Bonaire versus Maldives versus Palau?

[@sea]

MVORION is still very new. Don’t know much about the operation of the boat. Or who really operates it and how much experience he/she has in tourism industry. These can be important when you have zero feedback boat.

If it was for me i would wait a bit more to see how the reactions are from other clients before going for a dive cruise on a new boat and new management as there are many other boats.

Cause almost all the liveboards do diving on the same dive sites. Most common atoll which all Liveaboards in the Maldives do diving are ARI ATOLL,VAAVU ATOLL,BAA ATOLL & MEEMU ATOLL.
These could the most cruised atolls for the liveaboards. But some boats occasionally go to the very north and the south of Maldives too. So even the 2 star and the 5 star boats does the same dive sites when you are in the same area.

When choosing a new boat make sure they have experienced dive guides. Cause the 5 star can easily become a 3 star due to lack of experience from the crew or guides.

Price is high compared to most of the other boats and so should be easy to get a boat for at least $50-$150 less per day which has been in the market and others had experienced it and have commented on it. But less of the luxury services provided. Question is do you need a Jacuzzi,Spa etc.. when you are on a dive cruise of a week or two, specially when you make 3 dives or more a day.

This is my point of view yours could be very much different.

Have fun

 

[BigBothersom]

I'd say HorseHockey as well to State Dept warnings about the Maldives.
I've traveled to Canada and been treated like crap because we're from America...especially when we invaded Iraq. Yet clearly not all Canadians are ********s. Most of them were very nice. Their beer rocks! So does their west coast diving by the way.
I'd dive the Maldives in a heartbeat. I'm there to dive, not be a freakin missionary.
Plenty-o-Muslims in the Philippines as well by the way.
The State Dept is full of crap...they usually are.
I'll be returning to Palau in a couple of weeks and couldn't be more excited.
Its far and above my favorite dive location so far, and I'd do it as a single in a heartbeat.
I've also dived Truk lagoon. You want danger? Try going into a locals bar at night time and make it clear you're a Westerner. You WILL get your ass kicked, and not by a Muslim.

 

[Vcelson]

I have been to Palau, Maldives (2 times) and Bonaire. Bonaire is not comparable to Palau or Maldives. I loved Palau, but found it expensive and difficult to get to. I wouldn't go to Maldives, I'd go to Indonesia. Sumatra (Lembe and Manado) -for the next land based trip if I were you, or Sangalaki, Derawan and Manatua on the Panunee. My husband and I are still great fans of the Panunee Panunee Co., Ltd. - Panunee Yacht which had fabulous food, a happy friendly crew and great route in Indonesia. We saw Mantas, a tornado-like configuration of a thousand barracuda, a jelly fish lake and pygmy sea horses, as well as a gazillion varieties of large and small fish including Mandarin fish and jaw fish releasing their eggs. The thing I liked the best, though was the clear water and the nudibranches. The Panunee is only in Indonesia in the summer. Palau has more varieties of dives and more interesting places to explore like the jelly fish lake and cathedral cave the currents that make you feel like you're flying -and the airplane just outside Koror that is a wonderful little night dive. I am a big fan of Mandarin Fish which are easy to find in Palau and Lembe, but not available in Maldives. Maldives is about seeing millions of fish,and that's about it. The water is so clear in Palau that you feel like you can see forever, but Maldives lacked the clarity and everywhere we went there were at lease three other dive boats. The weird thing was that all the sites seemed pretty much the same: we looked for Mantas - and saw a million fish of a dozen different varieties. Pretty awesome the first 5 times.
My husband and I went on the MV Orion on its second outing and I do not recommend it. Lots of things were incomplete -No Nitrox, very poor air conditioning, very hot lighting, no WIFI, etc. Lots of promises for when we would leave one place and where we would go, Then it all changed without explanation. Many fewer dives than promised. Briefings weren't usually when they was supposed to take place - we were always waiting for someone or something, or the time had changed. The dive crew didn't seem experienced and spoke no english spanish or french - I tried all three. Charades didn't seem to work either, but they did understand the owner/dive master, Hasan, who is Maldivian and a really nice guy. I was told he was supposed to be on another boat and they had hired a new dive master that wasn't Maldivian who would be joining the crew soon.
It bothered me that the owners/ dive masters, Alex from Hong Kong, and Hasan split the "tips" for the diving and the "tips" for the crew are split by more than 12 people. Also, all the dives seemed pretty much the same, even though we visited 3 Atolls.
The cook was great, and the service in the dining room was good, but the coffee and tea that was available all day was never hot unless you asked someone.

Goodluck