Maldives on a budget in a local island - Ukulhas

Stay in a local island in Ukulhas 

6 days/5 night, February 28th to March 5th 2018

After our trip to Sri Lanka, the Maldives were the perfect spot to enjoy the spectacular beaches and explore the coral reefs. Male Airport is only a 1 hour 30 minutes flight from Colombo International Airport.

The Maldives sound like a dream destination for a honeymoon or an expensive holiday in a 5 stars resort. But since the last past years, the number of guesthouses in the local islands has been significantly growing. The local islands are inhabited by the Maldivian people as opposed to the "resort islands" where there is nothing else than the resort, the staff and the tourists.

This is a great opportunity to make the Maldives more affordable and attract the travelers who don't want to spend too much money in a hotel but just enjoy this natural gem of the Indian Ocean. These guesthouses are in fact proper hotels offering modern comfort at very good standards. Unlike the resorts, they don't offer under-water nor swimming pools. But do we really need a swimming pool when we can swim in a giant natural fish tank on our door step?

Not us! We chose to stay in Ukulhas Island at the guesthouse Sea La Vie.

But before we decided to stay on a local island, there was something we needed to be aware of and a sacrifice we needed make: no alcohol allowed! You can only buy and drink booze in the resort islands. So if you can't manage a beach holiday without your cold beer or Mojito (we won't blame you), better go to a resort if you can afford it or maybe consider staying in a local island during dry Jan. Don't worry, they have the best fresh tropical juices and coconuts ;-)

Cheers!

TRANSFER FROM MALE AIRPORT TO UKULHAS ISLAND 
The host arranged our transfer prior to our arrival. He emailed us the day before and said a guy would welcome us at the airport with a sign and our names posted on it. We were quite excited about this but that guy never showed up...
No stress! At the information desk of the airport, a phone is available for free for tourists so we were able to call the host who told us to wait at the jetty. The boat "Coral"finally arrived around 4:20 pm.

People waiting for their boat transfer at the jetty in Male's airport

Transfer Male - Ukulhas Island: 1 hour 15 min
USD 50 (one way)
The speed boat is modern and comfy. Bottles of water are provided.

The first stop after Male is Rasdhoo (60 min) which is another local island. Ukulhas is the second stop, 15 min after Rasdhoo.

Transfer to the island by speedboat

UKULHAS ISLAND 
The first things we saw when approaching the island was the turquoise blue water, the small port and the mosque. All the local boats parked at the jetty are motor boats. No traditional fishing boats.

Ukulhas Island's jetty

Mosque near the jetty

The atmosphere was so slow paced we almost had a shock. As we were just arriving from Sri Lanka we were used to a constant noise (cars, tuk tuks on the road) and to Sri-Lankan people being particularly engaging and chatty.

We found the locals were rather reserved and nonchalant. No "Hello", no smile or no greeting which is not usual in small villages. We did not have any contact with the locals except with those working at the hotel, restaurants or boats (very friendly though). We felt like the relationship between tourists and locals was strictly professional. Maybe it was the language barrier, or they were just shy and discrete. Given tourism is still recent in the local islands, people might become different with time. That said we never felt any animosity towards us.

Ukulhas is a quiet village where you could almost walk bare foot everywhere on its sandy roads. We found the people were a bit shy at the first impression. But they were just discrete and very peaceful.
There is one "main road" from the tourist beach to the other side of the island with a few restaurants and shops.

In terms of nightlife, clearly this is not Ibiza. Don't expect any reggae vibe or huts on the beach like in Thailand or the Caribbeans.

Sandy road of Ukulhas

THE TOURIST BEACH

If you plan to stay in a local island, we advise you to check carefully the review from other travelers about the tourist beach. We heard some travelers were disappointed because the tourist beach in their local island was small and they did not feel comfortable going to the other beaches wearing their bikini.

The tourist beach in Ukulhas is big and beautiful. It starts opposite the "Sea La Vie" Thai Cafe and goes all along the south cost. The beach near Sea La Vie was smaller and was more windy. This is where we saw the most fishes and turtles when we snorkeled.

The beach on the other side was much bigger. The water was amazingly calm, like a giant bath. The water was so transparent we could spot baby sharks or stingrays from the beach.

