|
|
Diving the Maldives
The 26 atolls (ring-shaped reefs) in the Maldives are home to around 1200 islands. Tourism is strictly controlled: visitors must stay on registered tourist islands or on liveaboad boat. There are 85 resorts in the Maldives, but not all of them cater for divers. On those that don't you should be able to dive from a neighbouring resort. It's best to go full board as everything is very expensive, including equipment hire. July and August are cheaper, but the visibility is not as good. The serious diving resorts include Biyadoo - very good food as they grow their own fruit and vegetables and Elaidoo - popular with Germans and Belgians. There is one international airport in the Maldives, on Male.
Dive Sites of the Maldives • Maldives Dive Operators• Maldives Accommodation• Books to Take to the Maldives • Your Comments • Underwater photos of the Maldives • Compare Maldives Holiday Prices (with Kelkoo) • Find a Hotel in the Maldives • Find a flight to the Maldives "Over 60% of visitors to the Maldives participate in Diving of one form or another and 80% in Snorkelling. To the best of my knowledge there is only a small handful of resorts that do not have a Diving Base actually on the Island and on these few your are still able to ScubaDive in connection with neighboring resorts. During my two years there at three different resorts we had at least 30% of the guests who were certified divers and another 10 to 20% who at least tried it during their stay. Snorkellers were a bit more difficult to judge as far as percentages but I would guess at least half of the islands guests participated in such activities. As far as cost it is comparable to diving in UK waters with Open Water course running between 150 and 350 Pounds depending of course on the grade of the Island. The cheapest being the larger resorts such as Sun Island, Male itself and Kuredu and the most expensive being the Hilton Rangali and comparable five plus star resorts. " Dive Sites of the Maldives
Manta point is off the tiny island of Baros. Its dive centre is Dutch run. The best time of year to see the mantas is between June and November. "Unbelievable! Dive to about 18 m to a ledge. Then just sit there. The Manta's "fly" all around you, about 5 at any one time, some 3 m across. They are disturbed when you exhale, so you find yourself trying to hold your breath as they approach. But you have to exhale before passing out and they move away again. There is also a resident shoal of yellow fish (sorry, forgot the name) which must number tens of thousands. Once in the middle you are completely disorientated as you can see nothing but these fish! In all, an amazing experience. Have spent a month on the barrier reef, several dives in Thailand, but nothing gets close to Manta Point. " "I dived Manta Point in November 2004. We stayed on Paradise Island which is five minutes from the dive site. I've dived all over the world but this site was amazing. The second time I dived it we had a total of 12 giant mantas circling us, swooping down to the cleaning station then shooting up to the surface. At times as they swoop down you can reach up and stroke their undersides. The currents are quite strong so you have to hold on tight but the photos I got of the Mantas were superb. If you are in the Maldives make a beeline for this site. " "I went in June 2005 and had the most phenomenal experience when we were surrounded by over 10 mantas, of an average tsize of 2 m, for almost 30 minutes. They seem to come right at you, turn just before they hit your face. We were told they like to play with divers' bubbles. The experience made up for the poor water visibility during this time of the year. " "I went to Lohifushi in north male atoll now known as Hudhuranfushi in 2005 and 2006 and dived Manta point 3 times each holiday. The first year we only ever had 2 mantas at any one time but the following year we had 12 mantas on dive 1, 15 on dive 2 and on the third dive had 17 mantas swimming nose to tail to the one in front. MAGIC, the best dive of my life and just glad I had my camera to catch the moment.
"A one km long rock with plenty of soft coral and all kinds of reef fishes. In the winter you can often see a lot of big manta rays. A difficult dive with strong currents and visibility not always good. You need to reach the bottom very quickly...a small group of divers is suggested. "
Kuda rah thila is the 1st protected marine area in the Maldives. A small underwater pinnacle covered with snappers, fusiliers, white tip reef sharks, trevally, bannerfish. Huge overhangs cover both sides of the thila and a small swim through can be found at the east side. Encouters with pelactics are always possible."
