Maldives - Maldivian Rufiyaa - Currency Guide

MVR News, Forecasts and Trends

Travel, Currency and Money saving tips for Maldives

The Maldives is made up of around 1,190 individual islands, peppered across the Indian Ocean, just below India and Sri Lanka. Some are so small that you'll have to zoom way in on your Google map before you even notice they're there. Out of all the islands within 26 different atolls (or collections of islands), only about 200 are actually inhabited by people. These include islands with year-round, permanent populations living in the likes of farming towns and fishing villages. Uninhabited islands are used for farmland or industry, or as "picnic" islands for resorts, which tourists can visit for the day for private, romantic meals.

Getting around in the Maldives.

The Maldives’ atolls are served by a series of ferries from Malé. They run on opposite days (to Maafushi on Monday, back to Malé on Tuesday) and rarely on Friday (it being the Muslim sabbath). You can jump from Malé to an atoll’s capital island then to smaller, nearby islands in the chain. The ferry is only 30-75 MVR depending on distance. Research the ferries beforehand so you know when and where you can go next. Island hopping is very difficult without planning.

Travel tips for the Maldives.

The only other country in the entire world with a 100-percent Muslim population is Saudi Arabia. This is good to know when planning your trip, since during the month-long holy fasting of Ramadan, most of the local staff you'll be encountering at the airport and resorts will be unable to eat or drink anything during daylight hours and many shops and services, including on resort islands,will be closed at certain times for prayer. Since the Maldives is a Muslim country, there are a few extremely important and strictly enforced rules that you may not know exist. For example, there is no alcohol available, strict Muslims aren't even allowed to touch anything that contains alcohol. Homosexuality is also highly frowned upon and illegal. Women are barred from wearing bathings suits or revealing clothing (i.e. nothing revealing the elbows, shoulders, or knees), there are no pork products, and public displays of affection, even just quick kisses, are agains the law.

Travel money for Maldives

Save money and time by Ordering your Maldivian Rufiyaa online from Travelex, you get better rates and can pick up the MVR cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.

Another popular option is to use a Pre-paid Travel Card. Your Debit/Credit Card provider will charge you 2% from market mid-rate, but your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash.

For card purchases if offered a choice of currencies always select to Pay in Maldivian Rufiyaa otherwise you may get much worst exchange rates.

Send Money to Maldives - Best Rates

To get a good (and fair) exchange rate when sending money to Maldives you need to find and compare exchange rates for International Money Transfers (IMTs).

The available FX rates for sending money abroad can be very different to the mid-market (wholesale) rate which you see reported online and in the News.

You should especially compare your own bank's exchange rates to those available from Money Transfer specialists to see how much you can save - we make that calculation easy in the below table.

Get a better deal for foreign transfers to Maldives

When sending money to Maldives it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers. To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :

1. Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
2. You specify the local or Maldivian Rufiyaa amount you want to transfer
3. Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
4. Once your funds are received by the provider the converted MVR amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in Maldives.

Use the above Send to Maldivian Rufiyaa calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more - end result is more Maldivian Rufiyaa deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!