Experienced divers need input for first Maldives trip

[boqurant]

Any thoughts on Maldives ~10d live aboard vs Palau or Solomon Islands? Imagine you could afford only one, and you wanted variety not just sharks or nudibranchs.

Maldives deep south (lots of sites, big channel drifts, hook in for shark TV, huge coral gardens etc) is world class and well worth doing, plus the infrastructure makes travel logistics very easy.

Palau seems similar albeit fewer, better sites, more remote, harder logistics. Its on my list.

Solomons seems more challenging regarding logistics, no idea if the diving is good enough to justify the effort.

Have you looked into Komodo? Its the best of many worlds

 

[Blackcrusader]

Liveaboard is a good option and a central atoll route seldom disappoints—it can cherry pick sites in North and South Male and Ari depending on conditions/season. It also works out cheaper than diving from a resort island which can be hideously expensive. Only reason to go with a resort is that you want to experience it or can’t stand being on a boat for a longer period for some reason.
A third and a little cheaper alternative is to stay in a hotel/hostel in a populated island—”local island”. Just know that it means no bikini, no bacon no beer. Haven’t tried, only checked prices. Def cheaper, but compared to what you get in Indo, Phillipines, Thailand for the same money… still pretty pricey inmo.

I'm going to Maldives next year in March with two buddies. We just booked a 3 bedroom apartment for over 2 weeks for 1400 UK pounds. Plenty of great food in Maldives that does not include bacon.

I can survive 3 weeks vacation without beer, bacon, and bikinis.

 

[Hydra1995]

Where Are you going to stay Crusader?

 

[Jai Bar]

I think the classic route is the best option for you, more varied diving options: you'll get a mix of channels, pinnacles, reef walls- and some Manta points too. You will probably have a dive at Alimatha which somewhat a type of "passive" feeding (not like the active feeding shows in the Caribbean, but the sharks are there because they somehow got used to free food...). It is a good experience nonetheless.

I wouldn't bother with southern long routes for your first time in Maldives: for the classic route you land and board the liveaboard in the very same airport. No need for internal flights or additional transportation, and the diving is just as good.

 

[Parlem]

I'm going to Maldives next year in March with two buddies. We just booked a 3 bedroom apartment for over 2 weeks for 1400 UK pounds. Plenty of great food in Maldives that does not include bacon.

I can survive 3 weeks vacation without beer, bacon, and bikinis.

Can I ask what island you'll be staying on?

 

[Blackcrusader]

Can I ask what island you'll be staying on?

Same island as the shark tank. PS if you really need to drink some beers you can get a boat that goes out an area for drinking.

The Shark Tank is a popular dive site located at the harbor mouth of Hulhumale, a reclaimed island in the Malé Atoll, Maldives.

 

[dougorama]

Thanks all for your thoughts. It does seem the South is the way to go.