I’m thrilled to see the trend lately whereby more countries are eliminating testing requirements for travelers. You can now add another popular tourist destination to the list of countries taking this approach.
In this post:
Maldives cuts testing for vaccinated visitors
The Maldives is heavily reliant on tourism, and reopened to visitors several months into the pandemic. Up until now the Maldives has required visitors to get tested, but that will be changing shortly. As of Saturday, March 5, 2022, the Maldives is making the following changes to entry requirements:
- Vaccinated travelers will no longer be required to present a negative PCR test result prior to arrival
- Vaccinated tourists who stay on inhabited islands will no longer be required to present a negative PCR test on departure
This is fantastic news, and takes some of the hassle out of visiting the Maldives. Travelers will still need to fill out a traveler health declaration prior to travel, but that’s about it. Of course keep in mind that individual resorts can still choose to have a testing requirement (given that many properties are on their own islands), but I suspect most won’t.
It’s so nice to see this “return to normal”
While it goes without saying that testing is an important tool for battling coronavirus, I’m pleased to see testing requirements for travel increasingly ending. After borders reopening, this is the single biggest thing that can be done to make international travel easier.
The concept of needing to test is great in theory, but has so many problems:
- It’s still a massive money grab, with PCR tests in many places costing well over $100 per person, and in some cases $200+ if you need them on short notice
- Testing requirements are so highly uncoordinated, especially when you’re traveling to multiple destinations in a short period; it can often take hours to get tested multiple times for a bigger trip, and that doesn’t even factor in the cost
- The entire testing for travel industry is extremely shady, as I’ve outlined before
It’s great to see more countries taking this approach, and especially place like the Maldives, where testing was prohibitively expensive.
Bottom line
The Maldives is eliminating its testing requirements for vaccinated travelers as of March 5, 2022. This is fantastic news, as vaccinated travelers will no longer need to take PCR tests. We’ve seen this trend in lots of countries in recent weeks, so here’s to hoping this becomes the norm soon enough.
What do you make of the Maldives eliminating its testing requirement for vaccinated visitors?
(Tip of the hat to Dale)
Thanks for making this post Ben. I was able to find a set of dates that worked for me at the Park Hyatt, and as a Globalist I look forward to the trip. Looks like if I go All Inclusive I will spend less than I did when I stayed at the Conrad.
Be sure to contact the resort before canceling your test appt. I'm flying over this week and was about to cancel my tests but good thing I reached out to STR because they still require it!
Darn, just missed it. The requirement for the QR Code from filling out departure form online should also be dropped.
Wonderful news as it stands. Heading to MLE on the 13th March but passing through DOH and CMB enroute (QR). Is there any news on testing requirements for transit DOH or CMB?
Pre departure testing in YLW is $250 ++ taxes per person. Might be able to afford some food and drink on Rangali after all.
this James guy needs to calm down. why so angry bud ? its good news all around.
Still waiting for USA to drop its entry test requirement for the vaccinated. It is way overdue for that!
When will they realize that a test might keep out an infected person whereas a vaccine prevents nothing? Even those with boosters now have nearly 0 protection and Israel has proven a 4th dose is useless. Time to just admit failure and move on
The idea with vaccines is they lower mortality. The idea with removing testing and require vaccinations is to make the world more like it is during flu season - you may catch it, but it's probably you won't die.
And yes, Israel found that there's only marginal improvement vs 3rd-dose people, but it's still vastly better than unvaccinated people. Hopefully you account for that when you "move on."
And still zero consideration for natural immunity - the REAL vaccine. Absolute nonsense. Some of you all are so far up the a$$ of these covid cultists and their vaccine theatre that logic and reason is lost on you now.
It's only the unvaccinated who are dying from Covid these days...Darwinism for the MAGAs
May I recommend diversifying your news sources. These days it is mostly the unvaccinated dying. Change my mind.
Pretty sure based on your posting history you're a Newsmax / Breitbart type (just truly Pulitzer Prize-winning sources), but let me do some very basic internet research for you:
During October–November, unvaccinated persons had 13.9
and 53.2 times the risks for infection and COVID-19–associated death, respectively, compared with fully vaccinated persons
who received booster doses, and 4.0 and 12.7 times the risks compared with fully vaccinated persons without booster doses.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/pdfs/mm7104e2-h.pdf
Pretty sure based on your posting history you're a Newsmax / Breitbart type (just truly Pulitzer Prize-winning sources), but let me do some very basic internet research for you:
During October–November, unvaccinated persons had 13.9
and 53.2 times the risks for infection and COVID-19–associated death, respectively, compared with fully vaccinated persons
who received booster doses, and 4.0 and 12.7 times the risks compared with fully vaccinated persons without booster doses.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/pdfs/mm7104e2-h.pdf
I didn't realize a million people in the US dying was a good path for "the REAL vaccine." I'm glad you're not in charge of public health, James.
