General questions about the Maldives ...

[Nishan]

Another boat option is Manthiri. one of the older boats but great DM's who have an excellent knowledge of sites and conditions. a resort with a good house reef is Ellaidhoo in Ari. these are just some i know so might have lots of other good options. but the resorts are expensive and generally become far more costly than a liveaboard. keep in mind that on most resorts you often have to pay a boat fee on top of the dive price for each dive. from what i have heard the smaller boats are the way to go above the luxury options that dive easy sites.

the 3 dives/day system is based on logistics and trying to get divers to the best sites at the right time. some boats do 4-5 dives/day but tend to stay in a limited area. these tend to be the more luxurious boats that cater more to the N. American market. as already mentioned by some its about patience and picking the right conditions, and i for one prefer quality over quantity.

 

[gee13]

Bob, I went on a 7 day LOB with Eagle Ray ex Male, then transited to Eriyadu Resort for 4 nights via speedboat (40 min) It was subtantially much cheaper than catching a seaplane to the other resorts, I had Villamendhoo and Kuredu in mind prior but seaplane prices put me off.

This was a pretty good combination, that's if you are fine with mingling with predominantly German divers in Eriyadu. I would confidently say that for a resort the house reef there was excellent and even snorkelling up to the dropoff was equally as good with healthy corals and fish life. I had the best night dive there with a gentle drift round the island in 60 minutes. Max depth to 25m. Eriyadu certainly had a remote feel being furthest north of Male Atoll and the dive sites were pretty good.

I would say do the resort first, then LOB because once Id gone all round Ari Atoll, diving in North Male Atoll didnt compare. IT was still all pretty fantastic though.