"Best dive in South Ari Atoll, hunting whitetips during nightdive. Small stuff on top of Thila(reef), big stuff at 30 meters. Sharks, rays, etc."
"Deep thila in the South Ari Atoll in the Digurah channel. The most perfect site covered in soft corals. Blue, yellow, pink, orange.. all can be found here. A true advanced dive site due to strong current. Fish all around and mantas swim over your head. "
"The diving on this island is operated by Werner Lau, and they have good, safe staff. They make all divers do 2 basic skills before they are allowed to dive - namely retrieving their regulator and removing and clearing their mask. You'd be surprised how many qualified divers did not want to do this! You can do shore dives around the island, in and out at well marked exit points. Alternatively you can do boat dives, for which there is a US$ 10 charge per boat trip. Two boats go out each day - one for novices, and a second boat for anyone who has more than 40 logged dives and choses to visit a site that is a little more advanced. All dives are guided and good briefings are given. The dive boats can get a little crowded, but still not to the point ot being cattle trucks. The majority of guests on Vilamendhoo are British, German or Japanese. We were lucky, we saw whale sharks and snorkelled with them, plus we did some pretty decent boat dives: some in strong currents which did bring out the larger fish. However, the shore diving was a little disappointing - a large amount of the coral is dead/bleached, which was initially quite shocking to see, although this does not seem to have affected the population of reef fish - as there are plenty, which brings life to the place and colour. The resort itself is ok, not really a party place, there were a few families etc. I'd recommend it. "
"Strong current, large Napolean Wrasse, reef sharks, shoals of big fish, Stingrays and Eagle Rays. And the chance of an occasional manta or maybe even a hammerhead. " "Dive in a channel, in the right period schools of Manta rays and whale sharks. "
"Pelagic Heaven" "Amazing dive site from the island of Kuredu in the Maldives. Lots of trigger fish soft corals, saw on two occasions large nurse shark, fast current, an exhilarating dive full of colour and beautiful selection of bright fish at 8 m - fantastic! "
"Dived the Maldive Victory in November 2005 and it was one of the most challenging dives that me and the wife have ever done. There was a 4 knot current and the boat crew had to make a noose for us to hold as we jumped in and then they dragged us to the guide line otherwise we would have been swept away. On descending if we turned to face the way the current was running it tried to pull our mask and regs off. Maldives Diving Operators
Maldives Oceanic Dreams Pvt Ltd. Liveaboard whose routes incluede Male, Felidhe, Mulaku, Ari and Baa atolls.
Maldives Travel Cruise Pvt Ltd
"The crew was great and I would definitely dive with them again. "
Sailing Tours Pvt. Ltd Offer liveaboard diving safaris around the Maldives. Also handle inbound tours to Maldivian resorts
Antrac Maldives Pvt Ltd Offer liveaboard diving safaris around the Maldives. Also handle inbound tours to Maldivian resorts. Have their own yachts for charter plus do resort and hotel bookings, operate luxury tours, air tickets, dive trips, cruising, surfing, safris etc.
Sailing Tours Diving specials in the Maldives.
Sachika Luxury liveaboard in the Maldives.
Oceantree Maldives Liveaboards in the Maldives.
Ocean Oasis Tour the inner and outer atolls of the Maldives. Offer up to 3 dives a day and one weekly night dive.
Baros Diving
Werner Lau Vilamendhoo
The Divers' Lodge Diving School " Located in the small Island of Villingili, an 8 minute ferry ride from the Capital Male. This dive school is in easy access for the tourists and expatriates who stay on the Capital Island. We offer dive courses and boat dives to the most famous dive spots around, including the Manta point and wrecks."
Manafaru "The resort is 5*+ and so is the dive school and it's staff. Been
there July 2009." Maldives AccommodationFor hotels and resorts see the Agoda site...
Books to Take to the Maldives
Your CommentsPlease send us your comments on the Maldives. Do you want to recommend a diving centre or dive site? Let us know. Have a question - try our Diving Board. If you own a dive centre get yourself added. |
|
|
