If you want a cheap but pleasant vacation on the white beaches of the Maldives, come to the local island of Toddoo. Read our review and useful tips for your vacation: a lot of photos and valuable information.
What does Toddoo Island look like?
Toddoo is a local island in the Maldives. There are no resorts here, but there are several dozen small guest houses for tourists and two excellent beaches. You can relax on this island at a very low cost! For 9 days of rest on three islands, we spent only $ 700 for two.
Toddoo is a plantation island: the locals grow fruits and some vegetables. Above the plantations, cute flying foxes float and feed on fruits. The island is located in the North Ari Atoll, its dimensions are approximately 1 km by 2 km.
The locals live quite poorly, the houses are modest and ugly. There are wastelands, abandoned dumps and dumps. New hotels are being built. From the infrastructure - a hospital, supermarkets, shops, a bank, guest houses, restaurants and dive centers.
Our review of Toddoo Island
Why Maldivian Anapa? Sea, sun, beach, budget holidays and ... 80% of tourists on the island are Russian-speaking families with children and companies. Do not expect solitude and silence on the main beach. Squeaks, squeals, bursts and floundering, lisping with babies, music from bluetooth speakers, "You-where-you-went-I-said-you can't go there" and all that, you know? Feels more like a beach in Anapa or Crimea, not the Maldives. Perhaps we were so "lucky", and at other times it is not at all like that.
Of course, all these horrors that are happening in the Russian south are not here, but you do not feel yourself on the paradise islands. For relaxation and tranquility, head to the new secluded bikini beach in the east of Toddoo, which almost no one visits. It's really great there!
Reviews of Toddoo Island are excellent. The beaches with white sand, as elsewhere in the Maldives, are first-class, the water is azure and clear, there are many fish - everything is like in the pictures in a travel agency. Feel free to come to Todda, especially with children - the child will definitely find friends here.
Beaches on Toddoo
On Toddoo Island, as elsewhere in the Maldives, tourists are allowed to swim and strip naked only on bikini beaches. In other places you need to go dressed, including on the beach for locals.
There are two bikini beaches on Toddoo - the main one in the west of the island and a new small beach in the east.
Big beach
It is gorgeous: white-white fine sand, sandy bottom, quite deep at once. The beach is unusually clean. There are almost no debris of coral, and you can safely swim and walk without fear of stepping on something alive or dead. There are also gorgeous sunsets!
Locals have cleared thickets for tourists and equipped a recreation area: many hammocks, sun loungers and just places in the shade of palm trees and bushes. There is even a shower and toilet! The undergrowth walkways to the beach are also nicely designed and cleaned.
From the center of the island, walk to the beach for about 15-20 minutes past the plantations. It scares some, but we liked it - it is interesting to watch the workers, watch the papayas grow, watch the lizards and flying foxes.
On the downside, almost all tourists hang out here. And almost all of them are Russian-speaking families with children. Tense mothers shout at children, so there is no talk of privacy and relaxation. However, this is a minor minus, and you can close your eyes and ears to it. Maybe we were so unlucky.
By the way, one more disadvantage - tourists like to take loungers and hammocks with towels, and then leave. Especially discerning ones take their places from the night or do not take away towels at all while they are resting on the island. Yes, yes, and there are such specimens, we saw them ourselves.
Photos of the main bikini beach on Toddoo Island:
New beach
It is quite small, 100 meters, but we liked much more than the old beach due to the silence and seclusion. From the road, following the guest beach sign, you dive into the romantic jungle, walk past an abandoned boat and boat, and go to the beach.
There is a swing in the water for photo shoots. There is a lot of shade under the palm trees, there are hammocks and seats. Here you feel like in the Maldives: you swing in a hammock, read a book, relax, and there is almost no one around. We advise you to meet sunrises on this beach - in the morning we were the only ones on the beach!
The beach itself, in comparison with the main one, loses in many respects. Although it is cleaned daily, there is a lot of coral debris and debris, even glass. Garbage is not cleaned very conscientiously - sometimes they can simply be shoveled under the bushes. The dead reef comes almost to the shore, and entry into the water is comfortable only on the left side of the beach.
Photos of the new bikini beach on Toddoo Island:
Toddoo Island Hotels
Look for hotels with discounts on Rumguru. Here are the main rules for finding hotels.
Hotels cost from $ 60 per night for two - with a private bathroom, air conditioning, refrigerator, breakfast included and all taxes... The price-performance ratio is good, but the same level of hotel in SEA can be found for about $ 20.
We stayed at the Sunrise Inn for $ 50 per night. Recommended! Spacious, very clean, there is everything you need. Breakfasts are included. It is profitable to buy lunches and dinners in the guest house for $ 10 per person - it is cheaper and tastier than in restaurants. Great reef fish and tuna! The hotel is within walking distance of a new little bikini beach with almost no people. But to the main beach you have to walk about 15 minutes across the entire island.
How to save money. You can book the hotel directly and get a discount (we paid $ 10 less per day), but get ready to text in English for a long time. In addition, not all hotels respond to emails. When booking directly, be careful - it may turn out that you have not booked anything, and other people live in your room. Such stories were read on the Internet, so it is more reliable through Rumguru. Another option is to book for 1-2 nights and see what's going on. Then renew it if you like it. It's risky too - during the high season, someone might book your room while you're thinking.
Where to eat on Toddoo Island
I didn't like the food in the restaurants. We went to three establishments - tourist, hotel and for locals:
- Seli-Poeli. It seems that the reviews were normal, but they brought us two pseudo-curries and a tasteless mango juice - all for $ 15. Then there were stomach problems, so we didn't go anymore. Not recommended!
- Moon coffee next to our hotel. Juices - 20-30 rufiyaa, milkshake with fruit - 45 rufiyaa, rice / noodles / cottu - 35-60 rufiyaa, local sweets - 3 rufiyaa apiece. Rice looked as if someone had chewed it before us, so all subsequent times they ordered only juices and sweets. On average, they left 85 rufiyaa for two and gorged on.
- Restaurant in our Sunrise Inn hotel. Dinner costs $ 10 per person. Usually it is a large bowl of rice, sauce, herbs, large barbecue fish (1-2 pieces), soup, water and powdered juice.
The most popular and highest quality restaurant, according to reviews on TripAdvisor - Black anchor... We didn't go there because it was expensive.
Advice:
- If your hotel cooks well and inexpensively, eat there - it's safer and tastier.
- Try local sweets at Moon Coffee near the main mosque - hearty and delicious. They can replace breakfast or lunch, because in the heat you don't feel like eating.
Logistics is not easy. There are several ways to get from Male to Toddu Island:
Advice: Always check with your hotel owner for ferry and boat schedules - they change frequently. For example, we planned a trip based on a timetable from the Internet, but it turned out that it has changed. You can also negotiate a transfer with the owner of the hotel and ask for a discount. Remember Friday is a day off.
