bubblebokeh
New
Quick version, loved the diving, loved the liveaboard, and we didn't see Whale sharks. The crew did spend two days looking for whale sharks for a few hours each day. Each time we came up on a whale shark it had dived down back into the deep before we could get in the water. We did get to see a marlin swim through a bait ball before disappearing in to the blue, a hammerhead shark, and Napoleon wrasse or bumphead wrasse, all three I haven't seen before.
Pictures:
2016.04 Maldives
Olympus e-pl1, olympus UFL-2 strobe, olympus pt-ep01 camera housing
disclaimer - I just a bought an old used rig off craigslist before, the trip and these pictures were the very first pictures I took with it. Lots of room for improvement. I didn't even have a chance to practice before this trip. I have pictures from my point and shoot rig that are better.
Background:
I have done 200+ dives, my wife 40+ dives. I have been to Galapagos, Blackbird Caye and San Pedro - Belize, Hawaii - Big Island, Maui, Utila, Roatan, Cozumel, Bonaire, Thailand, Taiwan, Bali.
Liveaboard:
MV Stingray - this was my second liveaboard, the first was a backpacker type liveaboard in Thailand, the Octavia which I also loved. This one was fancier with a dhoni for diving and en suite bathrooms. This was my wife's first liveaboard and though the trip was one or two days too long for her, she isn't opposed to liveaboard vacations in the future so that's a good sign.
There were 10 divers total, with people visiting from Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Amsterdam.
The food was great, the liveaboard catered to the international guests. The crew eats local cuisine, which my wife preferred and loved trying out since she is a big foodie. The fish is caught while we are diving and thus really fresh. We even had some fresh white snapper sashimi that was delicious.
The dive schedule was great 3-4 dives a day. The total was 18 dives. The first and last nights were spent at docked at the main marina near the airport/Male at Hulhumale. There was a morning dive before breakfast, which I preferred since I don't like diving on an empty stomach. There were two night dives. One night dive was a nurse shark feed, with hundreds of nurse sharks swimming overhead. There were also lots of trevallies and sting rays in the mix. We did try on two different days for whale sharks, but like I stated earlier, it just wasn't in the numbers, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
The rooms were great with a double and a single bed on a semi-loft so to room would have comfortably slept 3 people. The bathroom were en suite. The showers were scalding hot if desired, and had plenty of pressure. The electricity worked without problems with our 220V to 110V converter that we bought off amazon.com.
The check out dive was easy and perfect, no current, not much coral/fish life to crash into. Then the dives were great and each very unique. We did channel dives, wall dives, and pinnacle dives. The manta cleaning station was crazy fast current and everyone should have a reef hook. The dive is pretty awesome seeing the manta's swoop into the current and hangout right next to you almost motionless, but after doing the Kona Manta Madness dive, its hard to be impressed with manta rays.
The dive masters gave very detailed dive briefings, they jumped in the water to check the current before each dive, and dropped us in the water accordingly. The bottom time was great as divers were sent up in a pairs as you ran out of air. They have dive balloons/buoys they can hand out dive pairs. The bottom times were all up to 1 hour. The dive masters King, Siddi (spelling), Maus (pronounced mouse) where excellent. We dropped in the deep blue looking for hammerheads at 530 am, and sure enough we saw hammerhead sharks.
The reef life was amazing. I have never seen so many fish before. The coral life was amazing as well. There was a dive site where the entire top of the pinnacle was covered in live/growing table corals. The hard coral life is probably second only to Menangjang Bali or about Thailand, and the soft coral life is second to Bonaire. But here is not place like Bonaire. But again I have never seen so many fish anywhere.
I picked this dive boat because of the price, en suite bathrooms and wooden hull. I am not disappointed and would love to go back to the Maldives, but it is probably our only trip out there since it takes so long to get there from Los Angeles.
