Opinions on Maldives Liveaboards????

[mjh]

Thinking about going to the Maldives in Feb/March. Looking for opinions, reviews of live-aboards. For us we want as many dives as possible, photog friendly, 10 day trip if possible, the fewer fellow divers the better (sorry and willing to pay a little more for a little more comfort.

Thanks

 

[Doc]

Try to find one that will have along a majority of divers versus "people on holiday". I have been on a few that have some European passengers who might want one dive a day and then maybe go fishing.

I have also found that North American divers have multiple dives per day in mind, with the Brits coming in a close second. Look for ones that advertise to the Brits- they show up in the Maldives quite a bit. Talk with them at http://www.divernet.com/Forums/ and also at http://forum.sportdiver.co.uk/

If you select one that is used to our demands for dive schedules, that means the DM is already used to it and the Dhoni crew is capable of pumping up sufficient tanks in time. Otherwise, count on two a day maximum and maybe maybe one dusk dive.

Pick with care.

 

[Marja]

Hi, if you are looking for a great liveaboard with max. 14 divers send me an email.
We make approx. 3-4 dives a day!! Rate for a 10 day divesafari in he Maldives approx. $ 1900 (without flight). Full Board, water/coffee/tea, BBQ on thebeach, tour Male included.

 

[ApexLongimanus]

i had extremely good experiences with these guys: Maldives Liveaboards-Scuba Diving Holidays Worldwide Dive Tours| Maldives Scuba Tours and Scuba Tours Worldwide
they cater to british divers.

 

[overg]

I went on Theia in marts. The best trip i have ever been on. Nothing to complain about. They take 16 persons wich i think is perfect.

 

[gunter.bernert]

Hi, a friend of mine lives in the Maledives and works and dives there. He might give you some inside info's. His contact: Gabriel Lima, email address is: golondon79@gmail.com

 

[Eau_Girl]

Got back last night after spending 14 days in the Maldives. Our liveaboard package included 27 dives. We did 28 during the trip plus 2 whale shark searching sessions (to snorkel with them) which also count as dives. From what I understand most operators there tend to do 2-3 dives per day. We covered quite a bit of territory so the travel time does eat into the dive opportunities as well. Our trip included 2 night dives max. (the second canceled due to an emergency that arose).

I'd ask operators about the diving practices and how many guides/groups there will be in the water. Some of the thilas (Maldivian for bommie/pinnacle) are not huge. Our group of 18 (+ 3 guides) felt crowded on some dive sites, but was fine on others.

Also ask about the set up for photographers both on the dhonis and on the liveaboard. Our dhoni had no freshwater so it was a trip back to the main boat before getting to freshwater. Also the photographers had to look after filling the rinse tank themselves. From our dhoni people had to jump with their cameras on most dives because the current required negative entries & fast descents.

 

[outlawaggie]

My wife and I were on the Maldives Aggressor (Aggressor Fleet | The ultimate in live-aboards since 1984) in April of 2009. It was a FANTASTIC trip. I’ve never seen so much sea life. We were able to swim with a huge school of manta’s saw several whale sharks and a couple of Marlin. The crew on the boat was great, food and accommodations were some of the best I’ve ever had on a liveaboard. There were a total of 18 divers on the trip. There was a wide variety of people on the boat with us. About half were American, a few from Japan, and some from England. A very good group though. I think to to the cost, (both of the boat and the travel required to get there) most of the people were a bit older than I’ve seen in a lot of dive spots. My wife and I were probably some of the youngest at 35 years old. I'd say the average age was probably 45-50. We liked that as we are not into the party type scene. It was a very laid back atmosphere with all the diving you could want. I would say that the only negative is the extremely long trip to get to the Maldives. I think that is a pretty good overview. Other than that let me know if you need any other specific info.

 

[vanessar]

I secord outlawaggie's vote for the Agressor. I had a great trip on a great boat.

vanessar

 

[ApexLongimanus]

then they must have gotten better. a friend was on one of their journeys in the maldives and it was reportedly rather disappointing. at least when it came to finding "the good stuff" (mantas and whale sharks) compared to others.