Maldives Travel Restrictions: What to Know Before Visiting

The Maldives reopened its borders to leisure travellers on 15 July 2020. All vaccinated and non-fully vaccinated foreign tourists are allowed to travel to Maldives. Here’s everything you should know about the Maldives travel restrictions. 

Also read: Italy Travel Restrictions: All You Need to Know to Plan Your Visit

Travellers allowed entry without quarantine

The Maldives welcomes everyone. In accordance with the updated Maldives travel restrictions, all foreign tourists travelling to the Maldives do not have to undergo quarantine. A negative COVID-19 PCR test result will also no longer be required to enter the country. However, non-leisure travellers are strongly advised to complete a PCR test between Day 3 and Day 5 after arrival.

While quarantine is not required, foreign travellers who have completed 14 days after being fully vaccinated must present proof of their vaccination as they will be allowed access to any accommodation on any inhabited island. Those who are not fully vaccinated may stay on select islands, to be discussed under “Arrival.” All necessary approvals for returning Maldivians and Work Permit Holders must be obtained via the HAALUBELUN portal.

Required pre-arrival documents for travel to the Maldives

Foreign tourists must prepare the following documents:

• A passport valid at least six months on entry with one blank visa page
• Maldivian Visas are issued upon arrival. Bring the following documents: proof of sufficient funds, proof of onward/return airline tickets, proof of hotel reservation, proof of a valid yellow fever certificate, and documents showing your travel purpose
• A completed Maldives Immigration Traveller Health Declaration form, submitted online 24 hours prior to arrival.

Singapore – Maldives VTL

Singapore currently maintains a Vaccinated Travel Lane with the Maldives (Changi to Male), which allows quarantine-free travel between the two countries. There are no special Maldives travel requirements for VTL travellers from Singapore.

However, you will have to take note of the requirements for VTL travellers going to Singapore. Click here to see which other countries have current or upcoming VTLs.

Arrival

All tourists will undergo non-intrusive temperature checks and screening upon arrival to the Maldives. You may also be chosen for random COVID-19 testing by Maldivian Health Authorities. This is for free and voluntary. 

COVID-19 testing upon arrival is not required. Only those who have COVID-19 symptoms, such as a temperature above 38 degrees celsius, coughing or sneezing, will be tested. Persons who have a history of contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days should not travel to the Maldives.

Tourists will also find physical distancing guidelines all around the airport, as well as hand sanitation and hygiene facilities.

Tourist guidelines

Foreign tourists must have a confirmed booking at any registered tourist facility before arriving in the Maldives. A representative from your chosen hotel or accommodation will meet you at the airport to assist you with airport transfer. There are also designated transit hotels in place. You are encouraged to download and use the national tracing app, TraceEkee, for the duration of your stay.

Those who have been inoculated with all prescribed doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to check-in at any guesthouse of any inhabited island of their choice.  

However, those who have not been fully inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine may stay in Tourist Guesthouses on local islands that have fulfilled the following requirements:

• At least 60% of the Tourist Guesthouse island population eligible for vaccination have completed their COVID-19 vaccination and 14 days have passed since.
• At least 95% of the staff in ALL tourist facilities of the Tourist Guesthouse island have completed their COVID-19 vaccination and 14 days have passed since.
• At least 90% of the resident population of the Tourist Guesthouse island, who are 65 years old and above, have completed their COVID-19 vaccination and 14 days have passed since.
• For updates about the list of accommodations that can permit tourist arrivals, click here. 

During the stay

Internal travel: what’s allowed and restricted

All tourists are required to wear face masks at the airport, during domestic travel in the Maldives, and in enclosed public spaces. You are also asked to maintain a three-foot distance between others outside of your contact bubble. Each hotel, resort, or guest house has access to medical services, stock of PPE, and a COVID-19 safety manager to help provide guests with the proper safety procedures in each establishment. Expect to go through temperature checks in hotels and other establishments as well. 

Foreign tourists are allowed to travel from one resort to another, from one guesthouse to another, from a resort to a tourist guest house and vice versa. Should you wish for inter-island travels or split stays, accomplish the following:

• Email the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) via [email protected] to acquire the necessary approval.
• If you have stayed for 48 hours or more in Greater Male, and want to go to a tourist guest house island or a safari, you must acquire a negative PCR test result (aside from the pre-arrival PCR test) prior to departing Greater Male. 
• If you are coming from a safari or a tourist resort and going to Greater Male, you do not need to do a PCR test prior to travelling to Greater Male.

Safaris are not allowed to accommodate overnight and regular stays. They are only allowed to operate within the day. They are also expected to follow COVID-19 preventive measures such as wearing of face masks, social distancing, and hand sanitising for both crew and visitors.  

Dine-in services in Greater Male are available until 11.30pm every day while shops are allowed to open up to 10pm nightly.

COVID-19 testing and quarantine while in the Maldives

What if someone feels unwell or shows possible COVID-19 symptoms?

Tourists who experience the following symptoms should notify their hotel:

• Fever
• Cough 
• Loss of taste or smell
• Mild vomiting and diarrhoea
• Runny nose or sore throat

Upon coordinating with their accommodation, they will be taken into a clinic for PCR testing and isolated in their hotel room until PCR testing is done and the results obtained. All approved accommodations in the Maldives have designated isolation rooms in case of COVID-19 positive cases. 

If the PCR test is negative, the tourist is free to leave isolation but should not enter any public place such as restaurants until after 48 hours of obtaining their result. 

What if someone tests positive for COVID-19?

If the tourist tests positive, MOT will coordinate with the patient’s guest house or hotel and arrange the patient’s transfer to a new isolation facility. The patient will then be treated for a second assessment. If after this, the patient only maintains mild symptoms with no high-risk conditions, the patient will continue to be treated in the isolation facility until recovery. However, if they exhibit severe illness after the second assessment, they will be transferred for hospitalisation. 

At the same time, the HPA will conduct contact tracing to identify all of the positive case’s close contacts who are all required to take RT-PCR tests after five days from the date of their last contact with the positive case. If the close contacts test positive but are only asymptomatic, they do not need to quarantine. However, if they are symptomatic, they will need to quarantine and only leave isolation upon a negative RT-PCR test result. 

All the approved accommodations in the Maldives have designated vehicle services to transport suspected COVID-19 cases. 

Return travel

The following tourists are required to undergo PCR testing prior to leaving the Maldives:

• Those who have stayed in a tourist guest house at any point during their Maldives trip. They are required to do the test 72 hours before departing the Maldives. 
• Those who are found to exhibit COVID-19 symptoms within the past 14 days during exit screening.
• Resorts and hotels have in-house medical staff to collect samples for PCR testing. Some PCR test rates range from US$150 to US$300 per person. Tourists can also book their own PCR tests online from different agencies. 

Also read: South Korea Travel Restrictions: What to Know Before Visiting

For efficient contact tracing, tourists are expected to be responsible enough to notify their Maldives accommodation should they test positive for COVID-19 upon returning to their country. As the general rule of thumb among the Maldives travel restrictions, always practice good hygiene at any point during your stay, whether on arrival or departure. The Maldives is officially open for tourism but stay safe!

Start planning your trip to the Maldives today or check out the travel requirements of other popular destinations.

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Featured image credit: Rayyu Maldives photographer | Unsplash