Seaplane transfer in Maldives
For getting to nearby resort from Male International Airport, resort will arrange speedboat transfer for visitor, speedboat transfer can be arrange anytime in a day, therefore you still can check in to your hotel even if you arrive at night.
However, for getting those further resorts, tourists will need to take seaplane to transfer to their resort, resort will help you to arrange this and seaplane transfer cost will be charged to your payment once you made reservation. However, seaplane transfer can only be arranged during daytime, so you might need to book a hotel in Male if your flight arrive late or depart early.
Our resort is Vilamendhoo, it is located at South Ari Atoll in Maldives, it is about 25 minutes travel time by seaplane. Actually, it was a good experience to travel with seaplane as we can view the atoll of Maldives from bird view through seaplane's glass.
Seaplane in Maldives is operated by Trans Maldivian (tma - www.tam.com.mv) and Maldivian Air Taxi (http://www.maldivianairtaxi.com) while we were arranged with Trans Maldivian, which is another domestic flight terminal from Maldives International Airport, they also provide transport between these two terminals by bus. Currently, I think domestic flight area is more attractive than international flight area, it might be different after 2014.
At seaplane transfer area, some resorts will provide lounge area for their customers, like our resort, else tourists will need to wait at waiting area but there is well equipped if compared with waiting area of international terminal. I pretty like the lounge from Vilamendhoo Island Resort it is comfortable and we can have a good view of seaplane parking area.
If you come to Maldives, you might consider to find a resort which need to access by seaplane so that you can view the atoll from plane, this is really a good experience though seaplane transfer cost is high, the ticket is more than our international flight from Penang to Maldives.
On the day when we go to our resort, seaplane people will distribute a pair of earplug for every passenger to isolate noise going into ear. And, we need to retain those earplug on your returning trip, so that it can be reused on the returning trip, else you won't get another pairs.
Before I came to Maldives, I kept asking my resort about my seaplane schedule but they told me it's only will be available on the day before departure, I didn't know why they only provided it at the last minute, isn't seaplane schedule are constant everyday? And after I was in Maldives, I realized that seaplane schedule is really not constant everyday, it keeps changing according to tourist's need, if there is no tourist check in or check out from certain resort, then there will no seaplane arrange to that area. Therefore, TMA will only arrange their schedule according to resort's booking a day before, in case if there is any last minute cancellation from resort's customer.
This really needs a good planner to fully utilize every seat in seaplane, therefore sometime a seaplane will stop at different stops to pick up or drop off passenger to/from different resorts. However, from what I observe during research for a resort, seaplane fare is not too much different for different traveling time. For example, a resort needs a 45 minutes to reach and a resort needs a 25 minutes to reach actually asking a similar seaplane fare.
However, for getting those further resorts, tourists will need to take seaplane to transfer to their resort, resort will help you to arrange this and seaplane transfer cost will be charged to your payment once you made reservation. However, seaplane transfer can only be arranged during daytime, so you might need to book a hotel in Male if your flight arrive late or depart early.
Our resort is Vilamendhoo, it is located at South Ari Atoll in Maldives, it is about 25 minutes travel time by seaplane. Actually, it was a good experience to travel with seaplane as we can view the atoll of Maldives from bird view through seaplane's glass.
Seaplane in Maldives is operated by Trans Maldivian (tma - www.tam.com.mv) and Maldivian Air Taxi (http://www.maldivianairtaxi.com) while we were arranged with Trans Maldivian, which is another domestic flight terminal from Maldives International Airport, they also provide transport between these two terminals by bus. Currently, I think domestic flight area is more attractive than international flight area, it might be different after 2014.
At seaplane transfer area, some resorts will provide lounge area for their customers, like our resort, else tourists will need to wait at waiting area but there is well equipped if compared with waiting area of international terminal. I pretty like the lounge from Vilamendhoo Island Resort it is comfortable and we can have a good view of seaplane parking area.
If you come to Maldives, you might consider to find a resort which need to access by seaplane so that you can view the atoll from plane, this is really a good experience though seaplane transfer cost is high, the ticket is more than our international flight from Penang to Maldives.
On the day when we go to our resort, seaplane people will distribute a pair of earplug for every passenger to isolate noise going into ear. And, we need to retain those earplug on your returning trip, so that it can be reused on the returning trip, else you won't get another pairs.
Before I came to Maldives, I kept asking my resort about my seaplane schedule but they told me it's only will be available on the day before departure, I didn't know why they only provided it at the last minute, isn't seaplane schedule are constant everyday? And after I was in Maldives, I realized that seaplane schedule is really not constant everyday, it keeps changing according to tourist's need, if there is no tourist check in or check out from certain resort, then there will no seaplane arrange to that area. Therefore, TMA will only arrange their schedule according to resort's booking a day before, in case if there is any last minute cancellation from resort's customer.
This really needs a good planner to fully utilize every seat in seaplane, therefore sometime a seaplane will stop at different stops to pick up or drop off passenger to/from different resorts. However, from what I observe during research for a resort, seaplane fare is not too much different for different traveling time. For example, a resort needs a 45 minutes to reach and a resort needs a 25 minutes to reach actually asking a similar seaplane fare.
View from seaplane - a resort near to our island
Our seaplane
View from seaplane
Our seaplane for back to Male :(
View from seaplane - Atoll in Maldives
View from seaplane - Atoll in Maldives
View from seaplane - beautiful Male
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