Maldives gone

[pilot fish]

There are reports that the islands are gone. I imagine that this tsunami has ruined any reef system in that area for a long time to come. Wonder how long it will be till this area is diveable again? That is definitely a very small consideration compared to the tragic loss of life. I had thoughts of diving the Maldives in 06 but I think that is no longer possible.

12/31/04 5:00pm
Updated reports are coming in that very little of the Maldives suffered damage, with minimal loss of life, comparitively speaking, and most places are open for business. Great news indeed

 

[pilot fish]

http://www.visitmaldives.com.mv/maldives/geog.htm

 

[DiverColt]

They faired better than you may of thought, thank God. See link below.

http://www.prodivers.com/news.php

You ought to still go and support this hard hit region with your dollars.

Just my .02.

Colt

 

[Scubaroo]

"Gone" is a bit of a stretch. Apparently they fared better than expected, as the tsunami swamped the islands rather than broke against them. Resort occupancy is currently at 52% - less than a quarter of the resorts have shut down.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/maldives.tourists.ap/index.html

 

[pilot fish]

They faired better than you may of thought, thank God. See link below.

http://www.prodivers.com/news.php

You ought to still go and support this hard hit region with your dollars.

Just my .02.

Colt

Good info. Thanks. I'm wondering if they are putting on a good face to the tragedy in order not to scare some badly needed tourist money? Since most of these island are just a few feet above sea level I wonder how major damage was averted?

 

[Scubaroo]

Good info. Thanks. I'm wondering if they are putting on a good face to the tragedy in order not to scare some badly needed tourist money? Since most of these island are just a few feet above sea level I wonder how major damage was averted?

Geography - apparently the tsunami didn't slow down and build in height like it did on major coastal regions.

There was an interesting report out of Phuket from a dive shop (posted on this board) trying to tell an instructor candidate that the damage was limited to some closed roads, and that they should come on over. Hard to reconcile that with the extensive coverage to the contrary, so it would be still worth checking out independently if a destination is actually viable or not. The economies of the affected areas will certainly need reviving in the near future, so re-established tourism industries will be needed to help bring them back.

 

[pilot fish]

Geography - apparently the tsunami didn't slow down and build in height like it did on major coastal regions.

There was an interesting report out of Phuket from a dive shop (posted on this board) trying to tell an instructor candidate that the damage was limited to some closed roads, and that they should come on over. Hard to reconcile that with the extensive coverage to the contrary, so it would be still worth checking out independently if a destination is actually viable or not. The economies of the affected areas will certainly need reviving in the near future, so re-established tourism industries will be needed to help bring them back.

Read the informative link you provided. It said that since it is so low, 3 ft above sea level, it passed right over the island and did not crash on the island. Still, that much water passing over, then receding, has to cause condsiderable damage, I would think? Wonder what damage has been done to the reef systems in that area?

 

[FredT]

Wonder what damage has been done to the reef systems in that area?

Probably reef damage is limited to some minor silting. Low islands have few fines in the soil to create long term silting problems. They also often have cleansing curents that will move any suspended silt away from the islands and into the surrounding abyssal areas within a day or so. Considering that silt sized articles can take a month or more to settle out most of the material willl have moved away from the island chain.

FT

 

[String]

Maldives themselves arent all in a line exposed to it, only the eastern/south eastern facing islands were really front line, as others have stated MOST of them emerged untouched. Male airport has re-opened.

A report a few days ago reported 4ft waves. Not great as the island is roughly 2ft above sea level but nowhere near the 10m or so waves other areas reported. Bottom topography has a huge effect on wave formation. Being surrounded by deep water helps. Diego Garcia further south had the same experience, a 4-6ft surge but no damage - its surrounded by very deep water.

A lot of maldives resorts are open to business.

Add to that the fact the corals and so on are unlikely to have been badly affected and its nowhere near the scare stories being spread. Tragic yes but they are certainly not "gone".

 

[DennisS]

It doesn't sound like they are gone.

Quoted from an AP story on AOL

"One bit of encouraging news came out of the Maldives, the Indian Ocean archipelago that is the world's lowest-lying country. Officials believe that at an average of just three feet above sea level, it lacked the conditions for a fall-scale tsunami to build up. That meant casualties and damage, while considerable, were less than in neighboring countries. Seventy-three people are confirmed dead and 31 are missing.

The islands' mainstay, tourism, looked likely to rebound quickly. Foreign tourists were back in the water and resort hotel rooms were reopening.

"My friends and family told me to go back home. But I told them I'd be more comfortable here than in the cold,'' said Michaela Niedermeyer, 43, of Vienna, Austria, who jumped on an inflatable mattress and paddled to shore after her bungalow, built on stilts over the water, was swamped by the tsunami.