MALDIVES, live aboard ROUTE suggestions ?

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curamax

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Messages
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Location
México
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200 - 499
Hi, can some one help me with route suggestions

I´m planning a trip around feb or march


how´s the "deep south" route ?
(its about sharks) , its comparable to cocos, or galapagos ?

or its best to dive around the more popular atolls
How about Ari atoll ? its colorfull reef ? its similar to the caribbean ?

or which other atoll its worth to visit

I will appreciate any info or advice. my favorite dives are with sharks but also could be great some colorfull reefs

thanks
 
This is an almost impossible comparison, but in general The Maldives is a lot better ”reef diving” than the caribbean. Diversity of fish and coral is much greater. When it comes to sharks and rays, not as good as Galapagos or Cocos, but a lot better than most places in SEA. Stuff like grey reef sharks (most atolls), manta rays (many atolls) and even whale sharks (Ari+a few others) are fairly common (seasonally) even near the ”touristy” areas. Hammerheads seen in a few spots regularly, but not like in Darwin and Wolf, Cocos or The Sudan. Tigers common in one or a few specific spots in the South where they are encontered regularly (haven’t been, name escapes me).
 
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I have done the Central atols or "best of maldives" as well as the "Sharktastic" routes with Emperor divers liveaboards. The central atols route only goes as far south as Vaavu atoll and the turns to Soth Ari and works it way back up to north Ari and then back to male. The Sharktastic route goes down a bit further to Meemu Atol before turning to south Ari and working its way back up to male. The deep south routes start in the south Lamu and go even further south down to Addu atoll. From a diving perspective the Central maldives or best of maldives iternary is a good introduction to all the different types of diving in the maldives.. includes Channel dives where u will see plenty of sharks.. also includes more traditional reef sites etc. The Sharktastic route is more focused on channel dives where u basically hook into the mouth of a channel and watch the shark action on the edge of the channel. White tips, grey reefs and nurse sharks encountered commonly all iternaries... from what i hear the far south trips have a higher chance to see other types of shatks like tigers etc. The further south sites are said to have stronger currents as well.
If you are a first time visitor to the maldives the central route is a good idea since it gives you a good flavor of maldives diving and is also convinient as it starts/ends in male next to the airport. Both routes that i went on visited sites where Manta and whale shark sightings are common. The night dive at Alimantha resort reef is just amazing with nurse sharks and rays all around you in shallow water. Definately recommend Emperor Divers! Good value for money and they run a good/safety conscious dive operation. I definately plan to return amd hopefully do the deep south trip.
 

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