Currency in Maldives: what to use and how to exchange

The rufiyaa is pegged to the US dollar in a narrow band, so the rate you see barely moves. That stability is why resorts simply quote in dollars and why you rarely need to think about conversion. If you are on a resort island, your whole stay — room, seaplane or speedboat transfer, diving, spa, drinks — is billed in USD and settled by card or cash at check-out.

Local islands are the other half of the country. There, ferries, harbour taxis, cafés, small shops and excursion tickets are priced in rufiyaa, and card machines are patchy. Guesthouses often quote in USD but will take either. If your trip mixes a resort and a guesthouse island, carry both: dollars for the resort bill, rufiyaa for the island days.

Cash is the practical problem, not the currency. Maldivian banks and exchange counters prefer clean, unmarked US notes; torn, heavily folded or pre-2006 bills are often refused. Bring a spread of denominations — small notes for tips and boat crews, larger ones for bills. Rufiyaa comes in notes and coins; coins are not accepted by many businesses and are hard to change, so keep them for small purchases.

Cards work at resorts, at Malé airport shops and at a growing number of guesthouses, but a card-only plan fails on local islands. ATMs exist in Malé and on some inhabited islands, and dispense rufiyaa; there are none on resort islands, where the front desk handles everything. Check your card's foreign transaction fee before you rely on it — see the cards and ATMs page for the detail.

Exchanging is easiest at Malé's Velana International Airport on arrival or departure, at bank counters in Malé, or through your resort or guesthouse. Rates at hotels and resorts are usually worse than at a bank counter, but the amounts involved are small. Do not plan to buy rufiyaa at home: most banks outside the Maldives do not stock it, and the spread is poor.