Maldives for new and experienced divers

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Big fish63

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I'm planning on visiting the Maldives in February for 2 weeks with my girlfriend. I am an experienced diver and she is newly certified, who doesn't want to spend her whole holiday under the water :-( . Would somebody be able to point me in the right direction of a location that would keep us both happy. I'm looking for big pelagics, schools of gt's, sharks and some drifts to get the adrenaline going. My girlfriend would like to some easy diving with scenic reef life.

Is there somewhere that offers this contrast?

Im hoping someone can help, ive done a lot of diving but the Maldives is a new adventure for me.
 
The Maldives certainly had a good mix of high-octane drifts and leisurely reefs. I think in that respect it's a great choice.

One thing to note though, there is very little else to do there. Apart from dolphin spotting on a boat (which you get to do between dives anyway) and the odd crab racing evening there isn't a lot else to do.

If your girlfriend likes lying in the sun and relaxing, she'll have a ball. If she's more of a sight-seeing type then she'll be bored senseless. Of course, that may mean you can get her in the water more often!!

Hope that helps x


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
I would agree with krazyklaws, there's not many resorts or liveaboards in the Maldives that wont be able to give you the mix of diving your after. You may want to think about a liveaboard and resort combo. 2 weeks at 1 resort although it's a beautiful place would drive me crazy! There is very little to do apart from sunbathe and swim. If your g/f got certified where the diving wasn't great then after a few dives in the Maldives her outlook may completely change (fingers crossed for you on that one).
 
Every dive in the Maldives is a drift dive. It doesn't mean you will have crazy current during every dive, but that you will enter the water at a point A and exit at a point B with your guide blowing a smb at the surface in order for the boat to pick you up.

Usually advanced dive are on the morning and easier dives on the afternoon.
That said, some land based dive centres have one boat leaving for a 2 tank dives on the morning for advanced divers, then another boat leaving later (somewhere around 10:00am) for one tank dive on an easier dive site, and another dive during the afternoon.
Some dive centre do 1 thank morning, one tank afternoon. Some do 2 tank morning every day, some only on demand.

You have a few different type of dive sites in the Maldives in general:

-the kandu (channel) where strong current can occur. Usually better (and safer) with an incoming current, some can be dived with an outgoing current (e.g Madivaru in South Ari Atoll during mantas season) I would be very carefull to dive a kandu during the afternoon with an outgoing current; if the sun is low, the current strong and the wind present, swell and sun can make a diver very difficult to spot for the boat, even with a big smb. With an outgoing curent, you will be drifting outside the atoll, the sunset is around 18:30 and the next continents are Africa or Indonesia.
Incredibly rewarding dives when the right conditions are there.
With less current, depending of the depth, some kandu might be accessible to beginners.

-the thila/haa (pinnacle): strong current can occur as well, as they are usually not too far from a kandu. It's like an oasis in the middle of the desert, and it's concentrating a lot's of life. Some start shallow (a few meters bellow the surface) some start much deeper (+/-20m on the top); thus, some are accessible to beginner, some are not.
Beautifull and rewarding dives with the right conditions.

-the giri/faru: very shallow reefs on the top, very good for snorkeling, DSD, beginner divers. Can be very big/long or small. Usually chilled dives.

-house-reef dives: you can dive the house-reef of the island you will be, and some dive site of the dive centre might include some house-reef from other close-by islands.
It's usually very misleading, as every body assume it's a house-reef, so it will be boring. Some house-reefs are incredibly rich, and it's worth to have a look to some of them.
Usually chilled dive as well.

However, it's the Maldives so current can be present during giri/faru or house-reef dives.

Advanced divers and beginners can find what suits them best, but not necessarily on the same boat, depends of the conditions (current, depth...)
Usually, other activities are available: water-sport (wind-surf, kayak, banana ride etc), snorkeling, fishing, sunset cruise etc... and the spa.
Of course, all that comes with extra costs...
 
Haha you all have me sussed already. My girlfriend is trusting me to plan this trip and has told me she doesn't want to spend it all underwater. . I have other ideas :) .. She can't sit still for more than a couple of minutes anyway, she's not the lying in the sun allday type but she really wants to go to the maldives, so I'll be doing her a favour by booking lots of diving to keep her busy ;-) . She loves doing activities and marine life. She just needs to experience some world class diving. If possible id like to do a dive or two with the chance to see mantas, is this going to be possible here with her limited diving skills or are manta sites usually snorkeling?

Could someone throw some resorts at me suitable for a medium budget. If it was up to me it would be a liveaboard, but this is our first holiday together and I haven't seen how she is on the water... and she has said no to a week on the water haha
 
Define your price range and you'll get better information...
 
About £2000 each. Ideally less. We're no fussy when it comes to accommodation. A hot shower would be nice.
 
2000 for the whole trip? Might not be enough in the Maldives.

One great resort is Soneva Fushi Resort & Residences as they are located in the Baa Atoll area where the UNESCO Biosphere is. A manta point is near it too.

They have a diving center (Soleni Dive Center ) and a nice house reef, but its not a cheap accommodation. They also have several experiences or activities if your girlfriend doesn't want to spend all day in the water like cruises or picnics.
 
£1000 for flights and £3000 for 2weeks accommodation and diving split between us. If I can't get anything for £4000 that's insane. Are all you guys millionaires, point me in the direction of the money tree...

---------- Post added October 14th, 2013 at 04:56 PM ----------

Soneva fushi villa $20000 ha ha
 
US$6000 (if I'm not mistaken it's more or less 4000 pounds) in high season, so everything is more expensive, including everything (flights, accommodation, food, drinks, transfer + taxes -and there are many = 8%GST, 10%service charge and US$8 per head and per night of bed tax) for 2 persons might be tight...

Maybe have a look at some places such as Equator village in Addu, but the tranfer (domestic flight) will increase as it's in the south of the Maldives. As soon as you need a transfer by seaplane, speed boat or domestic plane, the prices go up very quickly.

You can also have a look at guesthouses on local islands, but even if it can be great and the diving will be the same, it's really different than a resort and different rules apply (e.g alcohol is not allowed, as well as bikinis on public beaches.) It's a different choice.

The Maldives are one of theses places where the "you get what you paid for" is really true.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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