Can newbie divers enjoy diving in the Maldives?

[Scuba Client]

True, but you should ease into it. You don’t ski on the Black Diamond route at first. You start with the Green, then Blue before getting to the Black Diamond route.

Same with diving. I started with Caribbean for 5 years before venturing to Red Sea, Maldives then ultimately to Indonesia.

I don't think he was talking about being safe on a dive; he was more concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

 

[Dan]

I don't think he was talking about being safe on a dive; he was more concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

I don’t see any anything mention about cultural differences and risk assessment for Westerners in his post as quoted, below. English is not my mother language. I must have missed what he was concerned about.

@ssssnake529 can you clarify your concerns, diving wise or cultural wise?

I'm trying to decide on a trip for us in January. The Maldives looks like a beautiful spot. Considering staying at a dive-centric resort for a week or so.

I mentioned the Maldives to a guy with a fair amount of scuba experience (who has never been to the Maldives.)

He was of the opinion that the Maldives is not a newbie friendly location and it would be borderline dangerous for us to try to dive there. He said we should go to Grand Cayman instead.

Is this true? Is the Maldives for expert divers only?

 

[ssssnake529]

I don't think he was talking about being safe on a dive; he was more concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

Nope.

I was not and am not concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

I was asking solely about technical difficulty and diving skill level necessary to take full advantage of the diving opportunities in the Maldives.

 

[Centrals]

I don't think he was talking about being safe on a dive; he was more concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

Can you point out where did the OP mention about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners?
And you are not a diver contrary to what you had claimed. All your posts have NOTHING in them. Just random BS.

 

[Scuba Client]

Nope.

I was not and am not concerned about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners.

I was asking solely about technical difficulty and diving skill level necessary to take full advantage of the diving opportunities in the Maldives.

Without being specific, I thought you may have been concerned about the political unrest in the Maldives. Then I recommend you go to the Maldives. There are safe dives available to your level. I've only heard one bad report in the Maldives, and that was from a compressor issue where a foreigner died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

 

[Scuba Client]

Can you point out where did the OP mention about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners?
And you are not a diver contrary to what you had claimed. All your posts have NOTHING in them. Just random BS.

Become a cosmopolitan diver. Divers with a club mentality seldom dive with others.

 

[Centrals]

Become a cosmopolitan diver. Divers with a club mentality seldom dive with others.

You are NOT a diver!
You are the only member in your fantasy diving club same as your whole life.

Without being specific, I thought you may have been concerned about the political unrest in the Maldives. Then I recommend you go to the Maldives. There are safe dives available to your level. I've only heard one bad report in the Maldives, and that was from a compressor issue where a foreigner died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

It was culture differences first and now political unrest!! What a load of CRAX.
Where was the political unrest in Maldives was ever mentioned?
" your thought" absolutely! It has nothing to do with reality.

 

[Heat Miser]

I'm looking for a trip to book in January.

Is this true? Is the Maldives for expert divers only?

I've been to the Maldives four times and the diving is very easy and safe. My wife learned to dive there.
The country has a maximum dive depth limit of 30m and a maximum dive time of 1 hour per dive. All of the locals, dive for a living (fishermen, instructors and tour guides).

There can be a difference in the resorts approach to DiveMasters/Instructors diving with you. I'd recommend Barefoot Eco resort, the instructors dive with you, if your certified you get free Nitrox (or get certified there) Official Website The Barefoot Eco Hotel Maldives. The island is in the North and has been devastated by coral bleaching, but there are still scenic spot on the corners of islands where there is strong current flow, and an abundance of coral. They have a Manta point there, where we swam with Manta's every day, my wife got bored with it, ha!

I've also stayed at Sun Island Sun Island | Villa Hotels & Resorts | Maldives the island is in the South, your more likely to see a whale shark in the South and there is less bleaching. But it's a big island with many people, a bit like a disneyland resort style accommodation and meals. After a try-dive with a Divemaster or Instructor to see if you can dive (and put up an SMB) they let you sign up for their many dive boats leaving each day, On the boat you get clumped with an insta buddy, who may or may not be very experienced and you have to fend for yourself as a big boatload of people jump into the local site. But at least they checked first, before they send you out on the boats.

Both resorts are more modestly priced, compared to the average, but I wouldn't say either was cheap.

 

[Dan]

Can you point out where did the OP mention about culture differences and risk assessment for Westerners?
And you are not a diver contrary to what you had claimed. All your posts have NOTHING in them. Just random BS.

I was as baffled as you were by his post. So were others in another thread, How do you know if they’re competent instructors?

When Scuba Client first appeared on the scene, I took his posts seriously and tried to respond seriously. He was first talking about technical diving issues, trying to come across as an expert. Unfortunately, though, his replies indicated a lack of understanding about some of the most basic of technical diving issues. Similar experiences followed. "I'm a real expert, and here is a statement that real experts will see is nonsense."

The staff obviously thought something was amiss, which is likely why he was banned. Except,as statements from staff in this thread indicate, his baffling posts were not violations of the ToS. There were times he (???) even appeared to be trying to be helpful. At other times, his comments, like the first one in this thread, were simply baffling.

Which brings us to the primary contradiction. The first sentence in this quote says "The first thing I establish with students is trust; and you achieve trust by being honest and straight forward." Well, he (???) has been anything but honest and straightforward on ScubaBoard, which is why so many people are baffled by his posts. I suggest ignoring until such a time that "honest and straightforward" comes to the fore.

 

[NootFish]

My $0.02 regarding diving in the Maldives. I've done about 100 dives there spread over about 6 weeks ( 2 trips). First trip was staying at a guest house and diving off a dhoni. I was the only diver guest for most of the trip (AWESOME) and we dove the local sites. The good sites were deep and had currents. No current = bleached coral. No current = no big stuff. So you want current. I was learning how to dive with my Very Big Camera in currents and there were challenging moments. I learned to recognized the signs of a dive where I should leave the camera on the boat, how to tuck the camera under one arm and reef hook/whatever with the other. How to swim across a current. I already knew to stay close to reef in current from my diving in Indonesia.

Second trip was two liveaboards. The first liveaboard I was the second least experienced diver with about 180 dives and there were some good currents and one washing machine site (but we didn't get caught in anything too bad). The second liveaboard I was one of the more experienced divers and was in good practice from my previous 2 weeks of diving. That trip was during the waning moon, so the currents were much less exciting and we saw less pelagic marine life, but still fun diving. The first liveaboard was supposed to be deep south/tiger sharks, but due to COVID testing on the previous trip the boat was on, we ended up doing central/south atolls instead. So I got to do that twice. I recommend liveaboard diving in the Maldives because it is cheap, convenient, and you get to see the best sites rather than what is nearby, which is sometimes mediocre.