Maldives & Sri Lanka

The Maldives is exceptionally hard to travel freely, there are many 'gotchas' like ferries needing pre-booking or not running on certain days.

Leave an extra day or two in The Maldives free as weather and unforeseen circumstances can make it impossible to see certain ocean life, e.g the whale sharks and manta rays.

Never trust your host/hotel in The Maldives. Whenever they say 'no problem', you're going to have a big problem. Ensure you make your own plans with receipts or guarantees.