Maldives live aboards

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scubajunky17

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Messages
417
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Location
Wales
# of dives
200 - 499
HI,
Do all the maldives liveaboards depart from Male ? I'm heading there in July / August. Is it possible to find budget accommodation in Male ?
Which are the best atolls to go to for diving?
I'm into Palegics, thanks in advance.
 
Most standard trips depart from Male. A few that do the far north or far south are based in those atolls and you take a domestic flight out to join them. Have heard good things about the far north and south but have not been myself. Some members here have more experience than me so would know more.

Ari is probably the best all round atoll and the most popular among liveaboards. Tried and tested sites and they will cover most things like walls, reef sharks, mantas, schooling fish action, some nice coral, wrecks and maybe a whale shark. But some dive sites can also be crowded as this is a well beaten path. Overall the coral is not great due to bleaching but some sites can be colorful with lots of hard and soft coral. Some of the best shark action is in the channels where the reef is not pretty at all. A good boat will find a balance of sites.

I did some nice dives in Vaavu with steep walls and good pelagic action. Baa has loads of mantas during SW monsoon season but not as many sharks and the reefs i dived were not among the best in the Maldives.

July/August is low season so should have less crowds but its also windy so boats tend to stick to do the typical Male/South Male/Ari route. Not sure about serious budget accommodation in Male but should be able to find a basic room for about $50-60.

I'm heading there myself in July :)
 
Yeah Nishan is right. Most of the liveaboards do leave from Male and concentrate on the central atolls. Some do the southern atolls and some northern and far northern atolls. These usually require a sea plane flight to the point of departure. The sea plane flights are awesome. Most budget-conscious divers go for the central atolls trips. The majority of itineraries in this area take in North Male, South Male and Ari atoll.

As for accommodation in Male, it is not the most value for money places to stay. I would limit my time here to 1 night or so. Check Agoda for prices.
 
You can get relatively cheap guesthouse-type places to stay on Hulhule (the airport island), but it's only good just to sleep. There's nothing there at all--even a mini-mart is hard to come by, and you need to be aware that many of these cheap places charge extra for transfers between the airport and the guesthouse. If you decide to stay on Male itself, you can store your bags at the airport baggage service (go to the info desk to call the guy to open it up), and then take the ferry boat over with an overnight bag so you don't have to drag stuff around with you when you get off the ferry.
 
As stated before- the cheaper guesthouses tend to be around $60/night in Male. Personally I'd give Male a miss, and plan to spend a night one either Hulhule Is. or Maafushi Is. which has plenty of guesthouses to choose from. Maafushi requires a ferry ($3 I think) but is worth it (I think).

I would just do the 'normal' route for diving. It shouldn't be too crowded at that time of year but the topside conditions can be not nice. Diving the western side of the atolls will give better viz and grey reef sharks, the eastern side has more plankton feeders at that time of year.

Try your best to create a warm and cooperative atmosphere on the boat and communicate with each other- including the guide/captain. They will try to give you what you're after, but don't read minds.

Know that channel dives are often advanced dives. This doesn't mean Advanced OW dives:) but rather very challenging dives- you have to swim efficiently to handle the currents. Too many novices are booking liveaboards and expecting the best of the Maldives sites, when (to be blunt) they are not capable of making the dives safely. Sites are chosen based on weather conditions and diver ability.
 
Thanks for everyone's tips so far. Does anyone know what days the liveaboards tend to depart on ? are there many different liveaboards and lot's of dive operators based in Male where I can walk around and try and negotiate a bargain ? Where is the best place for Manta action ? I would love to see a big school , I will be there in July / August possibly.
 
Baa Atoll's Hanifaru Bay is the best place to see many mantas together in a feeding situation- note that this is different from a cleaning station where things are much quieter. Mantas feeding can be pretty energetic. I have seen 30+ in North Ari as well but impossible to predict with any accuracy as there are too many variables regarding plankton density and exactly when/ where they'll show up. Your best bet to see mantas IMO are at the traditional cleaning stations- South Ari is pretty consistant. Google 'Hanifaru' for more info.

i wouldn't recommend trying to negotiate anything here. Liveaboards are run to schedules- they won't be waiting in Male until someone else just happens to sign up. There is not a jetty like Travco in Sharm el Sheikh with boats. The liveaboards are all at anchor out im deeper water and smaller ferry boats run you to and fro. Book the liveaboard in advance. This is the way the 'system' works here in the Maldives.
 
Can day diving get you access to these diving sites or is it liveaboard only ? I will always chance my luck with last minute deals on liveaboards. I have never come unstuck so far as I am alone and have had some great bargains. How many liveaboard operators are there ?

---------- Post added June 3rd, 2013 at 04:18 AM ----------

Also can July August be potentially good for mantas ? Thanks for any help.How does tha Maldives compare with the Andaman Islands ?
 
There are about 85 liveaboards. Some just cruise/fish; some take surfers; some take divers. Some operators have more than one boat, so maybe 60 operators or so. Many of them are available only for full charter. As well, many of them appeal to particular nationality groups, so that all the other guests may be Russian, or Italian, for example. It's not exactly simple to find a boat that has all the characteristics desired at the right time and for the right price.

The thing with the Maldives is that it's not really a backpacker or last-minute sort of destination, so the operators, boats, resorts, and agencies don't organize their sales that way. When you get there, perhaps you can look in the yellow pages for a list of 30-35 operators and phone them to find out about upcoming join-in cruises and rates.
 
As Quero says, Maldivian tourism in general is pre-booked. Until very recently tourism was confined to tiny resort islands (walk around the whole island in 20mins kind of small). So tourists pre-booked their stay- you can't just take a $350 seaplane to a random resort and hope they have a spare room.

Now there is the option to stay for fairly cheap near Male on a local island with guesthouses. Note that these islands are subject to Islamic law- no alcohol, no bikinis etc. I suppose you could stay at one of these places and go to Male on a daytrip and try to find a liveaboard. I personally don't recommend it, but your choice.

For a brief description of the types of reefs commonly dived, have a look at my website:
General Conditions.
Channels
Pinnacles
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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