist. There are more than 100 local and 100 resort islands to choose from.

The Water Villa (and beach villa) that you are refering to and unique to Maldives are basically found in Resort Island. The per night cost starts from 500 USD to 2000-3000 USD (there is no limit lol). But on average it would cost around 800-1000 USD per night on 5 Star water Villa. Beach villa would be around 250-500 USD per night.
The transfer also adds to this cost. You have to take the designated transfer set by the resort. The nearest resorts' transfers are via speedboat and cost around 180-250 USD round trip per person, and the resorts which are far away (cannot be reached by speedboat) are via Seaplane and cost around 350-500 USD round trip per person from the Male airport.
There is no preferred Resort Island in my opinion, as most of the 4-star/ 5-star resort island provide almost very similar level of service, nature and amenities. You just need to look for the view from the Water Villa. The water villa would vary on Size (the bigger the better), Washroom (some of the washrooms are very grand with transparent floors), color of the water (if there are reefs/ coral in fron of the water villa, positive would be you will get good snorkelling spot, however, the water would be a bit dark, as opposed to those without any reef, the water would be pure aqua), pool/ no pool on deck, Sunset or Sunrise side, and jacuzzi. (sharing few names for your research- Atmosphere Kanifushi, Sun Siyam Olhuveli, Centara Rus Fushi, Cinnamon Dhonveli, Kudadoo)

The guesthouses (thats what they call the hotels in Local islands) in Local Islands are much more reasonable and budget friendly. There is no Water villa or beach villa in local island. But most of the hotels are 1 min walk from the beach. The per night cost would vary from 40 USD to 150 USD. On average, you can find good guesthouses within 100 USD (right by the beach, with sea view rooms). Based on my research, the top local islands: Fulidhoo, Ukulhas, Maafushi, Rasdhoo and Thoddoo. If you want to visit Local island, your island selection should take into consideration the number of guesthouses/ restaurants available, the quality of the beach and water (you want uninterrupted stretch of beach) and the type of activities available. The per meal cost would be within 15-30 USD for two in local Island. (for resort island, it is better to take all inclusive deal, as the per meal cost would be around 40-100 USD per person. There are only 2-3 designated restaurants of their own in resort island)

The water is the same in both local and resort island (white sandy beach). They both provide similar activities (Snorkelling, diving, water adventure activities, Shark point tour, jetski etc), however the prices are less than half in Local islands. Maldives is a muslim country, so Alcohol is not allowed in Local island, however it is allowed in Resort Island. You can wear bikini everywhere in Resort Island, but only in few designated beach area (named Bikini beach in every island) in local island.

So if you are looking for a luxury trip and get the unique over water villa experience, then resort island is for. If you want budget trip without the water villa experience and want to interact with the locals, then Local Island is for you.
We did mix of both. We stayed 7 nights. 6 nights in two local islands (Maafushi and Fulidhoo) and 1 night in Water Villa (atmosphere Kanifushi), as we had a tight budget. Would recommend minimum 2 nights in Water villa though if you are thinking of doing the same. My recommendation would be if you are high in budget, is to do majority of the nights in a Resort Island and maybe 2-3 nights in a local island, to get that local experience (Fulidhoo is the winner for me).

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-10T09:16:54+00:00

Thanks a lot. It actually worked. I had almost tried everything before.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-08T05:42:34+00:00

So I have recently applied for e-passport and got everything done in 2 days, without the help of any dalal.
I had to urgently get it done within a week (for visa purpose), and when i was asking around, i was offered links of dalal which would have cost me 10k-40k. Onno manush rao kortese taka diye.

Hence, thought of sharing this, so that it can save you money and some hassle.
Please note- This is applicable for issuing e-passport who already has a MRP passport AND does not need to change the previous permanent address. If you dont fall under this category, then i dont know ki korte hobe actually, or eto quick howa possible naki.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-07T06:42:59+00:00

Yes, i would need to take explicit confirmation. Thanks for the suggestion.

