Alcohol in the Maldives: Is Import Permitted and Other Nuances

You can't bring alcohol to the Maldives, and it's almost impossible to buy it. The exception is private resorts, where you can find everything. But the prices for a champagne holiday in the Maldives are high: in our article you will find everything about alcohol in this country.

Pictures of the paradise Maldives do not give the slightest hint that the Maldives is a Muslim country and Sharia law is practiced here. Many tourists, going on a dream trip, do not even suspect about alcohol restrictions.

 The island nation has banned alcohol consumption for everyone except tourists. But you can only enjoy a glass of alcoholic drink at resorts. They have a special license. Outside the island resorts, any alcohol is prohibited.

Vakkaru Maldives

Importing Alcohol to the Maldives: Rules

There is a complete ban on importing alcohol in the Maldives. Duty-free purchases are no exception: they are confiscated upon arrival. It is funny that tourists can easily buy alcohol in Duty-free on the way back when they fly out of the country. But this cannot be done upon arrival.

 Due to the strict rules, you should be prepared for an equally strict inspection when passing through customs.

• When your luggage is unloaded from the plane, it is scanned. If the X-ray shows bottles, a red sticker will be placed on the suitcase. Sometimes there can be many of these stickers. This means that you will be sent for manual baggage inspection.
• Experienced travelers advise quietly removing such stickers when you take your suitcase from the baggage belt. But this is at your own risk.
• Since 2023, even in the green corridor at the airport exit, an additional baggage scanner has been installed. Bags of passengers who have not previously received a red mark are randomly sent to it. Passengers from the CIS and European countries are treated with particular bias. Flights from Malaysia and Muslim countries are practically not checked.
• If alcohol is found, it will be taken to a storage room, and the tourist will be given a receipt. The alcohol can be picked up on the way back, having paid for the storage room.

Tourists who do not want to deny themselves the alcoholic joys of life during their vacation will resort to all sorts of tricks. Understanding that glass bottles will definitely not pass inspection, they come up with original ways to carry alcohol. They pour alcohol into bottles instead of shower products and shampoos, micellar water, and pump oranges with it. You can even find instructions on the Internet on how to pour alcohol into wine bags and take it to the Maldives.

Since customs officers have already learned all the ways to smuggle alcohol, do not be surprised if you are asked to open anything that contains liquid. Keep in mind that if you try to smuggle alcohol, you may get a fine.

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What You Need to Know About Alcohol in the Maldives

• You can drink alcohol only in two places: on the resort islands and on special boats, which we will tell you about below.
• Resorts receive a special license to import alcohol, so there are no restrictions. You can drink any alcohol.
• Drinking and storing alcohol outside a resort in the Maldives can get you arrested and even deported. And these aren’t empty threats. In May 2023, authorities arrested and detained three Indians for several days after they were carrying 23 bottles of alcohol on a bus. Locals can face much harsher penalties. If you buy alcohol at a resort, drink it or leave it there to avoid trouble.
• It is forbidden to appear in a public place in a state of alcohol intoxication. This can also lead to arrest.

Sun Siyam Iru Fushi Maldives

Alcohol on the resort islands

Resort islands are allowed to sell alcohol so as not to limit the comfort of tourists. As a rule, alcohol is not included in the tourist package. Perhaps a welcome bottle of champagne and a glass of wine with dinner, depending on the resort.

• Drinks can be purchased at the hotel for an extra fee. But it is not cheap.
• If you are planning a vacation without restrictions, you should take a closer look at the all-inclusive package. Such a trip will cost $200 - 500 more than a regular one, but it can save your entire vacation.
• The "all inclusive" system may include an unlimited number of cocktails, as well as whiskey, vodka, and cognac. Naturally, the more expensive the hotel, the higher quality alcohol offered to guests. In most cases, elite drinks and champagne will not be included in this package. But you will still get great savings, because a bottle of strong alcohol costs from $100.
• Hotels practice the so-called happy hour, when alcohol is discounted. At this time, the bars are filled with visitors. Many visitors choose a boarding house and flock to the bars during happy hour for a discount on drinks.

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Buying Alcohol on Local Islands of Maldives

Unlike other Islamic countries, where alcohol can be bought in specialized stores, albeit expensively, there is no such opportunity in the Maldives. There is simply nowhere to buy alcohol on the local islands. And there are no homemade alcoholic drinks or herbal tinctures in the country. The only thing that can be bought in local stores is non-alcoholic beer in 0.33 liters, and the choice is very limited.

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Alcohol tours at resorts

Many resorts offer the so-called Day Pass, which is popular with tourists on local islands. Under this system, you can visit the resorts only during the day, without staying overnight. All the infrastructure is at your service: a swimming pool, a beach, sun loungers and sometimes food. On average, such a Day Pass costs about $ 100-150 with a transfer from a local island per person per day. Sometimes this amount includes one alcoholic cocktail, and sometimes an unlimited package of alcohol: check this in advance. In any case, there is an opportunity to buy alcoholic drinks.

But taking alcohol out of the resorts is prohibited. It is the law and it is strictly observed. Anything you buy at the resort must be consumed there.

