Utila Simon
Contributor
Spent some time on the Maldives Aggressor in November and had a great time, thought i would tell y'all about it (in brief) as no-one else seems to have!
The yacht is 120 foot sailing vessel, although the sails are, quite frankly, a bit cosmetic (as they tend to be on this kind of vessel). You will see them for around 15 minutes per week for a photo-op. She was completed around 12 months ago in Turkey and then sailed down to the Maldives, narrowly avoiding being hijacked by Somali Pirates (really!).
Sadly she shows one or two signs of poor Turkish construction already, but in the main she is very pretty and very comfortable, both inside and out.
The crew, led by Capt Hussain and Capt Belinda (go Bee!), took excellent care of us. A total of 13 (yes thirteen, including dhoni crew) fed us well- and we particularly appreciated the Maldivean Night- took care of us underwater and generally pampered us. The diving was conducted from a 60 foot Dhoni which was more than adequate for the job, and all our gear stayed there for the duration of the week.
Underwater, well it was the Maldives. We arrived the week after a huge storm had battered the place so vis was pretty bad but Manta Point was a favorite for all and Capt Bee showed great flexibility by changing the schedule at our request to go back there for a second dive at the end of the week. No Whale Sharks this time, but always the potential, and the drift diving was above average and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
In short-
Ship- 4/5 (one or two area of poor construction)
Crew- 5/5 (lots of smiles and good humor)
Food- 4/5 (had better, but it was good)
Service- 5/5 (loads of crew)
Diving- 4/5 (vis)
Its worth a go, but do your research, I hear some times of the year are better than others.
Check out our Manta video-
YouTube - Maldives Mantas.mov
All in my (ever so) humble opinion!
Simon
PS Am off to cocos for 3 weeks so no replies to questions til then!
The yacht is 120 foot sailing vessel, although the sails are, quite frankly, a bit cosmetic (as they tend to be on this kind of vessel). You will see them for around 15 minutes per week for a photo-op. She was completed around 12 months ago in Turkey and then sailed down to the Maldives, narrowly avoiding being hijacked by Somali Pirates (really!).
Sadly she shows one or two signs of poor Turkish construction already, but in the main she is very pretty and very comfortable, both inside and out.
The crew, led by Capt Hussain and Capt Belinda (go Bee!), took excellent care of us. A total of 13 (yes thirteen, including dhoni crew) fed us well- and we particularly appreciated the Maldivean Night- took care of us underwater and generally pampered us. The diving was conducted from a 60 foot Dhoni which was more than adequate for the job, and all our gear stayed there for the duration of the week.
Underwater, well it was the Maldives. We arrived the week after a huge storm had battered the place so vis was pretty bad but Manta Point was a favorite for all and Capt Bee showed great flexibility by changing the schedule at our request to go back there for a second dive at the end of the week. No Whale Sharks this time, but always the potential, and the drift diving was above average and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
In short-
Ship- 4/5 (one or two area of poor construction)
Crew- 5/5 (lots of smiles and good humor)
Food- 4/5 (had better, but it was good)
Service- 5/5 (loads of crew)
Diving- 4/5 (vis)
Its worth a go, but do your research, I hear some times of the year are better than others.
Check out our Manta video-
YouTube - Maldives Mantas.mov
All in my (ever so) humble opinion!
Simon
PS Am off to cocos for 3 weeks so no replies to questions til then!