Maldives resorts

[Scottmurillo]

I've been looking at resorts that have good dive shops and came across Lux south ari atol. Anyone dive with them or hear about them? Also are there any other resorts you'd recommend? Thanks!

 

[Scandi Divers]

I used to live in the Maldives, I would seriously consider switching to a liveaboard instead of a resort. On a 7-night liveaboard trip, you would see a lot more of the islands and dive sites. If you stay at a resort you would be limited to sites within an hour boat ride maximum.

 

[Dado]

My wife and I stayed at Komandoo and dived with Prodivers. The dive sites were a short boat ride and the house reef was nice. The resort was also nice.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We have stayed and dived with Boutique Beach in Dhigurah Island. This is right in the best area for whalesharks. We have seen them on every visit there. The food is amazing and the rooms are beautiful. It is run by a wonderful British Lady and most of her team have been with her since day 1. But there is no booze as it is a local island.

We spent a few days in a resort , which was fabulous, but I did not like the dive centre and how it was set up. On the other hand a Maldives liveaboard is wonderful. The boat moves between dives usually and you get to see so many beautiful islands. Emperor divers basedin the UK have excellent boats at a great price.

 

[Christian]

No experience from LUX or its DC Eurodivers, I think?, but the island is located near one of the whaleshark hot spots. Liveaboard, resort or inhabited island — it depends what you’re looking for.
I’ve had good experiences with Werner Lau dive centers and Dive & Sail in North Ari and North Nihlandoo. But they work out terribly expensive per dive. Liveaboard or inhabited/local island more cost effective.
Btw Eurodivers have a good reputation in general.

 

[NootFish]

I just got back from 2 weeks diving with South Ari Dive Center based in Dhangethi and it was good! We were 45 minutes from whale sharks and several manta cleaning stations, and there were some nice dive sites (7th heaven, 5 rocks) and a lot of sites that showed the impact of recent coral bleaching events. But excellent service above water and they did a good job accommodating my dietary restrictions!

 

[MNrookie]

I just got back from 2 weeks diving with South Ari Dive Center based in Dhangethi and it was good! We were 45 minutes from whale sharks and several manta cleaning stations, and there were some nice dive sites (7th heaven, 5 rocks) and a lot of sites that showed the impact of recent coral bleaching events. But excellent service above water and they did a good job accommodating my dietary restrictions!

So you stayed at a local place on Dhangethi and dove with South Ari Dive Center or was is a resort on Dhangethi and dove with South Ari Dive Center?

 

[Scottmurillo]

Just a update, Stayed at Lux South Ari and loved it. Very pricey but the place was great. lots of different restaurants so you dont need to have the same meal every day. Water villas were also great. Eurodivers were wonderful. Whale shark search dives about every other day. Sad to say I didnt have a sighting but was still great diving. The thilas were great. So much life so close by. I would stay there again for sure.