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What it’s REALLY like to travel to The Maldives during Covid

Isabella sitting on a deck at sunset

The Covid-19 pandemic has limited global travel significantly, but one slice of paradise continues to welcome visitors with open arms. The Maldives closed its borders for just over three months at the beginning of the pandemic, but tourism restarted in July 2020. A few months ago, I wrote this blog post about the entry requirements and safety measures that resorts were taking to protect their guests. Now, having spent a beautiful few weeks in paradise, I’m back to tell you all about my experiences and what it was actually like to The Maldives during Covid. 

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What it's REALLY like to travel to The Maldives during Covid
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COVID-19 in the Maldives 

The Maldivian government took early and effective measures against the coronavirus. Fast action, combined with the country’s natural geography, prevented the virus from overwhelming the country as it has in so many other places. At the time of writing, there have been 47 deaths from COVID-19 in the Maldives and just over 13,000 reported cases since March. 

Isabella sitting on a deck at sunset
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Entry Requirements to The Maldives during Covid

The Maldives is an excellent place to travel right now because tourists aren’t required to quarantine. However, it’s not quite as easy to get in as it once was. Here’s what you need to go to the Maldives: 

  • A negative PCR test. You have to take the test within 96 hours (4 days) of your first port of departure. For example, if your flight is at 9am on a Friday, the earliest you can take the test is 9am the previous Monday. Some clinics can guarantee your results within 48 hours, so it’s best to go with one of these to be on the safe side.

  • Hotel booking confirmation(s) for the duration of your stay.  

  • Traveler health declaration form – you can find this here. Once your form has been accepted, you’ll receive a QR code. Make sure you take a screenshot of this and/or print it out as you’ll need it to board your flight. You’ll need to do this when you leave the country, too.  
The overwater villas and jetty at the Pullman Maldives Maamutaa, one of the best luxury resorts in The Maldives
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The Flight 

I flew to the Maldives with Qatar Airways. As you’d expect, there were several safety measures in place. For one thing, it was much emptier than usual. In the economy section, most middle seats were unoccupied to ensure social distancing. 

Face masks were mandatory throughout the airport. From the boarding gate onwards, the airline required passengers to wear plastic face shields, too. At first, I didn’t realise that I needed to remove the protective film and spent a good few minutes wondering how I’d last the flight with such cloudy vision. 

Both types of mask had to be worn at all times, except for when eating and drinking. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought, although my ears eventually began to hurt. 

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Resort Safety Measures 

During my visit, it was very interesting to see how different resorts were handling the pandemic; there certainly wasn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. 

Pullman Maamutaa Maldives 

My first stop was the gorgeous Pullman Maamutaa resort. This resort didn’t test guests for Covid-19 on arrival. It was operating at around 50% capacity and since most guests spent the majority of their time in their spacious villas, this was definitely a socially distant stay. There were hand sanitizer stations all over the island with foot pump dispensers to minimize contact, which I thought was clever. 

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Isabella in a red suit laying on the edge of the pool at an overwater villa at the Pullman Maldives

Soneva Fushi 

At Soneva Fushi, masks were required when entering and leaving the property, but not for the rest of the stay. Guests must take a PCR test on arrival and then quarantine in their villas until the results come back. That’s no big sacrifice in this place, believe me. We were more than happy to stay within the bounds of our enormous villa. Once the PCR test comes back negative, it’s all plain sailing from there. We arrived in the evening and our results came through at 6am the following morning, so we were then free to enjoy the rest of our stay without a care in the world. 

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Soneva Fushi in The Maldives during covid

Emerald Maldives Resort & Spa 

At Emerald, you receive a finger prick test on arrival. Interestingly, this was both an antigen and antibody test, so it not only tells you whether you have the virus, but also whether or not you’ve already had it (I’m happy to say it was a negative on both counts for everyone in our party.) This test is much less invasive than having a cotton swab shoved up your nose, too. 

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Emerald Maldives presidential villa

If the test indicates you have the virus, the resort then conducts a PCR test and you must quarantine in your villa until you receive the results. If it’s positive, you have to quarantine for 14 days but so far, this hasn’t happened. 

There were also temperature checks at morning and evening meals, as well as hand sanitizer stations all over the island. The staff wear masks but for guests, it’s not necessary. The restaurants have also been set up in a socially distanced fashion, but so skillfully that I didn’t even realise! 

Eemrald Maldives cocktails
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Excursions 

Most activities and excursions were running as normal in the Maldives, except for trips to visit local islands. This was a little disappointing, but totally understandable. However, it was business as usual with jet skiing, dolphin-spotting and swimming with manta rays, so all was not lost. 

Emerald wine tasting
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Leaving The Maldives

Leaving is always the worst part of any Maldives trip! Before you leave the country, you must:

  • Fill out the traveler health declaration form again.
  • Take a PCR test if your next destination requires one. All of the resorts I stayed at were able to organise this service.
  • Ensure you’ve filled in the appropriate health declaration and/or passenger locator forms for your next destination, whether that’s home or another exotic locale.
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Overall 

For the most part, it was business as usual in the Maldives. I can’t tell you how refreshing that was after the insanity of 2020. It was bliss to visit a covid-free bubble and forget about the world for a while. In fact, I even met families who were waiting out the pandemic at the luxury resorts I visited, and what a way to do it, if you have the means. The Maldives is a paradiscal escape from reality – now more than ever. 

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