Introduction

If you're seeking a genuine taste of the Maldives but a perfectly manufactured experience at an overwater bungalow on a private island does not mesh with your idea of travel (or budget), then meet Fulidhoo Island. This hidden gem offers a different experience that goes beyond the glossy brochures and high-end resorts.

In case you are not familiar with the Maldives, there are 2 types of vacation you can take; one is what you’ve probably seen on Instagram with overwater villas that easily cost over $10,000 USD for a week. These resorts are located on uninhabited private islands and are often reachable only by seaplanes. The other type of vacation is to stay on a local island at a still decent hotel for less than a quarter of that price. In this post, I’m going to talk about the second option.

Fulidhoo is the type of Island where you can see children playing carefree after school on the beach. The atmosphere is lively and peaceful. You'll find yourself chatting with local fishermen as they clean their catch with patient nurse sharks circling nearby for a free snack. You can easily find many hotels/guesthouses online on popular booking sites. Most will arrange a speedboat transfer to get you from Male Airport to the hotel. I have also dedicated a section below to comparing the costs if you’re on a budget.

Speedboat Transfer

The speedboat docks are located very close to the arrival section at the Male Airport. When you make your reservation at Luau Beach Inn, they will contact you to arrange your speedboat transfer to get to Fulidhoo from Male. At Male Airport, we were in contact with a representative via Whatsapp from the Speedboat company who greeted us at arrivals and showed us the way to the boat.

If you are not familiar with Whatsapp, it’s a text and calling app similar to iMessage except it works on any smartphone. The app uses data to communicate. I recommend setting it up before you leave home so that you can receive the confirmation sms before turning on flight mode.

Before arriving in the Maldives, you can purchase your esim ahead of time on the Airalo App and install it so you're connected as soon as you land and contact the hotel on Whatsapp without searching for WiFi. If you sign up with my referral code C0887, you’ll get $3 USD off your first esim purchase!

At the docks, we waited for a couple of other passengers. Our luggage was loaded in the front of the boat and locked away for the ride. Then we went off in the blue!

The speedboat schedule was as follows but always check with your hotel as it may change.

Airport To Fulidhoo: Saturday – Thursday 10 AM & 4 PM, Fridays 9 AM

Fulidhoo To Airport: Saturday – Thursday 7:30 AM & 1 PM, Fridays 6:30 AM

Note that this means if your arrival time is after 4 PM then you will need to stay in Male overnight. Also take note of the reduced service on Fridays. This can also be an issue if your international flight is departing Male very early in the morning on your return trip. The transfer costs $40 USD per person. I’ve written a separate section for budget and cost breakdown below.

Arrival at Fulidhoo

As the boat approached the shore, I spotted large stingrays making their way over to us. Right then, I knew this was going to be a special place. Luau Beach Inn is run by Linda and Ablo. Linda had been in contact with us since we made our reservation. She greeted us right at the dock and walked us to the lobby, she was so lively and welcoming. She’s one of those people with a charming vibe that makes you smile whenever you’re around them! Linda ensured our luggage was promptly transferred from the boat to the lobby.

LUAU Beach Inn

Luau Inn is located directly on the beach, right in front of an amazing white sand beach. After check-in, we visited our beautiful room that came with a balcony (although we didn’t use it much due to the mosquitoes). I recommend bringing bug spray and lots of sunscreen from home.

The people here are warm and friendly. The entire staff is very kind and helpful. During our stay, we got to chatting a bit and learned many of them had come from Sri Lanka or India to work here in the tourism industry. I had also accidentally dropped and cracked the waterproof housing of my action camera. Ablo contacted his parents in Male and asked them to check at the store if they could obtain a replacement case and have it delivered to us at Fulidhoo! This unexpected kindness exemplifies the genuine care extended to visitors at Luau Inn. Linda helped us plan our week of activities and diving. The weather forecast was not reliable so she forecasted the weather for us based on her master skills of checking the clouds on the weather map combined with the wind speed and direction. Surprisingly, she was correct and it rained on the days she warned us not to book any boat trips.

Keep in mind that there are no electronics shop here. There are also no ATMs so bring cash if needed. I booked most of my activities through the hotel so I paid with a credit card at the end of my stay but if you do other activities or want to eat somewhere else, you’ll need cash. Most shops will accept US dollars.

FOOD

Luau Beach Inn includes a free breakfast buffet that is served at the rooftop restaurant. Lunch and dinner are also served here and are a la carte. I found the food delicious with plenty of local dishes like Maldivian curry made from locally caught fish with roti (similar to flatbread) but softer, more pliable and flakey. Some pasta and spaghetti options were also available. Unlike private resorts that all add an additional 22% for service and tax to the advertised price, Luau’s prices already include all additional charges. As the Maldives in under Sharia Law, no alcohol is served here (this does not apply to private resorts). While I was searching for a hotel to stay at, I also checked reviews of Kinan Retreat nearby and The Pearl Guesthouse but in the end, I decided to choose Luau Beach Inn because the food seemed of much higher quality and I was definitely not let disappointed!

ACTIVITIES

The atmosphere at Fulidhoo is very laid-back. It only takes a few minutes to walk around the island. The main road behind Luau has some souvenir shops and some cafes. You can watch the sunset on the West side of the island (at the end of the road) in the evenings. You won’t find any cars here.

You have plenty of activities here like leisurely walks around the island, kayaking, tanning or renting jet-skis. While I did not see any snorkelling spots on the South of the Island, the Northern side seems like a possibility although there’s a risk of strong currents. Paddleboards are also available for rent. There are several beaches right in front of Luau Inn where you can swim.

