Guesthouses are good and low budget alternatives to resorts in Maldives today.  We have served quite a few customers with Guesthouse package to our fishing charter services.  Guesthouses can be as low as, or lower than 50 USD per night per person.  On the other hand, Resorts are anything from 4-500 USD or more; Water Villa may be from 1,000 USD upward.

Let us be realistic.  We fishermen go out on sea from 7 or 8am until sunset.  We cast 3-400 times of 150g lures and fighting with 30-50kg giant fishes all day under brutal sun without shadow.  If I do that 7 days straight, I am exhausted.  Then what do we expect after fishing at night until next morning we go back to fishing?  Nice shower, simple but energizing meal, and good sleep.  I personally cannot drink any alchohol during my fishing expedition even though other times I finish a bottle of red wine by myself every day.  Question then is do we want to pay 600 USD per night plus expensive meal at luxary restaurant at resort?  Probably No. 

If you come with family or honeymoon, Sure!

Guesthouses in Maldives are mostly new and clean while at home hospitality that I like while being exposed to the local life.  We have a selection of local restaurants with local cuisins for a few dollars.

One issue for some people maybe that alchohol is not allowed outside of resort hotels.  Guesthouses thus do not serve alchohol.  However, there are some solutions like visiting nearby resort hotels.

There are several locations we can find guesthouses:

1. Hulehumale - Airport Island
It is ideal for transit before next morning domestic flight or seaplane move, or speedboat to Ari or Rasdhoo Atoll.  Only 5-10 minutes car ride after long interntional night arrival flights.  Male City, on the other hand, there are some hotels available but rather rated a bit high especially at high season.  Boat transportation though it is close is a bit troubling and clouded.  Some people stay in Hulehumale throughout the whole tour which is the most budget way to fishing.  As other blog contents say, we can do a lot of good fishing  in North and South Male; Hulehumale is good base location to do that.  If you feel like occasional drink, you can always to to airport hotel Hulehule by taxi for 5 minutes!

2. Maafushi Island in South Male Atoll
Another popular destinations that you can transport after night arrival by speedboat.  A lot of local life flavour with culture.  Many guesthouses are available.  Speedboat takes you there within 30 min or less if ocean is not rough.  Many restaurants available also.  Some guesthouses are facing the beach.  As also mentioned in other blog contents, perhaps you can try Shore Fishing which no resorts allow such.  Some hundred of dollars are required for speedboat transfer unless you take public ferry transportation that takes hours.

3. Rasdhoo Atoll
Rasdhoo is an atoll located on the north of Ari Atoll.  Most of Ari resorts require seaplane transfer but it is only one hour speedboat transfer.  Problem of seaplane or airtaxi is that you never know what time till the day before and always not most preferred or convenient time that limits your fishing time.  We can take our speedboat in the morning after transit night at Hulehumale guesthouse.  (We do not go during the night).  This Rasdhoo Guesthouse is the ideal base for Ari, and you can extend your coverage up to Baa Atoll with extra fuel.  We had several over 50kg GTs last year.  Please check other blog contents specific to those areas.

4. Vaavu Atoll also has a guesthouse.

5. Gaafu Dhaalu, Gaafu Alif, Noonu atolls all have guesthouses.  Today we are serving Italian anglers going to Lhaviyani.  Lhaviyani has not guesthouses so that we arranged Home Stay with our home's guestrooms while offering half board services with home cooking!  Anway we have a pretty comprehensive list of guesthouses and low budget resorts.  Please inquire anytime!

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Dhoni Fishing Safari has been a popular GT fishing method for over a decade in Maldives.  In fact, it was Only Way till we launched our Speedboat into GT fishing in Maldives.  During the high season from November to March, our Dhoni Hariyana is 100% booked; this is how popular it is.

Fishing from Sun Rise to Sun Set, bottomfishing at night, Full Board with plenty of drinks (Dhoni is considered as "Resort" so alchol drinks are allowed), party with you friends up to 10-12 on board, Fishing Safari on Dhoni has own ways of fun and luxuary.  If you have 6-10 pax, per person cost becomes very reasonable that is another advantage!

Dhoni has its disadvantage also that speed is only up to 9 knot so that coverage everyday can be very small.  For example, it takes over 3.5 hours from Male to Rasdhoo Atoll to transport by Hariyana (faster than some other dhonis, by the way), while speedboat can be there in 30-45 minutes.  Approach to the point can be not so delicate as its big body and speed so that fishermen may often face strong winds against while speedboat can easily go to the head of wind in a minute or two and distance to the pin-point to cast, you can very carefully navigate in details.