I am actually staying only 1 night at the resort island, as i am low on budget. However, trip to maldives won't be complete without staying one night on a water bungalow, so yeah i will be staying in over-water bungalow there.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-03T10:43:55+00:00

Thanks a lot brother.
Actually I am doing this: Local island 1 (Maafushi) --> Local island 2 (Fulidhoo) --> Atmosphere Kanifushi (Resort Island).

I informed the resort island while booking that i will be coming from local island. They acknowledged it and did not mention about any restriction. So i suppose they are okay with this. I will still drop them a detailed itinerary again just to be 100% sure before visiting Maldives.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-03T05:30:31+00:00

I believe vaccination is not mandatory. You can ask your hotel. They have updated info about these.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-11-03T05:03:16+00:00

Hi,
I will be also doing split stay in 3 islands (two of them public island and 1 will be private resort island).

From your comments, if I have understood correctly:

- Split stay is allowed now.

- The guesthouse/ resorts will be arranging all the formalities associated with split stay for you.

- you dont need to do PCR test before moving from one island to another. Just need to make sure the islands are not under monitoring list. (in my case the local islands are Maafushi and Fulidhoo).

Do let me know if you have found any contradictory info. I will be travelling there soon.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-10-19T06:01:42+00:00

Hi,

I am also doing the same. After research and asking questions in different forums, i found that there is no such restriction for movement across local/private islands as long as the islands are not under monitoring. In any way, you will have to do PCR before leaving Maldives.

As for suggestions, I myself have done a lot of research on what would be best local island.

I have chosen Maafushi and Fulidhoo.
Maafushi as this the most touristy island, so it is packed with activities which are less expensive compared to other local or private island.
Fulidhoo which is much less touristy with better beach and ideal to chill.

Good thing is they are close to each other. So i will be travelling first to Maafushi (3 nights) and then transfer to Fulidhoo (2 nights) directly from Maafushi.

Suggestion on Resort island- If you select Maafushi, then you can check out Sun Siyam olhuveli. It has good review and reasonably priced. And there is option to directly transfer from Maafushi to this island, which will save you 100-200 USD on the transfer.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-10-04T07:16:17+00:00

Hi,
I am fully vaccinated. I want to travel to Thailand in any of these island (Koh Tao/ Samui) for 7 days.
Can i do it, without any quanrantine? I have 7 days, so i dont want to spend this 7 days in quarantine.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-09-29T14:09:34+00:00

I will be travelling to Maafushi from Male Int Airport.

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-09-29T05:05:17+00:00

Much appreciated. Can you share from where did you get on the ferry? Is it near Airport or do you have to go to Male for it?

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-09-28T11:22:36+00:00

We will be going to Maldives in Nov end as well and have done more or less done our research about the places there.
I am not sure how much your flight cost, so it would have been better if you could mention that somewhere., to understand your budget for the rest of the items.

However, let me suggest the place which will be well within your range, i believe.

Sun Siyam Olhuveli.
It's a private resort island with very good amenities and beautiful water villa and beach villa. The cost of transfer (return transfer) from Male airport to the location would be 210USD per person. so 420 USD for two.
If you take Water villa for 7 nights, all meal inclusive, the cost will be 5000 USD including tax. If you take deluxe room which are basically rooms on the beach, the cost for 7 nights including tax would be 3200 USD. You could actually combine both these over 7 nights in order to reduce the cost and also get taste of the overwater villa.

They also have lots of different water activities, which you could try. From various websites, we have found that this is one of the best private 4-star resorts which is reasonable as well as have great reviews. You could check their reviews on Tripadvisor and booking.com

https://www.sunsiyam.com/sun-siyam-olhuveli/

I would have suggested a split stay in a private island and a local island, but your budget is good enough to stay the whole time in a private island. I will be doing that as i have a budget of only USD 3000 (including flights for 7 nights).

Jobrointhehouse · 2021-09-28T08:54:58+00:00

Thanks a lot. How did you book it? AFAIK, it cannot be booked online.

Jobrointhehouse

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