Just found out I have to go to India for work

[Moby_]

Hi all, thanks in advance for your opinions!

I'm based in SF and just found out I have to go to Pune, India for work. I'm looking for recommendations on where to go on vacation after my 2 weeks in India. The timeframe is early to mid March. The obvious choice seems to be the Maldives but I'm not sure it's a good fit for several reasons. My home base in Monterey, so 1/2 my experience is cold water diving.

Considerations:

• My wife will go diving with me a few times, but isn't obsessed with it like I am, so ideally she'll have nice beaches and pools where she can relax and read or go for walks while I'm diving. The Maldives seems to make this difficult with a single "bikini beach".
• Since it's not 100% about diving, a live-aboard isn't really a good option, so we'll need a resort/hotel/Airbnb situation but we're open if it means saving a ton of money. We could potentially split the time between live-aboard and hotel/resort.
• Ideally there will be diving directly from the resort of diving close to the resort that doesn't require long boat rides (which would presumably make it more expensive).
• I'm not independently wealthy, so I'd like to pay a somewhat normal price for the vacation, probably in the $3-5k for 2 people range for accommodations (not including diving or flights).
• We aren't big drinkers but definitely like to indulge on vacation. The Maldives makes this difficult with the only alcohol being on a boat somewhere...
• We'll be taking all of our own gear, so rentals isn't really much of a concern.
• We like reefs more than wrecks.
• I'm really interested to see sharks, mantas, whale sharks, octopus, exotic fish, etc...
• I'm also very interested to try some drift diving which I haven't done yet.
• We've never visited Asia or anything west of CA besides Hawaii.
• All our vacations are beach vacations and we aren't super interested in spending a lot of time in cities or doing touristy things, although that would be a nice to have.
• All inclusive is obviously a nice to have but we're not opposed to cooking our own meals if shopping is relatively simple.

I really appreciate any opinions and advice you have for us. I still need to do a lot of research but the options are overwhelming and it's hard to separate the "real deal" from marketing bs. Thanks again.

 

[Baron015]

Go to Sri Lanka, dive the Hermes. Nice beach scene for your wife, good food and interesting culture.

ps you can drink alcohol on most resort islands in Maldives, not just on a boat. Local islands are teetotal though.

 

[flyboy08]

After my stint in India, I bolted to Thailand where my wife met up with me...cheap cheap cheap....I loved my time in India, but I was happy to leave when the time came...go dive Thailand...

 

[Russjstewart]

We went to the Maldives a couple of years ago, and only have only been the once, so I have no claim to being an expert.

We stayed on a local island in the South Ari Atoll. There was no drinking, and no bikini beach, however the dive op did organise day trips to a resort island, where bikinis and drinking were allowed.

When researching the trip resorts way outside our budget, where a guest house on a local island was very reasonable.

Remember you are diving the same reefs as the guests at the resorts.

As for Sri Lanka theHermes lies in 45-58 metres of water, but I am sure there is other diving there

 

[Bump_Head]

Have a look at, Lakshadweep. It’s known as the “poor mans Maldives”

https://m.huffingtonpost.in/nisha-r...ive-and-visit-lakshadweep-instead_a_21445520/

 

[eternaljonah]

Mainland India has some great diving possibilities, for example, check out our Dive center in Pondicherry www.eternaldivers.com

 

[Searcaigh]

When you finish in India, fly to Dubai and from there it's 4 hours to the Maldives, but to be honest I'd look at going a bit further to Bali. 8 hour flight but better relaxation at an economical price plus a more varied dive scene.

HMS Hermes is 50m to the sand and definitely a technical dive plus it's a wreck not a reef. I don't recall seeing much touristy stuff to be honest around the dive op area, and your wife would be the only bikini clad lady for miles around.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Past year I was in India for work, in Kochi.
There was a short and cheap flight directly from Kochi to Male (Maldives), so I went there for an additional 10 days diving.
It was a very practical way of extending my work period, and not so expensive.
However, after missing from Maldives for 30 years, diving was a big delusion for me and my wife. The coral is almost entirely dead, the colors are washed out (they say the coral is "bleached"). My wife was literally sighing seeing such an environmental damage.
There is still some big fish (sharks, eagles, mantas), but nothing comparable to what we remember from the eighties.
If you was never at Maldives, probably you will still enjoy the trip (the resorts are fantastic). But if you used to go there many years ago, coming back now is really a very sad experience.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'll second Bali

 

[Nishan]

How long do you want to spend on vacation? The Maldives is not as expensive as people make it out to be, and you can do a week in a decent resort for 2 pax under 4k. Just note that resort diving and activities are usually expensive so check prices and do a budget depending on how many days of diving. Flights from India should be cheap. I flew to Maldives last week for $200 return from Sri Lanka. The islands are beautiful and no issues with beer or bikini's on resort islands. But keep in mind this is an artificial environment. In terms of local culture its pretty dead, but the Maldives is not that interesting beyond beaches and diving anyway.

If you want to see big stuff then go to Maldives. None of the other places come close for that. The corals are not as nice anymore due to bleaching but there are sites that are still decent. And in the right place on the right tide you can see loads of sharks, eagle rays and visit a manta cleaning station. You might want to do a bit of research on the diving close to the resort you pick.

Sri Lanka is cheap and lots to see and do topside. But the good diving is all focused on wrecks and not a place for big fish action or great reefs. Thailand is cheap and nice but the best diving can be a bit of a pain to get to and gets expensive. Either long boat rides, liveaboards or islands reached by flights/ferries or both. Although this is the place I have least experience with so others might know better.

Another option is the Andaman Islands (India) There are cheap, direct flights from Chennai and Kolkota. Once you get there its inexpensive, has a relaxed vibe and nice diving. Not great for sharks and mantas though but healthy fish schools and colorful reefs. Diving is somewhat similarThailand. I can thoroughly recommend DiveIndia and they are good friends of mine.