I'm not aiming for the Maldives, but here are some questions that might help inform someone who is, drawing on what I've read of Maldives liveaboard diving and trip concerns in general.
1.) A list of your flights, with the duration of each, going and coming may be useful. The longest flight a person must endure is good to know. Looking at Raja Ampat options, I saw Business Class and First Class upgrades were prohibitively expensive. That true for your Maldives trip?
I usually do the trip when im visiting India.. its a relatively painless 3-4 hr flight from Delhi to Male.
2.) If you use inflight Internet, especially on the long flight across the ocean, let us know how it was.
3.) It's my understanding Maldives diving tends to run deep, so max. and average depths and total dive times would be good to know. Looks like nitrox is included for nitrox. certified divers in that offering.
Dives are definately deeper than the Caribbean. Most channel dives have the reef at 100ft or so Nitrox is very strongly recommended. Air will cut down your NDL times due due to the deep dives.
4.) It's my understanding Maldives liveaboards tend to offer 3 dives/day most days, not 4+. Is that true of the
Emperor Explorer on your trip? From Explorer Ventures' website: "All of the dives aboard the
Emperor Explorer are offered at scheduled times, up to 4 times daily including 1-2 night dives per charter (weather & itinerary permitting)."
Yes.. usually its 3 dives a day.. i think its because of the deeper dives in general and boats also have to travel at night from one Atoll to another. I recall each trip had 1 night dive where we did a 4th dive right beneath the boat.. they had lamps at the back to attract Mantas.. so all u had to do was sit at the shallow bottom amd watch the Mantas roll above you.
5.) Where deep diving is concerned, it's good to know if they have 100-cf (15 liter, IIRC) tanks on offer.
Yes - some larger tanks available and recommend reserving them. I always do that
6.) Their information page says "The Emperor Explorer is also equipped with a wireless router providing internet connection for a fee." Enough people need to be reachable, or even interact with a workplace on trips, that details (e.g.: cost, speed) would be good to know.
First trip i took the internet package on the boat and found it to be quite slow.. good for emails only. 2nd time i got a data package + sim at the airport for almost the same price.. speeds were better. Apart from the night when u are crossing over to different Atolls, during the day you are usually close to one of the resort islands so the wireless data was always there.
7.) If you fly in a day early as many people do on long distance trips, let us know where you stay and how you liked it. Their info. sheet lists Hulhule Island Hotel, Hotel 78, Fern Boquette and Ocean Grand Hotel as recommended.
From Delhi i usually fly the day of and fly back same day as well. No jet lag .. wouldnt be a bad idea to come a day before if u want avoid the jet lag.
8.) Food quality on a liveaboard is always important, since you're stuck with it.
Food was decent on both trips.. buffer style but that was pre-covid. Very similar to the Caribbeann liveaboards in quality i.e. good but doent expectv michelin stars
there is one dinner where they do bbq on an deserted island beach.. lobster, shrimp, fish etc..also fresh fish cerviche if u want to do line fishing from the boat. the chef did a cake for my birthday which was a nice personal gesture.
9.) Do you see people using reef hooks or other unusual equipment?
Definately need a reef hook and have to know how to deploy a SMB. They provide both and show you how to do it. I learnt how do it on my first trip. Most channel dives, u drop in the water to the top of the reef wall next to the channel at ~ 100ft or so in an incoming current. Hook ur reef hook, put some air in ur bcd and just hang out watching the parade of sharks. Once ur NDL or air reaches the limit, you unhook and the current takes you inside the Atoll.. you send your SMB and gradually work ur way up with the usual safety stop. By the time u surface, the Dhoni/support boat is there to pick you up.
10.) Per the website, you dive from 78.7 foot tender boats (a.k.a. dhoni). If I understand correctly, that's where your gear station is - as it's where the air and nitrox compressor is. Do you have to step down from the main vessel to the tender boat while geared up at any point?
All ur gear is on the Dhoni including wetsuits. Prior to the dive, the Dhoni simply pulls up next to the main boat and you simply step from the back of the boat to the dhoni. Suit up and the dhoni drops you off at the dive site. Upon completing the dive, the dhoni picks u up .. make sure u send ur SMB when u drift away from the reef in the currents as they can move quite fast and carry u far. After all divers are picked up, the Dhoni takes you back to main yatch.. you get back on from the back and the Dhoni moves away and follows the main boat to the next site. The compressor is on the Dhoni so u never hear any noise on the main boat during refills.
11.) They offer both 7 and 10 night 'Best of Maldives' itineraries. Some divers prefer at least 10 nights when traveling to far flung destinations, but you chose 7? Why 7?
Both my trips were 7 day trips.. and i was fine with that. With the deeper dives it starts to get tiring towards the end of the trip. Also after a while all those sharks lose their appeal
this is not like Raja Ampat in terms of diversity !!
12.) If you see or do anything interesting topside, would be good to know.
Not much to do other than stay at one of the many resort islands.. the water villa experience is quite nice but pricey. Have your non-diving partner join you after the trip to stay a few nights in a water villa and get that checked off ur bucket list.
13.) Do you at any point in your trip see a situation where understanding only English would be a problem?
Nope. There enough ppl on the boat and crew that speak english. Also the cruise director is usually english speaking westener.
14.) Any travel hassles you encounter.
None in both trips.. i am actually going to try and sneak in my 3rd trip later this year.
