Last Minute Situation - Maldives Related - Need Opinion

General Discussion
1

Hi Guy’s,

I’ve placed myself in a last minute situation, my party of friends (8) will be traveling this Monday to the Maldives for a 2 week surf trip (9 nights) on board a surf yacht. Well, as normal people as they are, they booked their trip about 6 months ahead of time. Unlike me who has been having second thoughts in the last days. My situation is that our local travel agent won’t accept any more bookings because of the short notice. But I have managed to find a flight to Mane, Maldives and should I take that flight, I would actually arrive a couple of hours earlier than my friends.

My question however relates to the following: My friends have their yacht booked in an all package deal, it’s an Island Safari Delux I (for those who might know it). It is suppose to take around 20 people, and our local travel agency have confirmed it will only be the 8 of them on board, so space is not an issue. I’ve been trying to get in touch with the Maldives travel agency in charge of the yacht rentals, but can’t get a hold of them.

Do you think if I show up on the day of boarding the boat, I will be able to pay cash on the spot ? My hunch tells me I can probably even negotiate a better fare than my friends since the money won’t be exchanged through other 3rd parties (ie. our local travel agency). On the other hand, other issues arise:

  1. They might not want to “double-cross” our local travel agency (They specialize on surf trips to the maldives and send a bunch of clients every year)

  2. We were told they might try filling in the empty rooms with foreign surfers (Appearently the extra space on the boat, 12 people, has been advertised elsewhere. Not confirmed though. Just rumors)

  3. They might try to negotiate a more expensive rate than my friends (100 euro a night), and I would have no choice.

I’m just concerned of arriving there and getting stood up. Don’t have any experience with Maldive culture and would like to hear your opinion on the matter. Should I risk the trip ? Or just stay home and surf the local beaches ?

Thanks for reading !

SMR

2

Used to be , you couldn’t enter the country unless accomodation was booked. Who hesitates is lost

3

At worst, you would have to get on the plane again. Isnt there surf in sri lanka?? its not that far and a flight should be easy from the maldives.

I went there for my honymoon. It is paradise, and the maldivians were very friendly people.

As its made up of many islands, there seemed to be a lot of islands with waves, but i only had a quick look as we were island hopping via speedboat. Didnt seem huge, but there was something there. One night in our island, which was no bigger than a football field,a bunch of dripping wet aussie blokes turned up. THey were from a surf boat, and were looking for ladies. When we explained it has a honeymoon island they were a bit bummed!!. The security guys ended up chasing them off the island. Pretty funny.

4

SMR,

I’ve been there a few times and have seen what you are talking about done

successfully.

A lot depends upon the decisions of two people, the Guide and the Skipper. My

guess is the Guide will have the power to “sneak” you onto his boat.

Remember that they would be working against their Boss’ wishes, and are risking

their own jobs, so you must approach all this with some tact…

Basically you will be at the dock in Male (mah-lee) and once all your friends let

the Guide know that you being there is a good idea, then he might let it happen.

The downside would be any insurance or liability assumed by the tour company.

Hopefully that won’t come up, and your personal Traveler’s Insurance is paid up.

Worst case: you get denied. It is super cheap to hire a small boat and follow your

buddies around, ha ha. More than likely your friends booked the 'Southern/Central

Atoll" trip which is NOT that far from Male. I’ve surfed then entire chain and believe

me, there is a LOT more heavy, quality surf there which is not on the menu. It would

be easy to keep up with the rest of the pack. (in reality the place gets crowded, so

you might want the freedom to just bail off that boat and hire your own local guide

to go further out than a couple of hours.)

You can do the Maldives on a small fishing boat for about half what your buddies

are probably paying. There are a couple of small island bungalows that are pretty

cheap (resorts are VERY expensive) and you could just find a good wave on a dot

of an island and just stay there and surf until satisfied…

Best of Luck,

George

5

George,

Thank you so much for your in depth info. I have booked the flights earlier this morning and will be flying tomorrow! So wish me luck !

SMR

6

Oh yeah, one more thing, you’ll need permitting. Since you will be there before your friends, you can ask at the

airport, which island to go to for travel/surfing permits. It most likely will be at the island next to the airport

island, or at Male which is about a 15 minute water-taxi ride. You might have to pay extra to rush your permits

but once in hand you can travel in pre-determined zones…