Kudadoo Maldives

Alco Boats in Maldives

By law, selling alcohol on land is prohibited, except on resort islands. But the law says nothing about selling alcohol on water!

And so, local "entrepreneurs" came up with the idea of an alcohol boat. It's a large yacht that cruises between local islands where you can buy alcohol. The choice is usually not great, but you will find both beer and strong drinks. True, of low quality and at high prices.

Alcohol Boat in the Maldives has no schedule. It can arrive at any local island on any day. If there is demand, the boat can stay offshore for a month. If there is no demand, it goes to another island. So, there is no guarantee that you will find an alcohol bar. Such a boat can often be seen near the local island of Thoddoo, in the Alif-Alif atoll.

• The boat never docks at a port. It is usually moored about 300 meters from the shore, opposite the bikini beach that can be found on every local island.
• A small boat runs between the liquor boat and the beach, delivering tourists.
• The boat has music, tables and a bar, an inflatable water slide, darts and several entertainment options for guests. The workers at these bars are from India and Pakistan, as Maldivians are forbidden to touch alcohol.
• Please note that this is not a store where you can buy alcohol to take with you. Drinking is only allowed on the boat.
• Alcohol prices in the Maldives are almost the same at resorts and on a booze boat. Be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars, but remember that this is your only option.

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Cost of alcohol in the Maldives

Alcohol prices in the Maldives are really high. Approximate cost of alcohol in Maldives in hotel restaurants:

• Beer (0.33 l): from $5 to $10
• Cocktail: $12 to $25
• Glass of wine: $7 to $30
• Bottle of wine: $40 to $80 and up
• A serving of strong alcohol (50 ml): from $5 to $13
• Bottle of strong alcohol (0.75 l): from $100 to $400

Please note that a 22% tax is usually added to the prices shown. Prices can also vary significantly depending on the hotel category and its distance from the capital. In high-class hotels, the cost of alcohol is usually higher. However, in some hotels and on safari boats, taxes are already included in the price, especially if alcohol is included in the all-inclusive package. Always check when ordering.

Baglioni Resort Maldives

What drinks are sold in the Maldives

In the Maldives you will find everything, but you need to know the places. Elite alcohol is abundant in fashionable resorts. It is brought from India, Sri Lanka and Europe. If the quality of alcohol is important to you, pay attention to the information on the resort website before booking. 

Beer

At most resorts, don't expect to find the same selection as an Irish pub, forget about ale and beer. The resorts mostly offer lager. The most common brands served at hotels are Heineken, Carlsberg, Tiger (Singapore), Lion (Sri Lanka) and San Miguel (Philippines).

Kuredu Resort & Spa

Cocktails

Maldives all-inclusive resorts offer cocktail hours where you can try refreshing cocktails with exotic fruits such as coconut, mango and pineapple. Classic cocktails such as gin and tonic or margarita are also common.

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Wine

Many Maldives hotels boast incredible wine collections, which are carefully stored in the resort's cool cellars. A mind-blowing selection and equally mind-blowing prices! Here is an example of hotels with wine cellars:

The resort's crowning glory is its cellar, which boasts over 1,600 bottles, including iconic Bordeaux wines such as Chateau Latour and Mouton Rothschild, as well as Italian gems such as Tignanello and Biondi-Santi. Guests can enjoy daily tastings, dinners with winemakers, and specially selected wine pairings in the Wine Room, where 12 different glasses of wine are available daily. The resort also has a Rum Baan bar with a collection of 98 rums, and guests can take a cocktail-making masterclass.

JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa

The wine cellar contains 1,500 wines, including rare wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy, as well as cult wines from California. The Snow Cave cellar maintains ideal conditions for preserving the collection.

Velaa Private Island

The menu features premium labels such as Louis Roederer and Prunotto, Cantina Terlano and German Riesling Dr. Bürklin-Wolf. The wine cellar hosts exclusive dinners with tastings led by a sommelier. And the Japanese restaurant The Pearl serves sake.

Westin Maldives Miriandhoo

St. Regis Maldives Vommuli

Decant's underground wine cellar holds more than 7,000 bottles of 650 labels from 23 countries. Among the gems of the collection are a Madeira from 1795 and a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from 2014. The resort's highlight is The Whale Bar, famous for its champagne saber ritual.

St. Regis Maldives Vommuli

Strong drinks

You will have no problem finding stronger drinks such as vodka, whiskey, rum, gin and brandy. But don't expect Glenmorangie or Hennessy to be served in the all-inclusive system. These can be purchased at the bar for an extra charge at a high price.

Champagne

In every hotel in the Maldives you will find a choice of the noble drink. But there are two places where you will have the opportunity to taste rare varieties. The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi hotel has the Bubble Lounge, the first champagne bar in the Maldives. It offers more than 50 varieties, including elite ones. And in the Hurawalhi Maldives Resort, tourists can relax in a specialized Champagne Pavilion, watching the sunset with a glass of sparkling drink.

 So, if you are going to a resort, don't worry about alcohol: you will have the opportunity to buy it. It may be advantageous to buy "all inclusive" with unlimited alcohol. But on local islands there will be no such choice, but you can still catch a bar on the water or take a "day pass" at the resort.

Hurawalhi Maldives Resort