Maafushi Island (Maldives) – Five Days Itinerary
Imagine a beautiful beach with soft white sand, swaying palm trees and crystalline turquoise waters under the limitless blue skies – this is Maafushi Island in Maldives. An awesome hotel to stay here would be the Velana Beach Hotel, which offers top-notch accommodation, food, and service. Below is a summary of our five-day itinerary on the island. To read more about the activities and restaurants in detail, you can refer to the following articles:
6 Best Places to Eat in Maafushi Island!
10 Awesome Things to Do in Maafushi Island !
Day 1: Male Airport to Male Island
Our flight arrived late at night at Male International Airport on Hulhule island. From the airport island, we took a four-minute speedboat to Male Island where we spent the night at Hotel Jen Male (around USD 200 per night). The transfer was arranged by the hotel. Everything was arranged seamlessly and we highly recommend this premium hotel.
Day 2: Male Island to Maafushi, Beautiful Beaches, Night Fishing
Male Island to Maafushi
The next morning, we woke up early to catch the speedboat to Maafushi. Our hotel on Maafushi (Velana Beach) booked the speedboat (USD 20 per pax) through iCom Tours for us. The trip took about 40 minutes and it was a comfortable ride as the boat was quite spacious. You can also take the ferry service (USD 3 per pax) to Maafushi Island from Male Island, but it would take around 90 minutes. Check out the link below for details on how to get to Maafushi by either speedboat or ferry.
Read more: How to get to the beautiful Maafushi Island
Check in at Velana Beach Hotel
After reaching Maafushi’s jetty, we took a short walk to our hotel, the Velana Beach Hotel. This is a premier boutique hotel in Maafushi with excellent accommodation, service and food.
Read more: Velana Beach Hotel – The Best Hotel in Maafushi Island (Maldives)!
Lunch at Arena Beach Hotel
For lunch, we went to the Arena Beach Hotel restaurant and ordered a delicious Margarita Pizza (USD 8).
Stroll along the Beautiful Beaches
After that, we went to stroll along the beautiful beaches of Maafushi. There are four main beaches: Bikini Beach, Public Beach, Water Sports Beach, and Coral Beach. We learned that tourists are only allowed to wear skimpy swimwear on Bikini Beach. It is illegal to do so on other parts of the island. You can read more here about the four beaches.
Night Fishing
At night, we went for Night Line Fishing, which was really fun! The trip was booked through our hotel, Velana Beach Hotel, and cost just USD 20. I managed to catch quite a few fishes! You can read about our entire night fishing experience here.
Dinner at Kaalama Restaurant
For dinner, we went for fine dining at the Kaalama Restaurant in Velana Beach Hotel. This is the only restaurant in Maafushi that offers fine dining, and the price was very affordable. The Velana staff also cooked some of the fishes we had caught earlier to prepare a sumptuous fish feast for us.
Day 3: Resort Excursion, BBQ Dinner Buffet
Resort Excursion
After a hearty breakfast at Velana Beach Hotel, we went for an excursion to the resort island Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives. The trip was booked through iCom Tours and cost USD 120 per person. This covered the entrance fee, transport fee, a sumptuous buffet lunch, and unlimited drinks (including alcohol). We spent an entire day here taking pictures of the beautiful resort, frolicking in the pool, and lazing on the beach chairs enjoying our free drinks.
BBQ Dinner Buffet at Arena Beach Hotel
At night, we went for a super value-for-money BBQ dinner buffet at the Arena Beach Hotel. The buffet cost just USD 12 and offered a mouthwatering spread of Tom Yam Soup, Battered Fried Fish Fingers, Grilled Fish, Seafood Rice, Beef Dumplings, Cream Caramel, cakes and more!
Day 4: Explore the Island, Christmas Buffet Feast
Explore the Island
We woke up a bit later today but luckily we still got to enjoy the hotel breakfast. After breakfast, we set off to explore the interesting sights on this small island and experience its local culture.
Lunch at Kaani Beach Hotel
After about an hour of exploring, we were done and decided to have lunch at the Kaani Beach Hotel restaurant. We ordered the hearty Seafood Platter (USD 35) which consists of crispy coated grilled fish, savoury salt and pepper calamari rings, succulent squid, and golden battered prawns.
