Can newbie divers enjoy diving in the Maldives?

[ssssnake529]

I'm looking for a trip to book in January.

My wife and I are newly certified divers.

We've already booked a week in Jamaica, and 2 weeks in Cozumel this summer and fall.

I'm trying to decide on a trip for us in January. The Maldives looks like a beautiful spot. Considering staying at a dive-centric resort for a week or so.

I mentioned the Maldives to a guy with a fair amount of scuba experience (who has never been to the Maldives.)

He was of the opinion that the Maldives is not a newbie friendly location and it would be borderline dangerous for us to try to dive there. He said we should go to Grand Cayman instead.

Is this true? Is the Maldives for expert divers only?

 

[stiebs]

I don't believe so. I went a few years (hmm, ok, quite a few years ago now). I was quite experienced already (mainly in conditions more challenging than tropic vacation diving), but some of the others in my trip only had limited dives under their belt.

No one on our trip had any issues.

There was one dive which was supposed to be a fast drift, but the DM mis-read the current so was more a casual float. Some wall dives dropped down to 45m+, which may make some newer divers anxious - but this is no different to anywhere else in the world.

The only dive that made me feel a little wary, especially thinking about the newer divers, was a hammerhead dive, where we dropped down to 35m about 250m off the atoll wall - which meant that there was blue all around and black down below, and no point of reference. That could get really disorientating for a beginner diver.

For the Maldives, I'd suggest looking into a liveaboard rather than a land based resort.

 

[Centrals]

I won't say it is dangerous.
LoB would be challenging for beginner divers. A lot of the dives(my experience) are in OW open water and current can be tricky.
Resort based is slightly different.
It would be a waste of time/money to come all the way and limited yourself.

 

[drk5036]

I'm looking for a trip to book in January.

My wife and I are newly certified divers.

We've already booked a week in Jamaica, and 2 weeks in Cozumel this summer and fall.

I'm trying to decide on a trip for us in January. The Maldives looks like a beautiful spot. Considering staying at a dive-centric resort for a week or so.

I mentioned the Maldives to a guy with a fair amount of scuba experience (who has never been to the Maldives.)

He was of the opinion that the Maldives is not a newbie friendly location and it would be borderline dangerous for us to try to dive there. He said we should go to Grand Cayman instead.

Is this true? Is the Maldives for expert divers only?

Assuming you get your open and advanced open, and do the trip to jamaica, and spend 2 weeks in cozumel, you probably won't even be the person with the least number of dives on the trip. Roundly, you'll probably be at about 50 dives or so by that point? As long as your money's green, they'll take you. And I think you should be able to handle yourself. The question is, will you enjoy it as much as if you had 100 or 150 dives under your belt? Maybe not. But assuming the money is no issue, which we've seen from your previous threads, I don't think there's any downside to going for you.

 

[Tippytoes12]

As above, if you get certified OW and AOW and do all the diving you have planned, theoretically you should be OK. But consider booking and paying for a private guide, because many of the dives in the Maldives are deep, so your air consumption may limit the time of the dives for other buddy pairs in your group. I have seen your previous posts, so assume that your budget is more than adequate for this.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

[...]
The only dive that made me feel a little wary, especially thinking about the newer divers, was a hammerhead dive, where we dropped down to 35m about 250m off the atoll wall - which meant that there was blue all around and black down below, and no point of reference. That could get really disorientating for a beginner diver.

Funny: i think, i did that dive as well many, many years ago.. Spooky, yes. But what a feeling when the hammerheads comes in...

[...]
For the Maldives, I'd suggest looking into a liveaboard rather than a land based resort.

Not sure... On a LOB you will have to go with the majority, skill wise. They will choose the spots depending on this and you may have some occasions where you have to stay on board.
Staying land base gives more options if there is a decent house reef: you can go alone, if DM approves, you can go with others/DM and you can choose some boat trips when they are suitable ones on the board.

 

[scubaozy]

If you want to get the best Maldives has to offer, you need to be experienced. It is certainly possible to enjoy as a beginner but you will miss out a lot, as, many dive sites are likely to be off limits for you. Eventually you will want to come back because you did not dive the Maldives yet ;-).

 

[admikar]

Funny: i think, i did that dive as well many, many years ago.. Spooky, yes. But what a feeling when the hammerheads comes in...


Not sure... On a LOB you will have to go with the majority, skill wise. They will choose the spots depending on this and you may have some occasions where you have to stay on board.
Staying land base gives more options if there is a decent house reef: you can go alone, if DM approves, you can go with others/DM and you can choose some boat trips when they are suitable ones on the board.

If you want to get the best Maldives has to offer, you need to be experienced. It is certainly possible to enjoy as a beginner but you will miss out a lot, as, many dive sites are likely to be off limits for you. Eventually you will want to come back because you did not dive the Maldives yet ;-).

What would be minimum requirements re. diver's experience to be able to take every dive Maldives have to offer? From tourist point of view.

 

[Centrals]

You must be able to handle current with or against!
"Kandu" and "Thila".

We were diving at "Banana Reef" just outside Male. It was brutal and at the end of the dive the dive boat had a hard time to pick up 14 divers scattered everywhere on the surface!!! The only time in my diving adventure that the current simply peeled me off the rock that I was holding with both hands!

Bring a SMB at least.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm looking for a trip to book in January.

My wife and I are newly certified divers.

We've already booked a week in Jamaica, and 2 weeks in Cozumel this summer and fall.

I'm trying to decide on a trip for us in January. The Maldives looks like a beautiful spot. Considering staying at a dive-centric resort for a week or so.

I mentioned the Maldives to a guy with a fair amount of scuba experience (who has never been to the Maldives.)

He was of the opinion that the Maldives is not a newbie friendly location and it would be borderline dangerous for us to try to dive there. He said we should go to Grand Cayman instead.

Is this true? Is the Maldives for expert divers only?

Finish your two trips and see how it's going. If you're both feeling good about your personal progress as divers, the Maldives is a great place to go diving l. I'd recommend a liveaboard and definitely arrange your own guide.

I'd had hundreds of dives in many locals but mostly in the Caribbean before I went to Maldives. I couldn't get enough, it was so exciting! Currents, crazy, fish everywhere, the corals were sad but even so, incredibly exciting diving. I went twice in a couple of months and followed up the next year or was it six months later, iirc. Diving Maldives changed many many things about my diving. I did meet a new diver and she had her instructor with her. We went together another time and she hired a personal guide. Those were her first diving experiences after certification and now she's so experienced that she's a bit disappointed by Maldives diving.

Frankly, I think that she made a mistake going to Maldives so early in her diving experience. Despite my reservations, it has served her well.

So, I say to you as new divers, you're probably not going to be ready for Maldives diving. Or perhaps you'll be ready to handle the conditions, 8 can't be sure but truly, it is indeed a place for experienced divers who can truly absorb what the Maldives offer because more often, newer divers, like you two will still be, miss the nuance. You'll be so busy handling your "diving" that the beautiful adventure and subtleties will escape you.

Of course, that only means that you'll have to return!