Sparkling cyan water, kaleidoscopic coral. Iconic thatched bungalows floating over otherworldly marine life. The Maldives rightly features on travel bucket lists the world over.
Some 34,000 Australians ticked it off theirs in 2023, according to the Maldives’ Ministry of Tourism. That’s just one 10th of the number heading to Fiji annually, and a fraction of the 1.2 million Australian tourists counted by the Bali Tourism Office last year.
The beautiful Maldives are on many people’s bucket-lists, but getting there from Australia isn’t particularly easy. Credit: iStock I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Maldives twice – once before COVID and once at the end of 2023. On both occasions, the same issue strikes me.
Getting there is an expensive, time-zone-warping, flight-jigsawing effort from Australia. Here’s what you need to know. The flight options There’s no easy way to fly to the Maldives from Australia without at least one red-eye flight and a stopover in Asia – some routes have two stopovers (via Singapore and Sri Lanka).
Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines fly economy seats from Sydney to Velana International Airport in the Maldives capital of Male, for between $2000 to $3000 return. It can be as costly or more than flying to Europe or America. Typing “Maldives” into an itinerary is like putting “wedding” into a Google search.
Prices ramp up to premium because people are prepared to pay almost anything. AirAsia X’s nearly flat flatbed sea.