Maldives in September

[deepdiver77]

Hello - I am considering a trip to the Maldives in September. I know very little about the place and would love to hear from folks that have been there. Some specific questions:

What is the diving like in September? I know it is the 'Southwest Monsoon' season but don't really know what that means.

Has anyone been on the MV Amba? Would love to hear some feedback

Any land resort suggestions?

Thanks

 

[robint]

Hello - I am considering a trip to the Maldives in September. I know very little about the place and would love to hear from folks that have been there. Some specific questions:

What is the diving like in September? I know it is the 'Southwest Monsoon' season but don't really know what that means.

Has anyone been on the MV Amba? Would love to hear some feedback

Any land resort suggestions?

Thanks

Scroll a little farther down on the board to the Asia Forum and you will find lots of information there about the Maldives.

 

[leyhivedhi]

September is South West Monsoon, which could be windy and rough. you cannot really predict the weather. Diving is great through out the year, the best way to dive in that season would be the resorts, but could be more expensive than MV Amba. Also which kind of animals do you want to see?

cheers

 

[Rickg]

We did a LOB trip on the MV Eagle Ray in early June '08. It was their last trip of the season and the onset of the wet monsoon. We did have a few rough crossings during the trip.

September should be the beginning of the dive season and the end of the wet monsoon season so you could see can expect to see similar whether much like "leyhivedhi" described. December through February are the best time for a LOB.

 

[divinglife]

September would be past the heaviest rain months of June and July but still in rainy season so the weather is unpredictable. A lot of the liveaboards don't even start running until October. Definately Dec. to March would be a much better season, for whale sharks and manta rays as well. That said, before moving out I did a liveaboard on their last week of operation in May and it was still very very nice with the rougher seas only stopping us from reaching the hammerhead point.

 

[Oceanic Dreams]

Hi, like everyone else here said, it is kind of like the end of off season. Don't think it would be as wet as July. Visibility should be good.
Either way diving in Maldives is a treat. You even come across the big guy"whale shark"

For more information please visit
Maldives Dive Holiday - Liveaboard Dive Tours

If you have any questions pls contact
loona@maldivestraveller.com

Warm wishes
Oceanic Dreams

 

[leyhivedhi]

This year i think September could be calm as well, but still it is South west monsoon...Diving will be good, and there is great chance to see whale sharks and manta's in BAA ATOLL .normally liveaboards travel to that atoll in september just for manta's and the whale Sharks, but still other dive sites in south itineraries will be great too. MV AMBAA is a good boat i heard,But i don't know anything about there travel itineraries.
cheers

 

[Nick c]

Hi,
Have visited the Maldives two years running now, Jan & Feb, so can't comment on weather for Sept. We did land based holiday on Summer Island and I've got to say the diving was fantastic on both trips. The dive base do packages according to skill level and amount of dives reqd, equipment hire etc. We did many two tank dives of a morning which tended to be the more advanced dive sites, followed by a more gentle afternoon dive. A lot of the channel dives can be quite challenging with moderate to very strong unpredictable currents, but the rewards for this are an abundence of sharks, rays etc. The outside reefs can be great dives where you see an amazing amount of large species or a lazy drift with little about, very unpredictable. The Manta's tend to follow the plankton into the atolls, (again not sure of Sept) visibility can be a little gloomy, but around the cleaning stations and feeding sites there are plenty of them to see and close enough for the visibilty not to matter a great deal. There are soft corals about and beautiful too, but El nino a few years ago did a lot of damage to the reefs. To sum up, I've booked again for Jan 2010, can't wait to get back in the water, I hope you have a great time and I hope this helps.

Nick

 

[kasha]

Hi
We've been going to the Maldives for the last 8 years...need I say more.
We normally go between end of August and start of Oct; yes we've had some rain but in all the years we have only ever last one days diving due to the weather; we ended up going to the Spa (it's a girl thing!) and drinking cocktails whilst watching the sun go down...bliss.

Last years trip was 26th Sept for 2 weeks and there were a few showers when the towels got wet but within the hour they we dry again.

The trip was without a doubt our best to date. We had Mantas on the 1st dive of the safari and got everyone excited then off to a lagoon only to notice some action on the surface...there was a 5m big spotty thing...yes a whale shark...excellent; next thing we found ourselves in the water watching a performance until we noticed another one, everyone stayed in the water watching them feeding on the plankton rich water and then we noticed another and then another...in total we spent 2.5hrs snorkelling with 4 of them - remember this was day 1 of the safari...everyone was buzzing...awsome!

In Sept the viz can be reduced due to plankton but thats not a bad thing for the mantas and whale sharks - we look at dates later in the year and then look at the moon phases - full moon/new moons have worked to our advantage so much so that 09's trip has been booked whilst taking all into account.

We've been lucky with out visits; we've seen the above on more than on visit along with Guitar shark, Leopard Shark, WTRS, harlequin shrimps, frog fish (pink, blue, white, yellow) ribbon eels.

Nearly every dive is a drift dive; excellent, no having to get back to the boat...it comes to you!

Currents can be challenging; but hay just go with it and enjoy!

Over the years we've done a mix of resort based trips to a combi of safari/island but for the last 3 years we've just gone with the safari option - you cover more atolls and means you get to go where the action is. On the islands they tend to offer 2 dives a day and once a week you can also do a night dive but to get the best of the Maldives a safari is your best option.

Resort's are great if you want to feel the sand between your toes but the diving can be a little restricted as you have to take into account the boat will return to the island after the 1st dive plus the Maldives isn't a cheap destination and the dive bill alone can mount up and that's before the bar bill and Spa bill has been added on.

On the safari boats you tend to get 3/4 dives a day and it's included in the cost of the safari only paying for extras: nitrox, 15l tanks, hire equip and then the honesty bar bill and when you think 2 cans of Coke can set you back $12 it ani't cheap.

Sorry but can't comment of the MV Amba; for the last 3 years we've gone with Maldive Scuba Tours staying on Sea Queen/Sea Spirit. They have over 15yrs experience in the Maldives and have a good reputation; I would say 60% of thier guests are repeat divers; if you look on their website you can access trip reports and guest comments - all very positive!

The boats may not be big, flash and they don't have the luxuries like TV's in cabins etc but tthe crew have a passion for what they do, passion for ensuring the guest has a fantastic holiday with some memorable diving and knowledge of the Maldives which they use to ensure the guests have a fantastic diving holiday - in case you think I work for MST I don't (honest) I'm a repeat guest and you can see my comments on their site (2008/2008 Vicky & Mark)

If you have any Q's then please pm me
what I would say is book it
Vicky

 

[kasha]

Hi
I forgot to say:

the safari boats do not travel at night; you moor up late afternoon following the last dive and sit back and watch the sunsets with a chilled beer

islands vary in size; you can walk around the islands in 30/40 minutes..providing you walk slowly

I've stayed on:

White Sands
Kurmathi
Kanifinolu
Kandooma
all varied in size and to be honest they were all very nice; if I were to go back to one of them it would be White Sands - diving was through Euro Divers who have good history/rep in the Maldives. Island life is very chilled out and the highlight of the weeks tends to be crab racing or night fishing (your catch is then cooked for you...shame I don't eat fish)

Regards
Vicky