Maldives liveaboard opinions?

[wombat]

My buddy and I are planning to do a liveaboard in the Maldives for our next trip, but have no idea which one. Any recommendations (either positive or negative) from people who have done that recently would be greatly appreciated.

 

[smokey braden]

wombat,
welcome to this board.
i was on a liveaboard in oct '03
this is her web site.
http://www.sultansoftheseas.it/en/infoSMadivaru.php
we dove in the suvadiva-huvadoo atoll which is much further south than where the other liveaboards go.
the vessel, food, crew and diving were all great.
upon your safe return please send us a trip report.
regards,

 

[Quero]

My buddy and I are planning to do a liveaboard in the Maldives for our next trip, but have no idea which one. Any recommendations (either positive or negative) from people who have done that recently would be greatly appreciated.

I've got a Maldives LOB trip booked in less than two weeks on the Giulia. I'll post a quick overview when I'm back.

 

[Evil]

We did a 7 days LOB on the Baani Explorer in Nov 2004 & we totally enjoyed ourselves...below is the link to the dive report by my buddy...

http://www.scubaboard.com/t79234-maldives-trip-report--nov04.html

 

[Mark Goodchild]

We have a report from January on the Sea Queen. See below:

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Reports/MaldivesPostTsunamiReportYvonneBlume.htm

Also a gallery here.

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery/Maldives2/index.html

Hope this helps!

 

[blues_diver]

We have a report from January on the Sea Queen. See below:

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Reports/MaldivesPostTsunamiReportYvonneBlume.htm

Also a gallery here.

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Gallery/Maldives2/index.html

Hope this helps!

Hi

Nice pics you have there. I am planning to go Maldives in June on a live aboard.

I am a fairly new diver with about 25 dives under my belt. From what I read, some dives in Maldives are in fairly strong current. Is it something that a person with my experience can handle?

Fyi, all my dives so far have been minimal current in tropical water.

Thanks for the info
BD

 

[Zippsy]

Blues, make sure your buoyancy skills are fairly decent and you should be fine. If your guide is good, they'll ease you into the drift dives and not take you anyplace that is beyond your skill level.

BTW, why do people say "I have X dives under my belt"? Why don't they ever say "I have X dives in my pocket" or "I have X dives put away in the cookie jar"? Answer quick before they delete my post.

 

[blues_diver]

Thanks Zippsy. My buoyancy skills are fairly ok. Not good but ok . Just wanting to know are there any special tips for someone who has never done a drift dive before and never attended one of those drift dive course.

"Under my belt"...i have no idea, it just came out when i type

 

[Zippsy]

tips? yeah remember that fast drift dives are more about learning to fly and seeing big critters rather than looking for small things close to the reef. If you get thrown into a fast drift dive as soon as you get there, (complain bitterly and...) concentrate more on your buoyancy / maintaining the proper depth, keeping track of your budy, staying a bit away from the reef (no crash landings) and looking for sharks, mantas, turtles and other peligics rather than nudibranchs, cleaner shrimp, etc. Learn to fly - it can be a lot of fun and it's not hard at all.

 

[Evil]

I agree with Zippsy, the "flying with the current" part can be really fun but watch out for the upward or downward current. I was pushed up to abt 3m by the upward current while my buddy was pushed downward to 30+m during the same dive, from abt 20+m!