Today we’ll get in deep about everything you need to know about exchanging money in the Maldives, how to choose the right currency to use, and other tips to avoid scams, in one complete guide that will save you days of research (or at least it would have saved me days) among thousands of sites with conflicting or even wrong information!
We’ll also look at all the possible ways to exchange currency, either before the trip or directly at destination.
What currencies are used in the Maldives?
Let’s start with an important premise: two currencies are commonly used in the Maldives. The official one is the Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR), but the US dollar (USD) is also widely used and accepted.
The dollar in the Maldives is not just a secondary currency, but is equally circulating, at least in touristic areas. In fact, since the country is not in particularly good financial shape, it tries to accumulate dollars in order to pay debts incurred with other countries. But that’s a whole other story.
For years, the country has pegged the rufiyaa exchange rate to the dollar at a fixed rate of 1 USD = 15.42 MVR. This means that 1 rufiyaa is always worth about $0.065, no matter when you read this guide.
Which currency is better to use in the Maldives?
Is it better to use the Maldivian Rufiyaa or the US dollar? This question gets a lot of conflicting answers. Sure, for an American who already has dollars in their pocket, it might be convenient to use them and not waste time, but for those having euros or pounds, I’ll try to explain the situation as clearly as possible.
To choose which currency to use for common expenses, you need to keep in mind the following aspects, which we’ll soon answer:
- How easy is it to get rufiyaa or dollars?
- How widely accepted is the rufiyaa versus the dollar?
- Which one costs me less in terms of exchange fees when starting with euros?
- Is card usage widespread?
- Which one should I use in places or restaurants that list their menu in only one of the two currencies?
Where to exchange Rufiyaa in the Maldives?
Exchanging money in the Maldives to get rufiyaa is quite simple and not too expensive. Let’s see all the methods with their relative costs.
At airport ATMs
All ATMs in the Maldives allow withdrawals only in Rufiyaa, not dollars.
One option is to withdraw a certain amount of Rufiyaa with your card upon arrival at the arrivals hall of Malé International Airport.
You might also be interested in: How to reach the islands from the airport
You will find two ATMs side by side, one from Bank of Maldives and one from HBL Habib Bank. The first one charges a fixed fee of $6.50 regardless of how much you withdraw, with no markup on the exchange rate. About the second one, some say it charges no fees and others say it also charges $6.50, so you might try HBL first to see if it’s still free.
You’ll also need to check if and how much your card/bank charges you in currency exchange fees (from € to rufiyaa or from € to dollar). I strongly recommend bringing a card like Revolut, which applies the real exchange rate with no markup and completely eliminates bank-side fees.
From the guys at the airport
As soon as you approach an ATM at Malé airport, chances are some local will approach you saying the ATM charges high fees and they can offer a better rate.
This situation might immediately make you think it’s a scam. However, great surprise, I found out that these people also accept euros in cash, don’t charge fees, and offer an even better exchange rate than the real one. Apparently, in order to accumulate “strong” currency, they’re willing to favour you.
Clearly, if you choose this route, always check the current EUR/MVR exchange rate and what they are offering you.
At the money exchange in Malé airport
I would keep this as a last resort in case of emergency, as they charge quite a lot in exchange fees. The only advantage of this option is that (ask for confirmation in advance!) if you keep the receipt they might buy back any excess rufiyaa at the end of your trip, as long as you arrive at the airport during the office’s opening hours. Otherwise, if you end up with too many leftover rufiyaa at the end of your trip, they’ll become worthless because no one will exchange them for dollars or euros.
At ATMs on the larger islands
The major inhabited islands of the Maldives also have an ATM (yes, at most one per island, while smaller islands have none). Check if the islands where you’ll be staying have one by searching for ATMs on Google Maps.
If you haven’t already, take a look at the islands where it’s best to stay in the Maldives.
At some businesses
If you’re no longer at the airport or don’t have an ATM nearby, you can try asking a souvenir shop, minimarket, or other business if they’ll exchange your money. Exchanging dollars for rufiyaa will be easy since they’re always happy to collect dollars; if you only have euros, it’ll be more difficult, but you might be lucky.
Pay attention to the exchange rate they offer, especially in the case of euros. They tend to equate EUR value to USD (1 to 1), but if the EUR/USD exchange rate isn’t close to 1 at the time, you could lose a lot.
Can you get Rufiyaa before arriving in the Maldives?
Outside Maldivian territory it’s basically impossible to get rufiyaa, and likewise to exchange leftover rufiyaa back into euros. No one will exchange them.
Where to withdraw dollars in the Maldives?
Unlike the rufiyaa, it is not possible to withdraw dollars from the country’s ATMs. You’ll find some sites (even Maldivian ones!) that list ATMs said to dispense dollars, but this is only an option for those with a Maldivian bank card. For tourists it’s not available.
Asking shopkeepers to exchange rufiyaa for dollars is more difficult than the other way around, or if they do it, they may offer poor exchange rates.
