Asia - Sri Lanka and the Maldives

I will have 5 days in the area. For those who have been there, would you suggest all the time in one or the other, or a bit in each? I am inclined to do all in the Maldives. Cost considerations are an issue, and I generally budget about $40 - $50 a day.

Thanks.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Darren:
Cost considerations are an issue, and I generally budget about $40 - $50 a day.
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I have a near term wish to go to the Maldives. After reading various hotel reviews on the Maldives, the hotels I've read about (Ritz, Hilton) are much more than your budget. Curious, does your budget include the airfare to get to the Maldives? Again, from what I have gathered that is another $300 roundtrip.

I wish you luck in your budget search! if you come up w/anything, please post as my wish may come sooner than I expected.

It doesn't include my airfare, which is $150 from Colombo in coach or a bit under $200 in biz on Air Lanka or Emirates. As far as the hotel, I don't think I have ever stayed in a Ritz, and the only reason I have recently stayed in a few Hyatts is because of the promo, which will come in very (very) handy. My usual taste and speed is to stay in someone's spare bedroom. My only real requirement is that I like the bathroom to be en suite, though I have stayed in places where it wasn't.

I was in Sri Lanka / Maldives 2 years ago, and would recommend staying in Sri Lanka if you need to be anywhere near your budget.

The Maldives allow tourists only on the resort islands, which are expensive (bottle water USD3, for instance) - only place you could stay cheap is Male, the capital, but you're not supposed to stay there, so not sure how easy it would be http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/frown.gif

Sri Lanka is lovely, plenty to see, great beaches, and much much cheaper - should be no problem keeping to $40-50 per day, with reasonable accomadation and good food.

hth
Stewart

I love islands, and I can go back to the Maldives when I have a decent income. That is the conclusion I have come to. Actually, the Hilton has a good rate of $95 a night for a regular room, up to about $600 for a deluxe room. I could deal with the $95 a night. Problem is that it's $200 to get to the Maldives, $150 to get to Male, and $220 to get the the Ari atoll (where the Hilton is). So I am looking at really close to a grand to go for 4 nights. Too rich for my blood. Oh well. But I did get my guide to Sri Lanka (woo hoo!), and I am getting excited as I read through it. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif