SAFE TOURISM GUIDELINES FOR THE GREATER MALE AREA

With guesthouses and hotels in the Greater Male’ area open for general tourism operations since the 14 December, 2020, we have provided below answers to some of the key questions you may have in regard to a stay in the capital area.

We hope this will assist you in planning your travel to the Maldives and also will aid you in understanding what to expect when you stay within the Greater Male area.

Updated 14 August 2022

WHERE IS GREATER MALE?

• Greater Male comprises Male, Hulhumale, Hulhule ( airport island) and Villimale.

WHO CAN STAY IN TOURIST GUESTHOUSES & HOTELS IN GREATER MALE?

• All tourists for transit stay and long stay.
• Expatriate work visa holders, for travel related quarantine and regular stay.
• Expatriates holding diplomatic visa, business visa or special visa.
• Maldivians including those who travel from islands for obtaining services in Greater Male area

• A COVID-19 Safe plan must be formulated by the tourist guest house or hotel. The Ministry of Tourism will assess the plan of each property before issuing a permit allowing the property to operate.
• All the facilities and services provided from the guesthouse must be within the HPA guidelines and all the staff must be aware of the health and safety plan.

Should you wish to understand the full requirements, details can be found here on our earlier post Maldives Guesthouses set to reopen – What do you need to know?

WHICH GUESTHOUSES & HOTELS HAVE BEEN APPROVED?

All approved properties within Greater Male and nationwide throughout the Maldives can be found here and is updated as newly approved properties are added.

Further information can be found in our blog Maldives Approved Local Island Guesthouses & Hotels

WHAT GUIDELINES DO I NEED TO FOLLOW?

• Face masks are no longer mandatory, however, masks will remain a requirement in the following situations:
  – where healthcare services are being provided.
  – where an island or region has a positivity rate higher than 20%
  – in crowded places such as throughout the airport, markets, when attending indoor events, on buses,     speedboats, ferries and taxis
  – masks remain highly recommended for high-risk individuals and symptomatic individuals.
• Tourists are not allowed to enter residential houses.
• Tourists should adhere to physical distancing measures and observe other recommended public health measures, such as regular hand washing, to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
• Tourists are recommended to use the contact tracing app “TraceEkee” to facilitate contact tracing.

WHAT SERVICES & AMENITIES CAN I USE?

All tourists including those in transit may use local amenities providing the standard HPA guidelines are followed which includes the number of persons allowed in store/cafe, the wearing of face masks and social distancing:

• Tourists are allowed to use public cafes and restaurants.
• Tourists are allowed to use shopping facilities.
• Tourists may use any taxi or other public transport option following the mandatory requirement to wear face masks.

WILL EXCURSIONS AND WATER ACTIVITIES BE AVAILABLE?

• Snorkeling, diving, water sports and excursions to sandbanks will be available with additional safety measures as laid out by the HPA.
• Visits to safari boats for short visits such as dinners are allowed providing the boat has received day visit approval from the Ministry of Tourism.
• All providers should ensure COVID-19 prevention measures such as wearing masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene are followed by tourists as well as crew.

CAN I SPLIT MY STAY BETWEEN GREATER MALE AND ANOTHER ISLAND OR BOAT?

Tourists can make a split stay between a guest house or hotel in Greater Male’ area and a tourist resort, vessel or another tourist guest house island under the following conditions:

• All split stays must be according to the split stay procedure set out by Ministry of Tourism.

DO I NEED TO TAKE A PCR TEST BEFORE ONWARD TRAVEL?

• No there is no mandatory PCR test requirement prior to departure from Maldives.
• Departure tourists who require pre-departure PCR testing as an immigration requirement of their destination country or airline, must obtain a negative PCR result prior to their departure from the resort or vessel or tourist guest house island and before arrival in Greater Male.

WHAT ARE THE GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF TRAVEL TO THE MALDIVES?

This article details all the current regulations you need to be aware of when travelling to the Maldives. We update as changes are made, so it would be good to bookmark: Up to Date Travel Advice for Travelling to the Maldives

We recommend that you also refer to the websites of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives for the most up to date information and to your own home Foreign Travel Advice, as part of your travel planning.

At Secret Paradise we have reviewed all our operational practices to ensure our guest’s comfort and safety.

Want to find out how you can experience the Maldives in a safe and secure way? Take a visit to our website and select from tours, cruises and accommodation.

The team at Secret Paradise have you covered. #LETUSGUIDEYOU