In a post-pandemic world, little islands are perhaps the safest places to begin your return to leisure tourism. We cannot think of a better country than The Maldives for a carefree and fun holiday. Besides enjoying the clean and crisp air, the pristine white sand beaches and the turquoise coral lagoons, you can also try Maldives local food tours to soak in the island vibes.

Maldives is located south-west of India in the Indian Ocean. Arriving into The Maldives is quite straightforward as most international flights land at the Malé International Airport, located in a tiny island of its own. You can easily catch a ferry, a speedboat, an internal connecting flight or a seaplane to your onward private or public island where you have booked your Maldives tour package. This Asian archipelago is made up of 1,200 small islands approximately, so there is a lot to explore.

Among most of Maldives’ half day tours, food tours are best suited to connoisseurs and big eaters. It is surprising how much you can learn about a country just through its food. Every single spice, for example, traces its roots back to different parts of the world, revealing any island’s international trade relations and social influence. The ingredients and meal choices say a lot about Maldives’ history and culture.

The Maldives local food tour is conducted 5 days of the week from Sunday to Thursday. This tour is not available on Friday and Saturday’s unless specified otherwise. The tour begins at 11:00 AM, just after the breakfast. This culinary experience will finish approximately by 3:00 PM. You can also wrap up any conversations you might have with the Maldivian host family.

The tour fee is USD 100 per head for each adult. Travelling with children? We offer preferential rates for your little ones! Toddlers under the age of 5 can come along without any additional charge at all, whereas children between the ages of 6 and 12 years are charged just half the adult tour price, which is USD 50 per child.

The local food tour fee includes all of the local Maldivian taxes, and there is no need to pay additional amounts. A 16% GST and an extra 10% service charge are added to the basic price of the tour. The ticket charge is inclusive of the cost of the local lunch, the accompanying English speaking guide.

Maldives Local Food Tour Experience

You must have heard of various experiences in The Maldives such as sunset watching, cruising in a luxury yacht, private dolphin sighting, snorkeling tours, sandbank dinner dates, stingray feeding, and more. Nevertheless, a foodie’s delight is always something that has to do with a large spread of delicious goodies. It does not matter what Maldives vacation package you have chosen, you can always add on a local food tour to it. Discover the details here:

Customized Pickup

The Maldives local food tour begins with our local representative personally meeting you to collect you from your Jetty 5 opposite Bank of Ceylon, in Malé – capital city of The Maldives or Hulhumalé close by. The person who greets you will also be your Maldivian tour guide to assist you with any questions you might have about the local host family or the food being served.

If you happen to stay in Maldives’ resorts on water in a private island, we can also arrange a personalized collection from a cruise tender jetty. This exclusive service comes at an extra cost and needs to be intimated prior to the tour date. We request that you speak to your private resort to permit our speedboat to enter their waters or dock on their isle.

Visit a Local Home in a Public Island

The most unique part of this experience is being taken to meet a local Maldivian family that lives in one of the 200 public islands of this country. Your food tour guide will tell you about the local ethos and cultural norms that are followed by the villagers or city dwellers in the area that you will be taken to.

It is important to understand that all Maldivians, without exception, follow the religion of Islam as they are mandated by the State law to be Muslim. If a foreigner wishes to become a citizen of The Maldives, he or she will have to convert into a Muslim before they attain citizenship. All of the Islamic rules are followed to the T here, and it is expected at tourists respect the local traditions and avoid doing anything against Islam.

In general, you should be careful about how you dress. Both men and women must wear conservative clothing that covers their torso and shoulders, and reaches below their knees. Additionally, your outfit must not be made of sheer fabric, to maintain your modesty.

It may happen that you are joining in straight from your Maldives water villa where bikinis and other western beachwear are allowed. In that case, take care to bring along extra clothes that you can wear before you step onto the public island, which is rather conservative.

Overall, you will find the Maldivians quite warm and friendly, even though they might come across as a little shy at the beginning. Try to gently strike up a conversation with them by asking them about their traditions, beliefs, cooking styles and favourite food.

It is not necessary to know Dhivehi – local language of The Maldives, although it will greatly help to break the ice or to quicken the pace of the conversations. Our local tour guide will readily translate your English phrases into Dhivehi, assisting you with the talks.

If the host family is willing, they might even give you a home tour to see how their quarters are designed. Pay attention to the Islamic architecture, the simple living and traditional artefacts that are designed by local artists, sculptors or talented members of the family itself.

Traditional Maldivian Lunch

The next part of this tour is the one that you have been waiting for – the elaborate lunch! A traditional Maldivian meal mainly consists of carbohydrates in the form of steam rice or flavoured rice, such as biryani, and a hand-rolled, soft, flatbread called ‘roshi’. The roshi dough is sometimes stuffed with coconut, resulting in ‘huni roshi’. A variation with fish is also made – ‘mas huni’.

Maldivians love their seafood, and the meals are heavy on fish or meats such as lamb, mutton or chicken. However, in case you are vegetarian, the local lunch experience can be customized to take care of your dietary restrictions. There are legumes and a plethora of tropical vegetable preparations that you can relish.

Maldivian food tends to be on the spicier side as fragrant South Asian condiments and chillies are used to season the curries, meats and dips. If you are sensitive to spicy food or have any stomach ailments that prevent you from consuming heat-inducing items, let us know in advance. The local family will try to serve you milder or spice-free variations of the authentic dishes.

Coffee at a Local Café

The last leg of this tour involves relaxing on the beach and sipping on coffee from a local beachside café. The small shacks that offer open-air dining have many kinds of indigenous snacks that you can order (if at all you can eat any more after the lavish lunch).

Maldives’ weather is sunny and pleasant almost throughout the year, so plan your holiday as per your convenience. After being on the Maldives local food tour, you will have more reasons to explore the country deeper, through public island hopping tours.