Even the money exchange services at the airport only give rufiyaa; if you try to give them euros and ask for dollars, they won’t be able to help.
The only solution is to get dollars before boarding the plane. In Europe, the options are many but not very convenient. I strongly advise against the currency exchange booths at airports since they charge up to 30% in robb… fees. If you plan ahead, you can ask your bank, which will likely charge lower fees.
The last option if you’re really in trouble is to check in any airports where you have a layover whether a multi-currency ATM is available. This is usually more common in countries like Switzerland. The exchange rate is still not great but is less criminal than currency exchange offices.
In the example of Zurich, there are Travelex ones like in the photo below, and I’ll leave you the link to the Airportbanking website which also lists the exact location of each ATM inside the airport. They charged me about a 10% commission on the total.
Is it better to pay in rufiyaa or dollars?
It’s possible to pay almost everywhere in either rufiyaa or dollars. Many websites try to scare you by saying that rufiyaa aren’t accepted and that you absolutely need dollars, but I never had a problem even without dollars. Maybe in private resort islands they might be picky, but since I didn’t stay there, I can’t confirm.
If you only have rufiyaa with you, you can always pay with those, even if the menu/price list is in dollars. Just ask the staff if they accept rufiyaa (especially at first you’ll notice they seem to say no, but they’re actually saying “no problem” in a very relaxed way 😀 )
If you only have dollars and the menu is in rufiyaa, same story: they won’t mind getting dollars.
My advice is to always pay in the currency shown on the menu/price list to save money, because when you ask to use the other currency they convert the price mentally (or with a calculator) and 90% of the time the amount comes out higher.
If you receive a bill already converted into both currencies, do a quick calculation (Rufiyaa/15.42=Dollars) to choose which is better: in the example below, the menu was in rufiyaa, but the real dollar price should be $12 and not the suggested $12.30:
Another thing to keep in mind is to check in the bar or restaurant menus whether the listed prices already include the GST (a sort of VAT, 8% or 16% if framed as goods and services for tourists) and the Service Charge (10%), a kind of American-style tip.
Card payments
The same applies when paying by card. If you have a convenient card like Revolut (which doesn’t apply exchange fees and allows payment in any currency), always ask them to charge in the currency shown on the menu, (e.g. if the restaurant menu was in rufiyaa, ask them to charge in rufiyaa), so you avoid them doing a rounded-up conversion to dollars.
Card payments are widespread and available in almost all commercial activities, at least on the tourist-touched islands. If you go to a resort island, you can pay everything by card. On more “remote” islands or at some beach activity you might need to use cash.
How does change work?
Dollar coins are practically non-existent in the Maldives. So if you pay in dollars cash, given that the smallest bill is the $1, for smaller change you’ll likely receive banknotes in rufiyaa.
So if you wanted to take home some rufiyaa as a souvenir, don’t rush to withdraw: sooner or later you’ll get some. For example, the 5 rufiyaa note is worth about $0.30.
Souvenir banknotes
About this: it seems to be trendy on social media to get a 1000 rufiyaa banknote as a souvenir, since it features a whale shark and is waterproof and indestructible.
Personal opinion: 1000 rufiyaa equals almost $65, and since all rufiyaa banknotes are waterproof and tear-resistant, consider whether it’s worth taking home a cheaper souvenir note and investing those $65 in octopus or local fish dinners 😉
Yes, the whale shark design on the 1000 note is nice, but there are many other beautiful and cheaper ones with a seashell, a football player, a man climbing a palm tree…
Always check all banknotes!
Attention! If you’re using cash in dollars, pay close attention to ensure the banknotes are intact and without even the smallest tear!
If a note, even a $1 one, has any kind of tear, even a few millimeters, they won’t accept it because, they say, their banks won’t take them.
So check them carefully both when you get them before the trip, and when they give you change locally, because they might try to offload broken ones to distracted tourists.
For rufiyaa, on the other hand, no special care is needed since Maldivians don’t worry much and since the notes are made of plastic material that doesn’t tear.
In summary…
In short, my advice for a trip to the Maldives is to pay as much as possible with a card.
If you have cards like Revolut (otherwise get one, it’s free and has no fees), which don’t apply exchange fees and convert each payment at the real daily rate, you just need a small amount in cash for peace of mind. Bring some dollars if you have leftovers from a previous trip to the USA (or if you find a good exchange rate), otherwise withdraw some rufiyaa on site or bring some euros to change into rufiyaa. It’s enough to start with the equivalent of 150€ for a week to avoid having leftovers, since you can do almost everything by card. If that’s not enough, just make another trip to the ATM.
If instead you only have old-style bank accounts with high exchange fees, then bring more cash (dollars/euros) to use or exchange locally.
From my personal experience, it’s a bit cheaper to always pay in rufiyaa, except in the most touristy places that show prices in dollars, where most of the time it’s better to pay in dollars.
Now that you know everything about currencies, take a look also at the things to do in the Maldives and the islands to stay on!
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