But overall it's a very, very little risk of dying or even get severe illness from the omicron variant.
If you are in a risk category you should be vaccinated.
Great news, we’re off to the Maldives in 16 days!
Report back all the Russian oligarch yachts you see. Should be plenty there as the one place in the world they can park them without being seized. But hey, you have a great time!
I will thanks!!
WooHoo. Going to be there in 3 weeks
Where are you staying? We’ll be there at the same time 21st-31st
You do realize that Maldives is allowing Russians to stash their yachts and toys there to avoid seizure? They are now their secret safe deposit box. But you all enjoy yourselves! You can toast with cocktails and feel sorry for the young children being killed throughout Ukraine while you sunbathe and now knowingly support a nation with no morals or decency.
I don’t toast with my cocktails. I just prefer to drink them :).
A superyacht owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire has reportedly anchored in the Maldives, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
Biden said the Russian oligarchs being sanctioned "line their pockets with Russian people's money and while Ukraine and the people are hiding in subways from missiles that are being fired indiscriminately from Russian cities."
do you really want to support war in Ukraine by traveling to Maldives and supporting goverment which protects...
A superyacht owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire has reportedly anchored in the Maldives, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US.
Biden said the Russian oligarchs being sanctioned "line their pockets with Russian people's money and while Ukraine and the people are hiding in subways from missiles that are being fired indiscriminately from Russian cities."
do you really want to support war in Ukraine by traveling to Maldives and supporting goverment which protects war criminals?
Or how about paying taxes that go to killing ethnic Russian Ukranians in Donbas? All you are doing is choosing which Ukranians you prefer to die. The country needs a lasting peace and the west's approach has not worked in 8 years.
Unless I missed something, I do not see a timeframe since your last vaccine. So as long as your are vaccinated, even early last year, you are exempt. Interesting
Are you not trusting the narrative, citizen? Please report to you countries COVID information website to download the new narrative.
Stay on point Jeffrey.
Maybe Truth Social is more your jam these days...I hear the waitlists are now open!
what is considered vaccinated? My hubs just has one J&J....
It's not clear. The Health Declaration form does ask for your first AND second dose information. Most people in the world outside the U.S. have a two-dose regiment so I personally wouldn't rely on talking my way out of it to explain J&J is one-dose, etc... I'd just have your husband get a booster, any booster. Trust me, when this far away from home, the last thing you want is nasty surprises at the beginning of an amazing vacation.
Makes it easier for the Oligarchs to keep hiding their yachts and assets there. It's become the go to now for moving all their toys to evade have them seized.
Definitely. The Russkies are getting stranded all around their world, their flights home cancelled, their credit cards no longer working, access to bank accounts blocked. Meanwhile, all the war crimes of their government are playing on B-roll loops over and over on the TV sets they see everywhere (those war crimes being hidden from all the Russians back home by Putin's media and internet blocks). Shit's getting real for them.
This is great news but what about kids. Our 2.5 year old is in obviously not vaccinated…. Will he still need a pcr before departure?
Do not understand the idea of only kids under 1 to be exempt , so any child over 1 that is not vaxed has to be swabbed.
They should drop the vaccination requirement altogether or set up strict health conditions on who can be admitted.
Uh no.
"Uh no."
Why?
Isn't a vaccination requirement a condition on who can be admitted?
UAE and Oman recently made the same change.
Headed there next week and still trying to figure out WHICH QR codes are accepted. I have CLEAR and MYIR (which DC and MD use). Would love to hear beta from others what they used and if either of this were accepted.
Same! Flying Emirates and trying to figure out what I need to show for proof of vaccination
Just flew MLE to DXB on Emirates today. I showed CDC vaccine card and a vaccine record form from the local hospital where I got vaccinated. The vaccine record form has a QR code but no idea if it works. They didn’t scan the documents. The workers were mostly confused on they were looking for as all countries do something different. After a few minutes, she printed boarding pass and we were on our way.
Very helpful thanks! Wondering if anyone has flown into MLE yet? TIMATIC doesn't seem to have updated with the new information. Wondering if we'll be able to check in without a test, given TIMATIC didn't update yet.
I'm heading to UAE in three weeks. I'm going to hope that the California QRs work... I guess we'll see. :)
We’re going to DXB in 2 weeks, and using California codes as well. Not sure what will and won’t be allowed. Certainly going to pad check in and transfer times for hiccups.