How We Visited Three Maldivian Islands In Two Weeks As A Family Of Three For Under £2500
Take it with you
A single self-contained file with the full guide, watermarked to you. Save it anywhere, open it in any browser, read it on a plane. Pay once, yours forever.
We're Bec, Oli & Jax, a family who chose to stop waiting and start living. In September 2025, we left the UK behind to travel full time as a family. Not on a gap year. Not on a short break. But properly, slowly, intentionally and together.
Like many families, we were doing what we were supposed to do: holidays squeezed into school breaks, trips planned for the weekend and a constant feeling that there had to be more than this. The traditional school system wasn't working for Jax, and it wasn't working for us either. We wanted freedom, flexibility, and the chance to actually experience the world, not just rush through it for two weeks at a time.
So we did the scary thing, we saved hard. We sold and stored our stuff. We took Jax out of school. And we hit the road.
Since then, we've travelled extensively through Morocco, spent two months in Thailand, and nearly three months exploring Sri Lanka, slow travelling our way through each country rather than just ticking off highlights. We’ve also spent weeks travelling The Maldives, India and Nepal and are currently slow travelling Malaysia.
These guides are built from everything we've learned along the way, visas, transport, costs, where to stay, what's actually worth doing, and what we'd skip next time. They're honest, practical, and designed to help you travel smarter, longer, and with less stress, whether you're coming for two weeks or two months.
If you're dreaming of seeing more of the world, especially with kids, we hope our experiences help make it easier for you to do the same.
What we actually spent and everything else you need to know before you book Guraidhoo, Maafushi or Gulhi with your family
By Bec, Oli & Jax - JaxFamilyTravels.com Travelled February / March 2026
The Maldives has a reputation for overwater bungalows, private butlers, and all-inclusive resorts where a cocktail by the pool costs more than a flight. That version exists. This guide is not about that version.
This is about local islands, the real inhabited islands of the Maldives where actual Maldivian families live, where the restaurants are small and the reefs are right off the beach. It costs a fraction of the resort experience and honestly, for us, it was better.
We spent two weeks across three islands in February and March with our son Jax, who was 8 at the time. We came from Sri Lanka, we stayed in guesthouses, we ate in local restaurants, we snorkelled every day, and we left having done one of the best trips we've done as a family. Total cost for the three of us including flights into Malé: £2,438.
But before we get into any of that, there's something important to understand about local island travel in the Maldives.
The Maldives is a 100% Muslim country and the local islands are Muslim communities. This isn't something to gloss over, it genuinely shapes the experience and you need to go in knowing what to expect.
There is no alcohol on local islands. None. If that's non-negotiable for you, local islands aren't your trip.
Away from the designated bikini beach, you cover up. That means shorts to the knee, no strappy tops, T-shirts. Women especially need to be dressed respectfully when walking around the island. Each island has one specific area, usually a small cordoned-off beach or section of beach, where swimwear is fine. Outside of that area, cover up before you've even dried off.
The local people largely kept to themselves. Don't expect a lot of interaction, you'd be lucky to get a hello from most people. That's not hostility, it's just how it is. Go in knowing that and it won't feel jarring.
Go with the reality of what these islands are rather than trying to fight it, and the experience is genuinely good. Fight it and you'll have a miserable time.
Pro tip
This is the most important decision you'll make for this trip, and most people either don't research it properly or just default to Maafushi because it's the most well-known. That's not necessarily wrong but it's not automatically right either.
Every island is different. Some are busier and more developed with more food and tour options. Some are tiny and quiet with almost nothing going on but a brilliant house reef. Some have better bikini beaches. The right one depends entirely on what you're actually there for.
A year of access to every premium blog post, every guide, and every adventure pack. £49.99, cancel any time.
Or buy just this guide as a one-off, £4.99 (coming soon).