Note that because the Maldives is a Muslim country under Sharia Law, women are not allowed to wear bikinis at the beach. There are specially designated “bikini beaches” for tourists. Please ask at the front desk if you are unsure. (These rules do not apply when you are at a private resort)

The nightly fish cleaning ritual by local fishermen attracts nurse sharks and stingrays, creating a natural spectacle for guests to enjoy. I went every night after dinner. You’ll spot the stingrays in the shallows from the beach at the start of the dock. At the end of the dock visitors can observe the local fishermen as they clean their fresh catch under the shimmering moonlight while nurse sharks eagerly await their evening feast. This scent trail of chum attracts large nurse sharks to the area!

Nurse Sharks

The nightly nurse shark “feeding” feels like a tourist attraction but rather the fishermen here are just cleaning their catch and throw the head and bones in the water.

Stingrays

In addition, Fulidhoo is also known as Stingray Island. Every day, boats bring loads of tourists to feed and touch these creatures. Although I chose not to participate in the feeding, as it appeared unregulated with numerous tourists touching the rays, you can still enjoy the view as a spectator. Similarly, nurse sharks also make an appearance. According to what the locals tell me, they do not benefit from this as the tour operators are the ones making the money. Further, they disturb the peace of this quiet island multiple times throughout the day. According to the locals, the stingrays are now dependent on the tours for food and will die if the tours stop feeding them.

Excursions (off Island)

In my opinion, Scuba Diving is the Ultimate Activity here. I wrote another detailed blog post about the best dive sites. You can book directly with Luau’s in-house dive shop called Paradives. They are located behind the lobby.

Luau offers many tours bookable at the reception. There is a large map of the area along with different activities that you can sign up for. They offer a Sandbank tour where you can have lunch on the Sandbank and it includes snorkelling with sea turtles. They also offer snorkelling trips to Shark Point to swim with nurse sharks. There is also a Dolphin Watching trip but Linda did not want to run the tour unless the dolphins were spotted otherwise we'd come back disappointed. We very much appreciated the honesty and not having wasted a day of our vacation.

During our week of diving, , I was unable to take any underwater photos or videos after my waterproof casing broke. Our divemaster Anna lent me her GoPro to take some of these stunning pictures below and I was so incredibly grateful for her generosity!

DRONE

If you have a drone, make sure to bring it with you. You can fly right over the beach in front of Luau. Fly often as you can spot bait balls of fish, sharks, and stingrays in the water. There is no airport on the island and no seaplane flights so you don’t need to worry about airplanes. You need to fill out the form from the Maldives Authority before arriving. I recommend taking your drone on excursions as well to snap some impressive shots like this one below of the Nurse shark tailing our boat.

BUDGET

You might be wondering if you can you do the Maldives on a Budget? While it won’t be as cheap as places like Thailand, the answer is Yes! If you are looking for the overwater bungalow on a private island experience, there is no way around that. Those will easily cost you thousands of dollars. But if you are looking to visit the Maldives for a chance to enjoy some of the best scuba diving in the world, you can still achieve that by staying at islands like Fulidhoo. Below is a breakdown of the costs and a comparison to the prices for a resort. I am using The Westin Maldives prices for comparison.

As you can see, the prices are significantly lower at a local island compared to a resort. I’ve also included the price lists below.

About Fulidhoo…

As I mentioned above, The Maldives is a Muslim Country under Sharia Law. This means no pork or alcohol allowed unless you’re on a private island and swimming or walking around in Bikinis is restricted to the Bikini Beach only. While I was not personally bothered, I know some people would never dream of going on vacation if they cannot have alcohol. I also heard about boat bars which allows you to come onboard for a drink but that might be more for the very popular islands like Maafushi.

The local mosques announce the call to prayer from their speakers five times a day. The earliest one starts before sunrise, which means if you are a light sleeper like me, you will find yourself waking up every day at around 4 am. The call to prayer is followed by the prayer 10 minutes later. The mosque is located right next to Luau Beach Inn and the speakers are loud enough to be heard all over the island. One of the speakers faces directly onto the rooftop restaurant so I’d suggest asking for the schedule at Luau to avoid dining during those times.

The pollution

As much as I loved Fulidhoo, there are good and bad sides to everything. It wouldn’t feel right to only write about the positives while ignoring the negatives. Fulidhoo, like many islands, struggles with plastic waste. Local islands in the Maldives often burn their waste. During our trip, we could see the rising smoke and smell the fumes of burning plastic. Luau Inn takes a commendable step towards sustainability by eliminating the use of plastic. We were given metal water bottles as a gift on arrival. Walking around Fulidhoo, specially on the North side, we could see a lot of garbage dumped on the beaches. From what I was told, drinking water is shipped to the island in plastic bottles.

The island is disappearing…

If you’ve ever doubted that sea levels are rising, a visit here will clear all your doubts. Here you can truly see the effects of climate change as they attempt to prevent the island from disappearing. Talking to the locals, they mentioned that the beach had disappeared before and the water came up to the lobby of Luau Inn. As the sea levels rise, the government has hired crews to pump up sand from the deep ocean floor to rebuild the beach. This has been done before at Fulidhoo but it only lasted several months until the beaches were taken back by the sea. The beaches on the North side of the island are pretty much completely gone.

When’s the best time to visit?

We visited mid to end of November and we did receive some rain. Earlier during the trip, we had more rainy days than at the end. I personally would avoid going during the rainy season. The dry season is supposed to run from December to March (this is also the high season so expect higher prices).

Conclusion

In the heart of the Maldives, Luau Beach Inn and Fulidhoo Island stand out as a place to experience the authentic Maldives. It's a place where genuine hospitality comes together with some of the best scuba diving in the world. From swimming to watching the fishermen feed the nurse sharks, I will forever treasure my memories of this place. But don’t wait too long to visit as the island is disappearing. This place is definitely on my list of places to revisit and I can only hope it will still be there when that day comes.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask below!

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