Maldives. Ever heard of it?

Maldives- ever heard of it before the big dust-up?

  • I had known that SCUBA Diving is done in Maldives before this

    Votes: 70 87.5%

  • I could have pointed at Maldives on the map

    Votes: 44 55.0%

  • I knew that Maldivian ministers had an underwater Ocean Level summit this last winter

    Votes: 29 36.3%

  • I know the airport gateway cities that a North American would fly through to get to Male

    Votes: 12 15.0%

  • I knew about the unique airport situation in Male and how one gets to diving from there

    Votes: 12 15.0%

  • I knew what features Maldives diving is best known for

    Votes: 23 28.8%

  • I knew the true relevance of past effects there such as Tsunami and Coral Bleachings

    Votes: 17 21.3%

  • I knew that diving was done from liveaboards

    Votes: 42 52.5%

  • I knew what a "dhoni" was and the specifics of how they operate

    Votes: 15 18.8%

  • I knew that there are resorts and what they offer, and how they are perceived in luxury level

    Votes: 23 28.8%

  • I had previously realistically intended to go to Maldives to dive

    Votes: 21 26.3%

  • Travel to that area is time/cost prohibitive for a North American

    Votes: 26 32.5%
  • Total voters
    80

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I went there on an oceanographic ship about 15 years ago. I was impressed by the top to bottom visibility in 110 foot depths. Some of the coral was being affected by the bleaching and appeared light blue. The only time I've seen that.

Their alcohol regulations are kind of weird, no alcohol on Male but it's available at all the offshore resorts.
 
Dived there, loved it!!
 
DennisS:
Their alcohol regulations are kind of weird, no alcohol on Male but it's available at all the offshore resorts.
Click to expand...

It's a muslim nation, so locals aren't supposed to drink alcohol, but the tourists can in the seclusion of their offshore resorts.
 
Wanted to go there, until I had a lengthy conversation with diver's that I met while I was in Sri Lanka that were on there way home from spending 10 days diving the Maldives. They didn't inspire confidence in the safety of any of the operations they used.

I know the same can be said about a lot of places, I've talked to people who just came back from more popular places (with Americans) and what they said didn't inspire confidence either.

For the Maldives though its enough to keep me from spending my own money to go diving there, now if someone else foots the bill, I'm there in a heart beat.
 
I knew where it was before this. A diver couple I know went there a couple of years ago. Loved it, but their first liveaboard and their description did not make me want to put it on my list over a bunch of other destinations. Nice, but not spectacular was my interpretation. Much rather go to PNG/Indonesia etc.

May get there, but not high on my list given the cost.
 
Darnold9999:
I knew where it was before this. A diver couple I know went there a couple of years ago. Loved it, but their first liveaboard and their description did not make me want to put it on my list over a bunch of other destinations. Nice, but not spectacular was my interpretation. Much rather go to PNG/Indonesia etc.

May get there, but not high on my list given the cost.
Click to expand...

Your last sentence sums it up for me as well!
 
Have looked into it seriously. Distance and cost have been major issues. More important, however, has been the very mixed bag of reactions I have heard and read from divers who have actually gone there. The extremes have been present: unhappy divers who had lousy travel experiences and very poor quality dives to wildly enthusiastic divers for whom everything went right from the flights and connections to the big pelagics, as well as all the in-between experiences. As a consequence, Maldives has dropped way down my list as being just too unpredictable for the dollar/time available.
 
I have been to the Maldives twice now, going for the third time in June for three weeks (two weeks just not long enough!) Absolutely love it. Three weeks of no shoes, very little clothes and spectacular diving! I am going to the same island (15 mins to walk round it), Biyadhoo. It is a beautiful island, fruit bats flying around, herons fishing and baby blacktip reef sharks swimming by the jetty. There are no cars or trucks on the island so it is very peaceful.

The dive centre there is great, the staff very professional. I love doing shore dives from the island, the boat dives are great. I tend not to do some boat dives as the currents can rip a bit, but my buddy loves those dives as he likes the pelagics.

The last dive my buddy and I did there we saw a nurse shark sleeping surrounded by sweetlips, morays, bat fish, juvinille box fish, a huge marble ray, and my buddy was stroked by a honeycombe moray that decided to go for a swim around his bc.

Have seen loads of mantas, turtles and reef sharks both diving and snorkelling. Have yet to see a whale shark, mainly because I am not going visiting at the best time of year to see them on this atoll.

Regarding alcohol, yes, you are not allowed to bring in duty free alcohol but the islands are well supplied for tourists.
 
I learned about the Maldives before the suit. There was a representative from a Manthiri at a local scuba show. They gave away a week on the Manthiri for 1 person. I won it. I didn't get to go because of personal reasons but I do know what a donhi is, what it is used for etc because it was a question on an entry blank to get qualified for the drawing! I did some research into the cost of getting there and returning (different route going than returning), what kind of diving to expect. I can point out the place on a map. I won the trip the same day I signed up for OW training.
 
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