Orion cabins

We are trying to decide on which cabin to book on the Orion in September. We have been offered the standard cabin, the junior suite, and the executive cabin. We love to have a door to the outside and it looks like the only cabin that has this is the executive cabin. We know the executive cabin has a small sun lounger area with a jacuzzi which I suppose would be nice for me as I dont dive.

Its a couple of hundred euro more. We are just trying to figure out if its worth it...also trying to figure out if we are mad going in September if the weather is going to be bad ? So difficult to decide where to go diving in September as we dont really want to go back to the Red Sea.

Any suggestions would be most welcome !

Thanks

Hi Scarke, It's your call on the cabin accommodation but the Executive suite on Orion is lovely. It is nice to be in the highest quality cabin on any boat. Makes you feel like 'King and Queen of the castle!'

As for September - yes it is during the Southwest monsoon, but that's not all bad. Here is what we say about that time of year. Hope it helps:

June to November is the southwest monsoon and the above process is reversed: currents from through the channels in an easterly direction; mantas to the east, reef sharks and better visibility to the west.

It is at this time when the skies are cloudier, the winds are stronger and seas a little rougher, although the season does still get nice, sunny spells. Surface swells can reach 1-2m, particularly during the rainy season in June/July, when rain falls on average 3-4 hours per day, and during the monsoon transitions in late May and early December.
Water temperature are fairly constant throughout the year at 26-29°C, except in the Far South, where the water temperature can drop to 24°C during the northeast monsoon.
Having said all that, like most places in the world, the seasons in the Maldives have become less predictable in recent years.
Mantas, whale sharks, turtles, reef sharks and hammerhead sharks and found in the Maldives all year round; if anything, manta rays are found in even greater numbers in the southwest monsoon. As for the other big creatures, encounters are dependent on non-seasonal factors: whale sharks are more frequently sighted at high tide, and hammerhead sharks ascend to shallower water at sunrise.
The exception to this is at Hanifaru Bay, usually betwwen August and November, when hundreds of manta rays and some whale sharks gather on the eastern side of Baa, where vast plankton fields accumulate. The area has been declared a marine reserve and current regulations permit snorkeling only for a maximum of 60 persons at a time.