Fishing safari can be some good family vacation also.  Every year we receive some nice family with kids to charter Hariyana for a week or weeks to go around Maldives for different atolls.  Fishing, Surfing, Diving, you can do it all.

Speedboat, on the other hand, has its own limitations as well.  Petro consumption is so unbelivable.  Last customers in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll daily consumed 300 litters a day!  Now gas price is about 1.3 USD per litter.  You do the mass and find out how expensive that gets.  We usually do within 150 litters or less to cover quite large area.  You can still choose to run so fast like dring over 250km/hr on highway with your sports car that consumes your gas more than twice for the same distance, right?!  Another limitation is the size.  Size is ideal but limit the number of fishermen.  2-3 is the best comfort.  1 seems a bit too spoilt.  4 is tight but possible.  5 - need to take turn.  This is our experience with 32ft Magic Life speedboat. 

After we have operated our operation as GT Fishers Maldives to mainly market and introduce our superior services to the market for a year now, we are receiving new types of interests.  4-8 days of bundle fishing trip between Dhoni Hariyana and Speedboat Magic Life.  The idea is to take the advantages of both worlds.  Have 6-8 fishermen make group and travel with Dhoni for 4-8 days around different atolls.  3-4 people take turn for taking speedboat while the rest fish from mother boat of Dhoni.  At the end of the day, come back to dhoni to party over dinner and drink then sleep, or fish at night also.  This way, per person cost is very resonable and you can cover large areas and differnet atolls.  Speedboat will not spend as much gas as it needs not go back to the same resort/guesthouse but moving mother boat; usually dhoni follow the speedboat and catch up by the end of each day while speedboat approaches different points around the new areas and destination.  If between Atoll channel, Dhoni can transport during the night so that morning you can fish in new atoll as soon as sun rises. 

Some interesting fact I have learned: why 4-8 days - so different.  It is chracteristics of nationality.  European fishermen tend to be very savvy with budget while taking many days for holiday to enjoy long fishing vacation.  On the other hand, Japanese fishermen working in corporations have hard time taking long holidays so that most common vacation journey is 6 days; 2 days for travel and 4 days of fishing.  If you think carefully, it makes very little sense that if you take 6 days vacation including 2 day weekend .... -- if you take one more day of paid vacation then you can streatch your vacation for 9 days, from one weekend starting on Saturday to next weekend's Sunday.  However, it is cultural behavior that Japanese feel inplicit pressure not to take vacation more than a week.  If you are gone over one entire week, there is no place for you to come back to in your work and company!  Practically 1 business day should not matter like that unless some peak time that you would not take any vacation to begin with.  Well what can I say, it is the way it is.  Living in Japan myself for a while and do not care for such while surviving,. I cannot change the behavior of 130 million other people living there.  It is not so related to fishing but thought worth sharing for just interesting fact.  Europeans are much more practical and pragmatic that all Japanese respect and envy!!

Another intereting fact I have learned about Maldives is that most of owners of Dhonis are all from Kurendhoo - Eastern region of Lhaviyani Atoll.  GT Fishers Maldives Partner Hameed and Captain Mohamed are both from Kurendhoo also.  So if you see other Dhoni in port or sea, we definitely know who own and work in those dhonis.  They are either family or friends from neighbors.  So if we run out of ice or drinks (or beer?!), we can just ask our friends in Dhoni to share with us!  We are very friendly people and know everyone!

Anyway, Hariyana just completed Full Renovation last November for this high season!  Looking good, right?!

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Some experienced GT Fishermen like to raise their own hardle. 

Shore GT Fishing - This is one form of art not everyone is equipped to succeed.

Well known Fisherman from Japan came to Maldives after many years and tried Shore GT Fishing, just a few minutes walk from the guesthouse he and his pals were staying.

In Maldives, there are many resorts - one island one resort.  All have strict regulations - Absolutely No Fishing Allowed at the Island.

Today, there are a number of cheaper guesthouses are available in local residential islands.  Most of those resident islands have no such regulations and you are free to go fishing at your own risk.  Compared to Offshore Boat Fishing with lack of mobility from point to next, Shore GT Fishing is definitely disadvantageous and less probably - that makes Shore Fishing very dramatic if you score one like this!!

Especially remote atolls such as Gaafu Dhaalu/ Alif Atolls, I do not think anyone has ever tried till just last week...

Well Photos speak more than million words!

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We have extensive list of guesthouses we can arrange booking.  So who will catch next monster GTs from the Shore?!

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