Maldives Travel Checklist: What to pack for a trip to a tropical island
- Henna Shah
- Mar 30
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 7
What to pack for the Maldives? Here is a comprehensive packing list of things to carry while travelling to the Maldives. While this travel packing list applies to all, I have taken into account the special needs of Indian travellers, vegetarians and women who like to travel comfortably within a reasonable luggage limit without the need to backpack.
Kindly note, this list takes into account 5-7 night stay, you may want to tweak the quantity of things to carry while travelling depending on your own duration of travel.
We have covered our trip to the Maldives in 4 Chapters from the lens of travelling from India, experiences to include in your itinerary, adventure activities to include in your travel plan, availability of vegetarian food in the Maldives and a complete tropical holiday packing list for the Indian traveller.
Chapter 3: Vegetarian food in the Maldives
You are reading Chapter 4.
Maldives Travel Checklist
Beach wear: what to wear in the Maldives?
✔️ 2 swimsuits (1 can be a bikini style swimsuit for the pool and 1 could be an SPF-resistant full body suit for the ocean to avoid skin tans and sunburns)
✔️ 1 swimsuit cover-up dress
✔️ Beach dresses
✔️2 pairs of shorts
✔️2 tees (that pair well with the shorts)
Summer clothes: Maldives Outfit ideas
✔️ 2 comfortable tees for the flight
✔️ Flight-friendly tracks or replace with a co-ord set that you can wear on both your onward and back journeys
✔️ 12 pairs of undergarments
✔️ 4 pairs of socks (if you are used to wearing sports shoes while travelling as you may not be wearing them in your resort or while at the beach)
✔️ 2 pairs of resort wear
✔️ 3 night dresses
✔️ 1 pair of jeans
✔️ 2 cotton tops (that pair well with your jeans)
✔️ 2 Evening wear dresses
Footwear to pack for a Maldives holiday
✔️ Sports shoes (only in transit or if you are planning a hike or an activity that involves walking)
✔️ Slippers to wear in the resort (most resorts provide beach slippers in the Maldives along with room slippers, however, you can tuck in an extra pair)
✔️ Crocs (for the beach)
Skincare travel essentials
✔️ Coconut Oil (Premium resorts in the Maldives provide this upon request, so you can choose to skip)
✔️ Aloe Vera gel
✔️ Body Lotion
✔️ Moisturising body wash (you can skip if you are okay with what the resort provides)
✔️ Face cleanser/ Cleansing Oil
✔️ Face cream
✔️ A topical steroid cream for allergic flare-ups for those with dermatitis, eczema or psoriasis
Here is my personal skincare routine while at the beach.
Makeup travel essentials
✔️ 2 lipsticks (can be one lighter and one darker shade or one satin finish)
✔️ 2 lip glosses
✔️ 1 blush
✔️ 2 liners (one can be a classic black and the other could be coloured)
✔️ Compact + Brush
✔️ Concealer (if you use one)
Haircare travel essentials
✔️ Almond oil (Can also use coconut oil to precondition your hair before getting into the sea)
✔️ Shampoo (Can skip if you are okay with what the resort provides)
✔️ Conditioner (Can skip if you are okay with what the resort provides)
✔️ Hair serum (To beat the humidity at tropical destinations)
✔️ Hair styling tools (avoid carrying a hair dryer as most resorts will have one)
✔️ Heat protectant spray (if you will style your hair)
Sunscreen and sun protection kit for Indian skin
✔️ Body sunscreen (SPF 50++ and also look for water-resistant variants)
✔️ Top up sunscreen (opt for something easy to carry and apply while you’re at the beach like a roll on sunscreen or a spray sunscreen)
✔️ Lip balm with sun protection
✔️ Tinted sunscreen
✔️ Dermatologist prescribed anti-oxidant which acts as an oral sunscreen (for people with sensitive skin)
Accessories to dress for the Maldives
✔️ 1 hairband
✔️ 2 hair clips
✔️ 2 hair ties
✔️ 2 silk scrunchies (for bedtime)
✔️ 1 comb with wide and thin toothed sides
✔️ 1 combing Brush
✔️ 1 Bracelet (coral, bead or shell based)
✔️ 1 watch
✔️ 2 Rings
✔️ 1 pair of long earrings
✔️ 1 pair of stud earrings
✔️ 1 pair of sunglasses
✔️ 1 beach hat
✔️ 1 cap
Other travel essentials (toiletries and miscellaneous)
✔️ Sanitary pads/ tampons/ menstrual cup
✔️ Anti perspirant wipes (for the face)
✔️ Mosquito repellant (opt for a fabric roll on to avoid skin allergies)
✔️ A travel perfume
✔️ Tooth brush and paste + Tongue Cleaner (Most resorts provide dental kits so you can choose to skip it, but like me if you use an electric toothbrush, then feel free to carry your own)
✔️ Eye Drops (to help moisturise your eyes that tend to get dry while travelling)
✔️ Phone Charger
✔️ Wallet
✔️ Earphones
✔️ Medicine kit
✔️ Magazine/ Book/ Kindle
✔️ Pen
✔️ Notebook
✔️ Umbrella
✔️ Waterproof foldable bag
Food to carry from home (for Indians)
✔️ Cloves (to pop into your cheek pocket and nap, if feeling under the weather)
✔️ Mint
✔️ Mukhwas (a simple fennel seed and misri mix is your natural antacid while travelling)
✔️ Ready to make tea (Try the Girnar ones, my favourite is the Cardamom flavour)
✔️ Nitrogen-packed theplas (not vacuum packed)
✔️ Mobile packets of Indian dry snacks (Khakhras, Bhujia, Peanut bhajia, kachoris)
Here are my personal travel essentials while on an international trip.
Last word: For Snorkellers, Scuba Divers and Instagrammers
This packing list is for the comfort traveller who travels by Economy or Premium Economy with a check-in luggage limit of upto 25 kg per person along with a cabin luggage limit of upto 10 kg per person.
If you are going snorkelling, then most resorts in the Maldives provide the snorkel gear for free. However, if you wear glasses with a high myopic power, you may want to rent glasses or invest in your own.
If you are going scuba diving and are carrying your own gear then your fins may take up some space in your luggage and ensure you carry a hard cover suitcase to them safe.
Also, the variety in clothes and the minimal accessories is to ensure you also manage to click great pictures for the gram on your island vacation. Feel free to play around with it based on your personal style.
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