Christmas Buffet Feast at Kaalama Restaurant
It was Christmas and we decided to indulge in the sumptuous Christmas buffet feast (USD 17) at Kaalama Restaurant in Velana Beach Hotel! This was truly a feast to behold. There was an extravagant spread of food and it was really delicious.
Day 5: Day Tour, Catching the Sunset, Floating Bar
Day Tour
This was our last full day on Maafushi and we were feeling a little glum. Luckily, we we had an awesome Day Tour planned. The tour was organized by Velana Beach Hotel and consisted of snorkeling at three reefs (Banana reef, Turtle Reef, and Biyadhoo Reef), a sandbank visit, and a dolphin safari (aka Dolphin watching)! The tour requires a minimum of four people and costs USD 70 per person. If there are five persons or more, the price goes down to USD 50.
Lunch at Symphony Lagoon
The tour ended around late noon and we went for lunch at the Symphony Lagoon Restaurant in Crystal Sands Hotel. We ordered the Seafood Pizza (USD 10) and the Grilled Fish with Lemon Buttersauce served with Mashed Potato and Coleslaw Salad (USD 12). Luckily, the restaurant lived up to its hype and we enjoyed both these delicious dishes very much.
Catching the Sunset
It was our last night in Maafushi, and we went to catch the sunset on Bikini Beach. It was beautiful and we managed to take some nice pictures and drone footages here.
Dinner at Kaalama Restaurant
For our last meal on Maafushi, we went back to Kaalama Restaurant again. This time round, we indulged in the tantalizing Grilled Seafood Platter (USD 24), which consists of grilled tiger prawns, octopus, crab and grilled fish. We attacked the dish with gusto and it tasted every bit as good as as it looked!
Floating Bar and Safari
After dinner, we took a five-minute boat ride to the Floating Bar and Safari. This is basically a small bar / bistro located on a medium-sized yacht. Due to strict regulations in Maldives, this is the only place in Maafushi where alcohol is served. I ordered a Tiger Beer for USD 6. The floating bar also offers Italian fusion food. This was definitely a cool place to hang out.
Day 6: Home Sweet Home!
The next day, the friendly hotel staff helped to bring our luggage to the jetty where we caught the speedboat back to Male Airport. And that was the end of our short holiday in Maafushi!
This article is part of our completely free and fantastic Ultimate Maafushi Travel Guide. Why spend days researching when all your holiday information is simply a click away?
6 Comments and Questions
Hi,
Can I check for your excursion to the resort island Centara Ras Fushi Resort and Spa Maldives, do they allow you to take photos at any of the water villas? Is it worth going for this excursion?
Thank you
Ophelia
Hello Ophelia,
We were not allowed access INTO the water villas area, but we did manage to take some photos from the entrance. You can check out our article to see the photos we took: https://www.eatandtravelwithus.com/2017/04/centara-ras-fushi-resort-spa-maldives-resort-excursion
Yes, I feel it is worth going for the excursion, because the resort is very vibrant with great sea views and a beautiful beachfront. However, one of the Centara Ras Fushi staff was quite pushy and kept trying to sell us food and champagne, and even made sarcastic remarks when we refused.
Hope this helps!
Awesome article. Can I find out how you got from Velana hotel to Centara Ras Fushi? Speedboat directly? Or did you have to go back to Male and transfer from there? Thank you in advance =)
Hi Zam thank you! We booked a day trip through iCom Tours and went to Centara Ras Fushi directly on a speedboat.
Hi, thanks for your very detailed information on Maafushi. My family will be travelling to Maldives end of November and I am thinking of staying a few nights in Maafushi. Appreciate if you can advise on the following:
1) Can we arrange for speedboat transfer to go directly to Maafushi from the airport island, instead of having to go to Male island first? We will be reaching at 10pm on a Friday night and intend to stay the night in a hotel near the airport and hope to go direct to Maafushi the next morning.
2) Can you snorkel around the waters directly off the beach near the hotel? Are there any house reefs?
3) Do you know if fishing is allowed off the beach or at the long jetty in the island?
Thank you very much.
Hello Justin,
1. Yes it is possible, iCOM Tours provide speedboat transfers direct from the airport to Maafushi. You can check out their website for the speedboat schedule or email them directly at info@icomtours.com.
2. I do not think there are any house reefs off the Maafushi Island beaches.
3. Yes, fishing is allowed at Maafushi island. I saw locals fishing when I was there.