Maldives, September 2007
I have recently returned from what I can only describe as an 'interesting' holiday in the Maldives. Having lived through the drying out and rebuild of my flat (yes, I was a flood victim) I was seriously looking forward to my exotic get away but in hindsight I think I probably expected too much…….
I arrived in the Maldives to be informed that the live aboard I was expecting to stay on was in dry-dock so I was now on the sister ship, the Baani Adventurer. This was no real drama but the room allocation was. I booked a half share in a female cabin but was allocated a cabin with a welsh bloke called Steve! Apparently Jo was deemed a male name when the sheets were produced (cheek of it). It took a while to resolve this and even then, I was informed I may have to pay a surcharge if given a cabin to myself…..I'm sure you'll agree this was not a great start.
I arrived in the Maldives to be informed that the live aboard I was expecting to stay on was in dry-dock so I was now on the sister ship, the Baani Adventurer. This was no real drama but the room allocation was. I booked a half share in a female cabin but was allocated a cabin with a welsh bloke called Steve! Apparently Jo was deemed a male name when the sheets were produced (cheek of it). It took a while to resolve this and even then, I was informed I may have to pay a surcharge if given a cabin to myself…..I'm sure you'll agree this was not a great start.
After a check out dive that afternoon, the real diving commenced the next day. We did a couple of dives on the North Male atoll then we made the 4 hour crossing to the Ari Atoll (where despite having on factor 25 and it being monsoon season I managed to get burnt).
I should also add that the crossing took its first (and thankfully only) casualty - even though it was flat calm one of the cabin toilets shattered into 4 pieces and the water steadily made its way down the corridor into other cabins…nice!
As for the diving, the visibility in the Male atoll was clearer (approx 25m) but I personally was not impressed with what I saw - I have seen more colour and fish life in the Red Sea. The guide believes that there is some form of virus around as some of the sites we visited were covered in dead blue trigger fish ('Fish Head' was one such site). Ari Atoll appealed to me more because the dive sites we visited were more scenic - large gorgonians (sea fans) and mussels which must have easily been 1m in length, along with massive gropers and table corals. That said the rest of the party were not impressed with my favourite dive because we were not diving the site we were briefed on (the guide got lost blaming it on poor visibility which made me smile as it was approx 15m). Yes we saw the usual white tip sharks, turtles and octopus but I found it hard to get excited about this because I have seen it all before.
I should also add that the crossing took its first (and thankfully only) casualty - even though it was flat calm one of the cabin toilets shattered into 4 pieces and the water steadily made its way down the corridor into other cabins…nice!
As for the diving, the visibility in the Male atoll was clearer (approx 25m) but I personally was not impressed with what I saw - I have seen more colour and fish life in the Red Sea. The guide believes that there is some form of virus around as some of the sites we visited were covered in dead blue trigger fish ('Fish Head' was one such site). Ari Atoll appealed to me more because the dive sites we visited were more scenic - large gorgonians (sea fans) and mussels which must have easily been 1m in length, along with massive gropers and table corals. That said the rest of the party were not impressed with my favourite dive because we were not diving the site we were briefed on (the guide got lost blaming it on poor visibility which made me smile as it was approx 15m). Yes we saw the usual white tip sharks, turtles and octopus but I found it hard to get excited about this because I have seen it all before.
What I did get excited about though was the 'Manta Point' dive, here you hold onto dead corals at 20m and wait, suddenly Mantas appear and sweep over you. The first dive I counted 5 but the second (and morning) dive I lost count after 14! We had hoped to see whale sharks but due to weather conditions we were told it would be unlikely so never made our way to the SW of the Ari atoll.
All in all, I am glad I went (I have a stamp in my passport) but I personally feel that the Maldives is over-rated and I have no plan to return again (I have even turned down compensation to the tune of 20% off a return trip from the Dive Operator). My next big excursion will be to dive Cuba, if anyone is interested in joining me….
By Jo Brooks. October 2007.
All in all, I am glad I went (I have a stamp in my passport) but I personally feel that the Maldives is over-rated and I have no plan to return again (I have even turned down compensation to the tune of 20% off a return trip from the Dive Operator). My next big excursion will be to dive Cuba, if anyone is interested in joining me….
By Jo Brooks. October 2007.