MALDIVES 2019 TRIP REPORT with PIX & VIDEOS

[Ken Kurtis]

It takes a loooong time to get to the Maldives (south of India in case you didn't know) but the diving is fabulous, the people are wonderful, and it's well worth the effort.

We just got back from 9 days on the Manthiri, had a fabulous time, and wanted to share our experiences with you. Below you'll find the links to the trip report as well as the overall picture page, which contains 12 teaser pix plus links to the full SmugMug slideshow (view it as a single-page collage, click on individual pix for full-screen, or choose "slideshow"). There are also links to the five short videos we created during the trip as well, which includes the Manta Feeding Aggregation at Raa Atoll (even though the title says Baa). You've got to look at at east that one. WAAAAY cool and amazing experience.

Enjoy!!! And let me know if you have question or comments (or want to reserve your spot now for our next journey there).

MALDIVES 2019 TRIP REPORT

MALDIVES 2019 PIX PAGE: 12 TEASER PIX with SMUGMUG & VIDEO LINKS

- Ken

 

[Trailboss123]

Excellent report. Thanks!

 

[drrich2]

Sorry to hear you got nailed by a moray. Interesting trick about the wiggling fingers...but on second thought, I might not borrow that. Just say'n...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Couple of questions on logistics, which would be of interest to any U.S.-based diver considering a Maldives trip.

1.) Did you guys have to independently research your flight schedules, or did a travel agent or similar do that for you?
2.) While not everyone took the same flights, for those like you I assume starting in California (LAX?), about how many flights over how many days did it take to get there, and ignoring time zone changes about how long were those flights?
3.) I imagine even planning to get there a day early, a missed flight or two might make you (literally) 'miss the boat.' How long a layovers minimum do you plan?
4.) If someone decided to hedge their bets more and get there 2 or 3 days early and stay at that Hotel78 you praised, what kind of cost are we looking at? Just wondering how the bill goes up per day between lodging and food.

Just trying to get a sense of planning complexity and how long, convoluted and brutal it is to get there (and back).

I assume at least some of the live-aboard crew are pretty fluent in English. Is it pretty widely spoken at the other places you pass through (airports & otherwise) along the way?

In other news, there are some destinations (e.g.: Egypt) where topside attractions are often a big deal, and others where it's 'go dive and go home.' Do you guys do much topside in the Maldives?

Thanks in advance.

Richard.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

1.) Did you guys have to independently research your flight schedules, or did a travel agent or similar do that for you?

Don't forget I act in the capacity of group leader and do trans-Pacific a lot. That being said, everyone books their own airfare with input/guidance from me. We used Qatar Airlines through Doha and Singapore Air through Singapore, both from LAX. Because the Maldives are literally halfway around the world from LA, flight time was about the same for both.

2.) While not everyone took the same flights, for those like you I assume starting in California (LAX?), about how many flights over how many days did it take to get there, and ignoring time zone changes about how long were those flights?

LAX-SIN non-stop was 17 hours, 2 hour layover, 4.5 hours SIN-MLE. There's also an LAX-NRT-SIN flight that's about three hours longer. Non-stop is slightly more expensive (because it's Premium Economy on Singapore) but you save flying time and layover time. The Qatar folks also did it in two flights of about the same length but had an 8-hour layover in Doha going in and an 18-hour layover (they got a hotel) on the way back. We did this flight in 2016 on Turkish Air through Istanbul and it was also two flights with a 6-hour (I think) layover in Istanbul on the way in, and then we stopped and did three days of sightseeing in Istanbul (we had a guide and a bus) on the way back.

3.) I imagine even planning to get there a day early, a missed flight or two might make you (literally) 'miss the boat.' How long a layovers minimum do you plan?

It depends. Because I escort groups, I've usually got the whole boat so it's not leaving until I get there, even if that's a day late. (I've only had that happen once in 31 years of doing this.) But generally I like a minimum 2-hour layover to feel comfortable. But I'm also doing a trip to the Philippines in January where the connection time in Guam will be 45 minutes, but I also know the in-bound flight is usually early.

4.) If someone decided to hedge their bets more and get there 2 or 3 days early and stay at that Hotel78 you praised, what kind of cost are we looking at? Just wondering how the bill goes up per day between lodging and food.

I think the room rates were around $100/night and the food would be whatever you wanted to spend or not.

I assume at least some of the live-aboard crew are pretty fluent in English. Is it pretty widely spoken at the other places you pass through (airports & otherwise) along the way?

Crew (Moosa & Ali absolutely) is fairly English-friendly and most people along the way are conversant enough that you can figure out a way to get by. Certainly helps if you're good at charades as well.

In other news, there are some destinations (e.g.: Egypt) where topside attractions are often a big deal, and others where it's 'go dive and go home.' Do you guys do much topside in the Maldives?

We've done a city tour of Male in the past where the fish market is the highlight (and I mean that sincerely). But there's not all that much touristy stiff to do specifically there. For this trip, we deliberately booked an early afternoon flight out on the way home so we wouldn't have to kill a day in Male.

- Ken