Maldives
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Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
Note that there is no longer a departure fee at Male' International Airport.
David Chaudoir, USA (Aug 04)
Travel Tips
There was a great little store in Male' with handmade works from the local youth. It is from a program that was started to keep traditional craft making alive. They had very nice pieces for very reasonable prices. Most items were of wood & some of the laquered items. It was like a small gallery & I figured the prices would be astronomical, but pleasantly I was wrong. I can't remember the name but it is between Shell Beans & Nasandhura Palace Hotel.
If someone plans to stay in Male' a day or two like we did, I would recommend doing it before you go to your resort. Unless you stay at Hulhule Island, the other hotels are not much to speak of.
Amy & Alex Tsappis, Cyprus (Sep 04)
Male now has a HSBC Bank, accepting Cirrus, MasterCard & also Visa card. You can find it on the north side of the island on Marine Drive about 100 metres west of Main Square.
Tobias Zeyher (Aug 03)
Did you know that you are prohibited from taking alcohol into the Maldives? There was no information on this from my travel agent at time of booking or issuing of ticket nor any information on the LP/Maldives web site. I had a duty free purchase with me because I really didn't know and had nowhere to leave it.
Kathleen Ng, Malaysia (Jun 01)
Some of the beaches are quite stoney and guests would be well advised to take shoes for paddling.
Alison Park (Apr 01)
Moving About
To find the dhonis from the airport to Male, look for signs at the dock that say "hire transfer". When in Male trying to get back to the airport look for the signs that say "next dhoni to the airport". There is a reserved berth which the respective next dhoni moves into a few minutes before departure. Note that this is about 100 metres west of where the dhonis from the airport arrive - so don't go back to that dock, you'll wait all day! Until midnight, dhonis will run in both directions every 15 minutes for Rf10 or USD1 per person. Thereafter it's USD12 per dhoni, departures on demand.
Stefan Schulz, UK (Oct 03)
Scams & Warnings
As I understand, our resort changed their prices from dollars to euros with effect from 1st December 2004, which is fully understandable due to the low exchange rate for dollars. However, it was a complete surprise to me when I came to pay my bill and discovered that without the approval of their customers, the resort changes the amount from euros to dollars using their own exchange rate (which is about 7% higher than the official euro to dollar rate) before making charges to credit cards. That was an unpleasant experience and it is a very dubious way of doing business. It would be interesting to see something like that occur in Europe!
I have talked to Globecard who issue gold and platinum MasterCards. They confirmed what I already knew that you can charge cards in Euros as easily as you can Dollars, and that was the excuse given to me by the cashier. It was not possible to talk to the manager at the time I had to pay the bill and it was not possible before we left at 11 o'clock on the day of departure.
Flemming Brögger, France (Feb 05)
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