Maldives Open July 15th with COVID Free For All

I have to say, I’m disappointed in the Maldives, my favorite vacation destination.

Originally, the Maldives was being TOO Cautious with COVID

At the end of May, it looked like the Maldives were going to require some rather insane things for you to go (See: The Maldives May Require 14 Day Minimum Stays and More… Would You Still Go?).

You would have been required to stay at least 14 days plus get tested before arrival and on arrival and there was an extra $100 visa charge to boot.

People rightfully panned this plan, especially the 14 day stay requirement as too onerous and too devastating to the resorts in the Maldives.

Then The Maldives were to remove the 14 Day Stay Requirement and $100 Visa – But Keep Testing

I’d spoken (via email) to two people inside the Maldivian government and on June 3rd published this article: Maldives Relaxes Rules: No 14 Day Stay Required.

I thought they had a solid plan in place which had no minimum stay requirement.

In that plan, the following provisions were still required:

• Proof of a Negative COVID-19 PCR test or Positive Antibody Test is still required
• Travel Insurance with COVID-19 provisions are required.
• Resorts are still required to acquire a “Save Tourism License” – through PPE, medical and safety facilities and requirements rather than an exorbitant fee.

The Maldives is not a great place to catch COVID:

Male has just two hospitals with a total of 470 beds (and that’s total, not ICU)  which could get overrun quickly. This is bad for visitors and it’s bad for resort employees (and, of course, citizens of the Maldives!)

And keep in mind that you’d need to take a seaplane from your resort to Male and then get to the hospital – it’s not a simple ambulance ride away!

The Current Maldives Reopening Plan: Wide Open

We have exciting news! Our borders are officially opening from 15 July. Here is what you need to know before traveling to #Maldives. pic.twitter.com/zU0XepMkUI

— VelanaAirport (@VelanaAirport) June 23, 2020

As you can see, the Maldives will be “open for business” from July 15th (pushed back from July 1st).

And as you can also see, there will be no testing required in advance nor on arrival.

On the one hand, with most people in their own villas in the Maldives, socially distancing will occur naturally. Yet there’s still bound to be transmission risk, certainly at meal times, and with such a contagious virus I think this is a fairly stupid plan.

It’s not hard to require a test <72 hours before arrival and/or a test on arrival where even if an infected person isn’t isolated awaiting results, you could immediately contact trace and test those they had contact with.

I’m still planning to go to the Maldives in December, but I sure hope this plan doesn’t turn out to be a disaster for them. And I’m glad I’ll have several months buffer to see how this shakes out as we won’t be heading there if they wind up with lots of cases.

Thoughts?

Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.

You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards. 

New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.