Shasta_man
Contributor
We did Taveuni and Northern Fiji in 2004 and Palau in 2005 and found them to be similar in soft corals. If you're comparing the current areas.
In Taveuni, we had torrential rain for 6 out of 9 days, so our experience there wasn't great. The last day of beautiful sun showed Somosomo Strait could be like a lake though. Fiji people were fantastic but we had a lot of rain so we didn't get the full tropical water experience.
Palau had great weather for us and the dive sites are close together. A liveaboard is a necessity in Palau if you want to avoid hour long rides out to the sites from the city. However, you get great value for your money as you get many dives on the liveaboard. The dives down off Peleliu are the most exciting. Hook dives can be the easiest dives you ever do.
Given the choice, I'd take Palau for so many dives easily accessible.
In Taveuni, we had torrential rain for 6 out of 9 days, so our experience there wasn't great. The last day of beautiful sun showed Somosomo Strait could be like a lake though. Fiji people were fantastic but we had a lot of rain so we didn't get the full tropical water experience.
Palau had great weather for us and the dive sites are close together. A liveaboard is a necessity in Palau if you want to avoid hour long rides out to the sites from the city. However, you get great value for your money as you get many dives on the liveaboard. The dives down off Peleliu are the most exciting. Hook dives can be the easiest dives you ever do.
Given the choice, I'd take Palau for so many dives easily accessible.
circusoflife:Date Mar.28 - April 9th, 2005
Safari Boat Handhufalhi (Broke down on 2nd day) Slept first 3 nights, then last night spent on board upon returning to Male area (Boat repaired by then). Congested, claustrophobic boat. Not much outdoor space with protection from sun either.
24m x 7m
Transferred to Blue Shark Two Excellent roomy boat! Great food! 3N/4 Days ; 32.8mx11m
Good food on both boats. Blue Shark Two even has a bar!
This was my first liveaboard. I will definitely pay attention to both the length and width of any future boat.
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I recently returned a few days ago from a trip to the Maldives. I did 4 Male based dives and about 20 liveaboard / safari boat dives. I must say I am unimpressed by the quality of diving I experienced in the Maldives. I was so underwhelmed by my much higher expectations. Can someone sympathize?
Of the 8 other people with me on the safari boat an Israeli couple also concurred with me. They had been to Palau last year, as I had too. We both made continual references back to Palau. From my readings on the Internet I had expected the Maldives diving experience to exceed Palau. Tis' not to be.
None of the others (5 French, 1 Israeli, 1 Kiwi) had been to Palau. The Israeli couple preferred the Red Sea to the Maldives. My favorite site Kudarah Thila, the husband (Wife didn't dive it) said it was good, but not as good as what is in the Red Sea.
Here is a list of dive sites:
Male based Banana Reef (Tricky currents, not the best choice for the 2nd dive), Maa Giri, Kiki Reef, Furana Fushi South
Safari Boat Dives
N. Male Kurumba Reef check dive, Maldive Victory wreck
S. Male Kudagiri (An easy but satisfying site colorful thila and good visibility wreck)
Cocoa Corner (A channel swim/sprint no hanging around corner. Why not? Saw maybe 2-3 sharks far below), Guraidhoo Medhu Faru channel crossing (Why swim across the channel?? Didn't see anything!!), Medhu Faru boring drift, Embudhoo Kandu (1 of only 2 sites that matched my expectations though I expected better coral coverage. Seeing 20-25 white tip sharks from the accessible bottom (35 meters) is good though. Along with a large Napoleon and good sized turtle while drifting)
Rasdhoo Atoll 3 dives here including a fruitless early AM hammerhead search (Supposed to be only 1 dive, but safari boat broke down)
Ari Atoll Rangveli Mandivaru (Manta search saw 1 giant one)
Maamigili Out, Sun Island Out, Ranveli Thila, Villamendhoo Thila
Whale Shark chase snorkeling...saw one on 2 different swims, but far too much of a circus. Did this for 2 days in a row!
Kudarah Thila (Excellent site! 1 of only 2 total that matched my expectations)
We missed Maaya Thila and Fish Head due to the safari boat breaking down. We transferred (3.5 hours!!! in a dhoni at 5am) to another, better boat, that had already dived these sites the prior day. My understanding is that these are two of the best Thilas and similar to Kudarah....true??
Skipped a night dive due to fatigue/rest and a repeat of Rangveli Mandivaru.
A few thoughts:
1)While I know there are many other atolls possibly with expectation beating sites in the Maldives, the tricky thing about the Maldives is that all the sites are spread apart as opposed to Palau and other destinations (Red Sea?) where the top sites are more closely grouped.
2)Boats cannot travel at night due to atolls, thus forcing more time at a particular location than what is ideal.
3)Day diving from Male is problematic (At least at the dive operator I used Sea Explorers) as the morning dive is separated from the afternoon dive by having to return to Male. And often the boat needs to pick up somebody at the airport which necessitates a Northern Male dive as opposed to a trip to Upper South Male Atoll.
4)Safari boat did not go anywhere the 1st day (1st night anchored by airport) as it had to wait for all passengers to arrive and board. More smoother would have been to have all passengers on board by early AM then head away from Male to do diving.
5)Male itself is quite congested and does not lend itself to being a restful place between diving or non-dive days.
Questions:
If my goal was to always see colorful soft coral with fish life, and pelagics only secondary which atolls are best?
Is Fiji a better bet for soft coral than the Maldives?
Are some of the sites I listed better pre 1998?