The boat was great, the food was great, the diving was great, and the rooms were great. The A/C in the rooms worked no problems. The crew was crazy attentive. And the other guests were a blast and in great spirits. We had fun sharing stories, recommending dive locations, and drinking games. I had a blast and most importantly, my wife said her first liveaboard experience won't be her last.
Pictures:
2016.04 Maldives
Olympus e-pl1, olympus UFL-2 strobe, olympus pt-ep01 camera housing
disclaimer - I just a bought an old used rig off craigslist before, the trip and these pictures were the very first pictures I took with it. Lots of room for improvement. I didn't even have a chance to practice before this trip. I have pictures from my point and shoot rig that are better.
Background:
I have done 200+ dives, my wife 40+ dives. I have been to Galapagos, Blackbird Caye and San Pedro - Belize, Hawaii - Big Island, Maui, Utila, Roatan, Cozumel, Bonaire, Thailand, Taiwan, Bali.
Liveaboard:
MV Stingray - this was my second liveaboard, the first was a backpacker type liveaboard in Thailand, the Octavia which I also loved. This one was fancier with a dhoni for diving and en suite bathrooms. This was my wife's first liveaboard and though the trip was one or two days too long for her, she isn't opposed to liveaboard vacations in the future so that's a good sign.
There were 10 divers total, with people visiting from Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Amsterdam.
The food was great, the liveaboard catered to the international guests. The crew eats local cuisine, which my wife preferred and loved trying out since she is a big foodie. The fish is caught while we are diving and thus really fresh. We even had some fresh white snapper sashimi that was delicious.
The dive schedule was great 3-4 dives a day. The total was 18 dives. The first and last nights were spent at docked at the main marina near the airport/Male at Hulhumale. There was a morning dive before breakfast, which I preferred since I don't like diving on an empty stomach. There were two night dives. One night dive was a nurse shark feed, with hundreds of nurse sharks swimming overhead. There were also lots of trevallies and sting rays in the mix. We did try on two different days for whale sharks, but like I stated earlier, it just wasn't in the numbers, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
The rooms were great with a double and a single bed on a semi-loft so to room would have comfortably slept 3 people. The bathroom were en suite. The showers were scalding hot if desired, and had plenty of pressure. The electricity worked without problems with our 220V to 110V converter that we bought off amazon.com.
The check out dive was easy and perfect, no current, not much coral/fish life to crash into. Then the dives were great and each very unique. We did channel dives, wall dives, and pinnacle dives. The manta cleaning station was crazy fast current and everyone should have a reef hook. The dive is pretty awesome seeing the manta's swoop into the current and hangout right next to you almost motionless, but after doing the Kona Manta Madness dive, its hard to be impressed with manta rays.
The dive masters gave very detailed dive briefings, they jumped in the water to check the current before each dive, and dropped us in the water accordingly. The bottom time was great as divers were sent up in a pairs as you ran out of air. They have dive balloons/buoys they can hand out dive pairs. The bottom times were all up to 1 hour. The dive masters King, Siddi (spelling), Maus (pronounced mouse) where excellent. We dropped in the deep blue looking for hammerheads at 530 am, and sure enough we saw hammerhead sharks.
The reef life was amazing. I have never seen so many fish before. The coral life was amazing as well. There was a dive site where the entire top of the pinnacle was covered in live/growing table corals. The hard coral life is probably second only to Menangjang Bali or about Thailand, and the soft coral life is second to Bonaire. But here is not place like Bonaire. But again I have never seen so many fish anywhere.
I picked this dive boat because of the price, en suite bathrooms and wooden hull. I am not disappointed and would love to go back to the Maldives, but it is probably our only trip out there since it takes so long to get there from Los Angeles.
The boat was great, the food was great, the diving was great, and the rooms were great. The A/C in the rooms worked no problems. The crew was crazy attentive. And the other guests were a blast and in great spirits. We had fun sharing stories, recommending dive locations, and drinking games. I had a blast and most importantly, my wife said her first liveaboard experience won't be her last.
