7 Days in the Maldives: First-Timer Plan
A full week is the classic Maldives shape: one base, resort or local island, settled into for the whole trip, with room for the marquee marine excursion and a genuinely distinctive add-on.
| Day | Focus | Rough spend (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, IMUGA and visa, transfer, settle in | $30-90 (transfer) plus $50-600+ (night) |
| 2 | House reef snorkel or dive | $0-100 |
| 3 | Hanifaru manta or South Ari whale-shark excursion | $60-250 |
| 4 | A sandbank-and-dolphin trip | $30-90 |
| 5 | A Thulusdhoo surf day (or a second dive) | $20-100 |
| 6 | A far-south add-on: Fuvahmulah tiger sharks or Addu’s British Loyalty wreck | $100-300 |
| 7 | A spa or overwater day (resort) or a Malé half day (budget), then transfer out | $0-200 |
Day 1: Arrival, transfer, settle in
File the free IMUGA Traveller Declaration online 48-96 hours before your flight if not already done; the free 30-day visa is stamped on arrival at Velana International Airport (MLE).
Resort track: speedboat ($100-250) or seaplane ($290-700+, daylight-only, roughly 6am-4:30pm) to your resort, check in, unhurried first afternoon.
Budget track: ferry ($1.50-3) or speedboat ($25-30) to Maafushi or similar, guesthouse check-in ($50-150/day).
End the day booking the week’s excursions through your resort or guesthouse desk, since the far-south trip on Day 6 needs the most advance notice.
Day 2: Your house reef
Snorkel or dive your own reef today. Carry dive insurance regardless of experience, since most atolls have no decompression chamber.
End today confirming pickup for tomorrow’s manta or whale-shark trip.
Day 3: Mantas or whale sharks
Roughly June-November near Baa Atoll, book Hanifaru Bay’s manta swim ($125), snorkel-only under permit with a strict 3-meter rule. Otherwise, or from a South Ari base, book a whale-shark tour ($60-250); South Ari’s population needs no season.
End today keeping the following day flexible for weather.
Day 4: Sandbank and dolphins
A boat trip to an uninhabited sandbank, a reef stop, and a chance, never guaranteed, at dolphins.
End the day resting ahead of the surf or a second dive tomorrow.
Day 5: Thulusdhoo, or a second dive
Thulusdhoo’s Cokes and Chickens breaks (best roughly March-October) reward even a non-surfer with a half day watching the swell. Otherwise, book a second two-tank dive.
End today confirming transport arrangements for tomorrow’s far-south trip, which typically requires a separate flight or longer boat transfer.
Day 6: Fuvahmulah or Addu
Fuvahmulah, a single-island atoll far south, is a serious dive destination built around its resident tiger shark population. Addu Atoll, the only one the equator crosses, pairs a genuine WWII-era history (a British RAF base, 1941-76) with the British Loyalty wreck dive. Either is a real detour from a standard beach trip, and worth confirming logistics for well before this day arrives.
End the day resting; tomorrow closes the trip.
Day 7: Unwind, then transfer out
Resort track: a spa treatment or a slow morning on your own deck before the afternoon transfer back to MLE.
Budget track: a half day in Malé at Hukuru Miskiy (1658, UNESCO tentative list) and the fish market if your route passes through anyway.
End the trip building real slack into your final transfer, especially with a seaplane leg involved.
Do you need a visa for the Maldives?
Most passports get a free 30-day visa on arrival. Every traveler must also separately file the IMUGA Traveller Declaration online, 48-96 hours before both arrival and departure.
Can you drink alcohol on this trip?
Only inside a licensed resort; local islands, Maafushi included, sell no alcohol at all.
For the full background on transfers, money, and the resort-versus-local-island choice behind every day of this plan, see the main Maldives guide .