Over the years, the technology infrastructure in the Maldives has improved to the point where working remotely from even the most remote islands is no longer a concern. As a digital nomad, you’ll be able to get stuff done while enjoying the remote tropics.
Let’s take a look at how it’s possible and what you’ll want to do in order to be prepared for any connectivity issues.
With submarine cables connecting all atolls to India and Sri Lanka, many local islands and resorts have access to high speed internet.
In addition to the underwater links, the leading local telecom providers Dhiraagu and Ooredoo provide extensive 4G connectivity and have already started offering 5G in metropolitan areas.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll assume that you are interested in working by turquoise waters and a gorgeous beach. Even though Male’ City offers exclusive options such as Gigabit internet, we’ll forego these options in favor of the more remote islands or resorts.
Since there won’t be a cyber cafe around the corner, it’s important to have a plan B handy for emergencies. For the serious remote worker that cannot afford to have any internet downtime, we recommend approaching connectivity in two phases.
Most hotels and resorts offer free internet access to their guests. However, they are notoriously slow as smaller establishments rely on MiFi devices intended for personal use. Lots of local guest houses and boutique hotels use a 5M package, which can be fine as long as you don’t happen to have a neighboring guest using up the bandwidth. Resorts typically use leased lines, where slow speeds are less of an issue.It would be best to reach out to your hotel ahead of time and ask them to share the results of a speedtest. If you’ll be relying on HD video conferencing, you will want an upload speed above 5Mbps.
At Bliss, we provide a 50Mbps fiber connectivity, with data quotas defined for devices, along with generous fair usage allowances so that a single tenant does not end up impacting others.
The two leading cellular internet providers in the Maldives are Dhiraagu and Ooredoo. Several years ago, there was a considerable difference between their coverage. Today, they have both expanded to all atolls and compete primarily on 5G availability.Both companies provide comparable services for the same price:
Both companies have apps to track your data usage. However, depending on the credit card you use, you might run into issues with reloading credit using the online application.
If there is a chance that you will need more than 30GB or you’ll be staying for longer than two weeks, it’s best to avoid these tourist SIMs and opt for a pre-paid SIM, which comes with no plan. After adding some credit to your account, you’ll be able to purchase a plan (Dhiraagu plans, Ooredoo plans).
As both providers support eSIMs, it provides an easy way to toggle between connections on your phone.
The best place to get your SIM card is right after your arrival in the Maldives, at the airport. On exiting the arrival terminal, there are telecom stores for both Ooredoo and Dhiraagu on the right side.
Ideally, you’re able to rely primarily on the internet of the hotel or resort you are staying at. Even if you end up using the cellular service, it shouldn’t be an issue to add more credit to your account.
The mobile apps for both providers have options to add credit. However, if your credit card isn’t accepted, you could reach out to a local to help with the transaction. Lots of small shops are able to collect cash and send the credit directly to your phone.
Similarly, anyone with a Maldivian bank account can instantly transfer credit to a phone number.
Let us know if you have additional questions about working remotely in the Maldives. As remote workers and digital nomads, we built Bliss Dhigurah to be a haven for digital nomads, where you can enjoy a good coffee with fast internet right before going on a trip to swim with whale sharks.
Interested in staying with us on Dhigurah? Take a look at our Remote Package Deal!
