Best of Male, North or South???

[deaf diver]

I am going to Maldives on a liveaboard in Feb. but I cant decide what area I should do. They all look good but would like to hear from others who have been. Thanks in advance.
Greg

 

[VKE]

Hi Greg
I got bitten my the Maldivian bug on my 1st visit back in 1999 and year on year we return; this year we had a break but that wasn't before I booked my 2018 visit - I absolutely love the Maldives.
If this would be your 1st visit then I think you should just find a liveaboard you like and then do a little research on the boat/company and go for it.
We've done central atolls, north, far south and I've never had a bad trip; we've dived sites that we've dived before and still we keep returning.
The Maldives have been hit by El Niño and as a result some of the corals aren't that great but that isn't everywhere but if you want some of the 'big boys' then the Maldives won't disappoint.
The Far South has only really opened up in the last 5yrs and some of the table corals are AMAZING and there's even less divers; we did a 12 day trip in the Far South and we only saw 1 other liveaboard the whole trip and we were on different dive sites.....pure bliss!

Check out Blue-0-Two > Sea Spirit > Trip Reports & Guest Comments
The boat is small, max 12 guests, no jacuzzis but bloody good diving with two cruise directors that really do know their stuff and are so very passionate about both the Maldives and the diving and ensuring that the guests have some truly memorable dives.
If you want to know anything else then ask away
Vicky

 

[deaf diver]

Hi Greg
I got bitten my the Maldivian bug on my 1st visit back in 1999 and year on year we return; this year we had a break but that wasn't before I booked my 2018 visit - I absolutely love the Maldives.
If this would be your 1st visit then I think you should just find a liveaboard you like and then do a little research on the boat/company and go for it.
We've done central atolls, north, far south and I've never had a bad trip; we've dived sites that we've dived before and still we keep returning.
The Maldives have been hit by El Niño and as a result some of the corals aren't that great but that isn't everywhere but if you want some of the 'big boys' then the Maldives won't disappoint.
The Far South has only really opened up in the last 5yrs and some of the table corals are AMAZING and there's even less divers; we did a 12 day trip in the Far South and we only saw 1 other liveaboard the whole trip and we were on different dive sites.....pure bliss!

Check out Blue-0-Two > Sea Spirit > Trip Reports & Guest Comments
The boat is small, max 12 guests, no jacuzzis but bloody good diving with two cruise directors that really do know their stuff and are so very passionate about both the Maldives and the diving and ensuring that the guests have some truly memorable dives.
If you want to know anything else then ask away
Vicky

Thanks for the info Vicky. I am leaning towards the Deep south tour. I really really like the idea of no other or few other divers. I do have one question. Do I need to bring an electric converter (coming from the US or do they have that covered on most of the boats??

 

[ukdave0]

I did a deep south tour end of Feb/ early March 2 years ago. Diving was fantastic.
But a heads up, there were many many boats diving the area. All were waiting on the incoming tides to dive the channels. I think Kooddoo airport becomes a hub of live aboard operations that time of year. The channels had as many as 4 boats queued up. Diving was still great, just not all that quiet.

 

[Oceanic Dreams]

Feb / March , south tour is now the most popular route. Now there will be more boats doing this routes, unlike few years back. Southern route is known to have more sharks and also is famous for whale sharks. Its a good route if you are an experience diver. This route is bit expensive as most of the time you would require to take a domestic flight in or out . Also generally it will be for 10 - 14 nights . If you wishing to take a longer tour then yes this will be ideal option

Standard route can be done in 7 nights , covering Male' , Ari , Vaavu atoll. Overall this route is a very good route and where overall combination of coral and fish life is excellent. Possibility of Manta and whale shark stays high in Ari Atoll too.

Some do have 110 vlt , however I would suggest to carry a converter with you , as not all boats do have 110 vlt possibility or converters with them.

If you interested to have an offer from me , let me know will be glad to assist.

 

[VKE]

Thanks for the info Vicky. I am leaning towards the Deep south tour. I really really like the idea of no other or few other divers. I do have one question. Do I need to bring an electric converter (coming from the US or do they have that covered on most of the boats??

Hi Greg
The boats we've used for our last 10 trips have UK 3pin so we've never had to worry about converters coming from the UK and on a liveaboard pre-10yrs it was a 1x 2pin round and a small multi plug extension lead.
Once you find your 'chosen boat' then drop them an email and they will gladly answer your Q's if it's not on their websites.
Any more Q's then ask away
Vicky

 

[Christian]

What distingushes the marine life in the deep south? Has reefs been spared from bleaching? More sharks and mantas than N/S Male, N Ari or Hanifaru? More whalesharks than S Ari? Or is it more the sense of ’adventure’ that is special?

 

[mantajohn]

The major difference between the deep south & the main area of Maldives atolls is that in the deep south the focus is on 'channel diving'.

In the main Maldives Atolls, a liveaboard will generally do a mix of channel, drift & scenic reef diving. Typically, a channel dive first thing - then more gentle scenic stuff for dives 2 & 3. If the group are more interested in macro type photography, or the location doesn't have a good channel, dive 1 could be scenic also.

Most divers book the deep south to see pelagics. I've done 3 different south/deep south liveaboards & we pretty well did channel dives all day, every day! I loved it, but not everyone would.

For those not familiar with the Maldives, a typical channel dive involves jumping in the blue (possibly -ve entry); then getting down to around 30metres in the strong current; hooking on & watching the shark show until you run out of bottom time. Then un-hooking and drifting along (& up) with the current.

Sometimes, the sharks, rays etc don't show up - which can be rather an uneventful dive!

Also, with ever more liveaboards heading south, there are quite a few guides who are not familiar with the deep south dive sites - which can result in being dropped in the wrong place etc. Pick a boat that's being going south for a few years - not a newbie.

 

[Christian]

Thanks John. In your experience, are marine life sightings generally different in the deep south compared to channel dives in the central/northern atolls, say Embudu Express, Kuredu Express etc.

 

[mantajohn]

Some of the dive sites (such as those you mention) in the main atolls are very good.

It's my experience that in the south atolls you will see more sharks, more species of sharks and more often. For example we saw many silkies & a thresher really close - neither of which I've seen further north.