Originally Posted by
passionforhotels
You could take the public ferry to Mandhoo (I think that's about an 8 hour ride in an open-sided dhoni with no facilities on board but only costs a few dollars per person)
If there have been some recent and drastic changes to the laws in the Maldives, please accept my apologies, but first, let me ask you this question: how does a non-Maldivian (without a work visa for a property at the destination he is looking to travel to) buy a ticket on a ferry? Online services, for example, don't allow for it and that's because foreigners are not allowed to buy tickets by themselves nor travel to islands by ferry without a valid reservation at the destination. So, since @
s879 isn't able to buy tickets without a reservation, he must waste a whole day and has to stay at a 2-star hole
before and after his 5-star stay at Rangali. That would add 2 nights onto his itinerary. Yeah, good idea.
Originally Posted by
passionforhotels
then ask Conrad to pick you up from there. As Mandhoo is close, they may do it free of charge or for not a huge amount. However, I think that trip would be everyone's idea of hell, even if it would save you around $1,800.
Laughable to suggest they would pick you up free of charge! And I'm afraid it shows you have absolutely no idea how things work in the country. As for a
not-huge-amount, and
*cough* saving a massive $1800
*cough*, take this as an example: Mirihi is a stone's throw away at only 5km but the speedboat there is a whopping
$370 per person and that's
one way. And, need I point out, that
$370 is more than a one-way journey on the seaplane per person.....and
Mandhoo is 3km further away than Mirihi.
Originally Posted by
passionforhotels
A marginally more serious suggestion would be to book a night in a nearby guesthouse, who could arrange cheaper domestic flight transfers
Um.....how much are these
cheaper airfares exactly? Care to provide figures?
Originally Posted by
passionforhotels
but then you've still got to pay for the boat to take you to Rangali.
Yeah, well we covered that one already.
Originally Posted by
passionforhotels
And really, do you want to spend your first night in paradise in a guesthouse?
Correction:
"first and last night"
So basically you've posted suggestions that are not possible, completely unrealistic and with absolutely no prices to back up what you say bar that of the $8 ferry which @
s879 will not be able to take unless he stays in a guesthouse on Mandhoo (or Maamigili or wherever). Of course that's completely pointless as he and his family will have wasted 2 days and 2 nights, wasted the money for the guesthouse and the transfer from there to Rangali will be more than what it is for the seaplane.
The facts are simple.....
1a. transportation to resorts for tourists in the Maldives is a monopoly
1b. a resort will make speedboat-only transportation for arriving and departing guests equal to or greater than the cost of the seaplane (and pocket any difference should there be any)
2. try to get to Rangali and save money is a big waste of time