Baby shark spotted from the beach - Totally harmless

Young stingray 

They call it "tourist beach" to avoid any conflict between the tourists wearing bikini and the local women who wear conservative Muslim clothes. At the beginning I was not very comfortable with this concept as it felt like being kept apart in a "No go zone" for the locals. But it actually worked out well as both locals and tourists seemed to be in harmony this way. We even saw local families coming to watch the sunset on the tourist beach.

BIKINI VERSUS VEIL: HOW TO DRESS IN UKULHAS?

The dress code was not a problem in Ukulhas. 

On the tourist beach I saw women wearing all types of bikinis from classic to Brazilian style including thongs. I even saw an Italian guy feeling comfortable enough to walk to the restaurant in his tight speedo y-fronts.The restaurant was very close to the beach so it was fine. But in general it is better not to wear any bathing suit when walking in the village by respect for the locals. Especially if as a woman which is common sense. I was just wearing a pareo on top of my bikini when walking from the beach to the hotel or restaurant and it was absolutely fine. 

I did not need to cover my legs and shoulders. In the evening I was wearing a casual long / semi long dress with straps. I would recommend to adopt simple and casual dress code. 

If you are a female solo traveler and you don't feel confident, you can wear a simple scarf or pareo around your neck to cover slightly your shoulders. But again, it is cool in Ukulhas. 

SNORKELING IN UKULHAS

Swimming in the sea everyday was amazing. We spent hours each day swimming and snorkeling around the island.

The coral reef is clean with many fishes of various colors from small to medium sizes. The most common fishes we saw around the island and in further coral reefs were parrotfishes, oriental sweetlips, triggerfishes, trumpetfishes, moorish idols, powder blue surgeonfishes and some giant clams. By luck we also saw 3 turtles, a few stingrays and octopus. 

We were expecting to see more healthy corals with vivid colors but sadly many of them were bleached. We found this as well in the Seychelles islands the year before. Clearly the little paradise atolls of the Indian Ocean aren't spared by the effects of the climate change and pollution...

Turtle swimming in the reef close to Sea La Vie

A local fisherman catching an octopus 

Donny super happy with his snorkeling easy breathing gear 

Just resting after hard work

SEA LA VIE GUESTHOUSE
Sea La Vie is a hotel rather than a guesthouse as the hosts don't live on site. It is located literally 20 meters from the beach (the smaller one).

Price per night with breakfast: USD 146 / GBP 105

Sea La Vie Inn hotel

It is a small cosy hotel with a few rooms around two patios, all on the ground floor.
The rooms were brand new with all the modern comfort, excellent shower, king size bed, fan + air con, lots of space. The only down side was the room lacked of natural light. But it is hard to find a hotel with a sea view on the local islands. Other than that, we definitely recommend the place for the great room, friendly staff and atmosphere.

The restaurant "Sea La Vie Cafe" which is partner to the hotel serves tasty breakfast and Thai food.

Sea La Vie Inn Cafe between the hotel and the beach

ACTIVITIES
We asked the host to arrange some activities around the island for us. He gave us genuine tips on what to do and what was not worth it. So we chose 3 excursions:

- Snorkeling safari: USD 65 per person - Only the two of us on the boat
We went for 2 hours 1/2 in the morning in 3 different reefs further from the island.
We saw the same fauna than in the reef of the island but there were more fishes. We also saw some fish stars alive but no turtles.

One of the 3 coral reefs we explored

- Night fishing: USD 50 per person - Based on 4 people on the boat
One of the highlights of this holiday.
We left just before sunset with another couple of Frenchies and our two Maldivian captains. So we were ready when the fishes came out as the night fell.

Traditional  fishing by line and hook

Donny caught a small barracuda 

We caught 22 fishes in total! Mainly red snappers. 

Back to the hotel for dinner, we prepared a barbecue fueled with coconut shells 

Great satisfaction to eat the fishes we caught

- Manta ray safari: USD 50 per person - 4 people on the boat
It is easier to see the manta rays early in the morning so we left at 7:15 am. We were expecting to see groups of manta rays but we only saw one who stayed around us during a very long time. We could see it from very close and swim with it.

Manta rays are harmless and beautiful creatures

Photos credits: the host's brother who swam with us with his waterproof camera

We shared the fishing evening and the ray safari with 2 other guests, a French couple as the prices so the prices were cheaper. And it was more fun!

There were other activities like dolphin tour, picnic island, full day in a resort island nearby.

FOOD & DRINKS
The breakfasts were served at the Sea La Vie Cafe.

Fresh and generous breakfast at Sea La Vie

The restaurants of the island were all offering the same reasonable prices for food and drinks.
On average, we spent $ 10 each per meal including water and fresh juice.

To give you an idea:

- pad Thai at the Sea La Vie Cafe: $ 8
- fried fish with spicy sauce and rice: $6
- a whole grilled fish served with rice or chips at Olhumathi Restaurant: $ 10
- fresh juice or coconut: $2
- one big bottle of water: $1

So food is definitely affordable. This is one of the pros of being on a local island. You can buy a bottle of water from a local shop for $ 0,50 when you would pay $5 in a resort island and $14 for a coke (if you don't book the all-inclusive option).

We tried a couple restaurants on the island but we had most of our lunches and dinners at the Thai place. We found the atmosphere was nice as they have a terrace on the top and located near the beach. The service was also very good.

Veggie pad Thai, spicy fish with rice and natural passion fruit juice

The dream team Sea La Vie Inn and Cafe

The other restaurants served grilled fish and sea food. They also had continental food (burgers, pasta) which we did not try and Maldivian food which was a bit similar to Sri lankan/Indian curries (but not as tasty).

The hotel could arrange a traditional Maldivian dinner hosted by a family for $50 per person. At this price we were clearly not interested.

The agriculture sector is not big in the Maldives. Most of the food is imported like the rice, eggs, meat, some fruits and veggies. Even the prawns they serve in the restaurants are imported. We saw mostly coconuts, bananas and bread fruits grown locally in individual gardens. We even brought back a breadfruit from the tree in the hotel's patio. It is very tasty if fried, grilled or boiled. It is a shame they don't serve it in the local restaurants.

Breadfruit. Try it in crisps or mashed!

CONCLUSION
Total spent in the Maldives: $750 / GBP 540 per person
Including accommodation for 5 nights, meals and drinks, transfer from the airport (and return), 3 excursions. All taxes included.
Excl. flights

Not bad for the Maldives. Of course it is more expensive than destinations like Sri-Lnaka or Thailand where it is much easier to travel on a budget. You can find cheaper guesthouses in other local islands. Make sure the taxes are included in the price and check how big the tourist beach is. 

Overall we enjoyed the perfect climate, the amazing beach, swimming for long hours with the fishes and manta rays, fishing in the evening.  

The experience with the locals was not the highlight of our stay because we had limited contact with them (apart from our lovely guests). Regardless we saw that the tourism sector was beneficial for the people of the island since most of the guesthouses and businesses were run by local families as opposed to foreign holdings. We were told that many fishermen sold their boat in order to build guesthouses. So the tourism is really expanding. As tourists we have a certain responsibility and we were happy to contribute to the local development.

Finally beyond the budget aspect, staying on a local island in the Maldives is not for everyone.

STAYING ON A LOCAL ISLAND, IS IT FOR YOU? 
If you can't afford a resort island but you really want to tick the box Maldives, you should think twice before planing a trip to a local island. It is just about managing your expectations and avoid  disappointments.

Beyond the budget aspect, the local island experience would suit some travelers' profiles like:
- travelers a minimum adventurous with or without children (we saw many couples with young kids)
- independent travelers who don't like being stuck in a resort and are allergic to all-inclusive packages
- solo travelers running away from ambiances too romantic
- tourists who want to support the development of the small local islands
- curious travelers who like being in contact with the local people (moderated contact as for the Maldives though)

More importantly, you need be able to detach youtself from the honeymoon cliche. Otherwise you will be disappointed. If you really want to live the dream, it is better to invest more in your travel budget and go to a resort-island.

If we ever go back to the Maldives, we will probably try the experience in a resort island.
But before that, we would like to explore other places in the world where we hope to see even more sea life and living corals. We heard Mayotte's reef in the Indian Ocean was well preserved. Belize and Polynesia are also on the long list :-)