I'll be brief:
We were based in Kuredu and used the resident dive operator Pro Divers. The Lhaviyani Atoll is 45 minutes by seaplane north of the Capital Male.
If there is a better appointed, better organised coastal dive centre anywhere in the world I'd be interested to know about it. Pro Divers operated up to 10 boats a day with 10-15 instructors speaking 5 languages and with 40+ fantastic dive sites within 90minutes ride. Their IT systems kept everyone moving through their itineraries throughout the week and they were very accomodating on changes and requests. Their equipment wetroom was the best planned I've ever seen and made it a pleasure to de-kit and clean up. Their staff were professional and safety conscious.
Not cheap though! Basically $39 per dive WITHOUT the boat ride and using your own kit. Everything else was extra and the boats were $10 single and $16 for a two tank dive (so a total of $94 for a two dive morning). There were package discounts but NOT off the boat trips. This was bizarre since the owners of the boats and the dive centre were essentially the same people.
I did 22 dives in 10 days. Most were drift dives due to the tide forcing current in and out of the Atoll. Difficult to get deeper than 30m anywhere but no need either.
Regularly saw Manta including one encounter on a cleaning station for 30 minutes where I was basically within touching distance the whole time.
Only one site with sharks - a dozen grey reefs on Kuredu Express - a high octane drift at a channel entrance.
Other highlights included large Stingrays, Eagle Rays, Tuna, Barracuda, Dolphins and Turtles. Lots of great small stuff as well. The coral has suffered though and is not of the same healthy standard as parts of say the southern Red Sea or Similans.
All in all a great holiday diving experience with loads of variation and colour.
Kuredu itself though is a tacky holiday camp masquerading as a natural Maldivian island. It was expensive and the resort service was poor. Not surprising really since most of the staff are imported from Bangladesh or India and have no stake in the place. Give me the natural cultures of western Thailand or Indonesia any day.
Cheers
We were based in Kuredu and used the resident dive operator Pro Divers. The Lhaviyani Atoll is 45 minutes by seaplane north of the Capital Male.
If there is a better appointed, better organised coastal dive centre anywhere in the world I'd be interested to know about it. Pro Divers operated up to 10 boats a day with 10-15 instructors speaking 5 languages and with 40+ fantastic dive sites within 90minutes ride. Their IT systems kept everyone moving through their itineraries throughout the week and they were very accomodating on changes and requests. Their equipment wetroom was the best planned I've ever seen and made it a pleasure to de-kit and clean up. Their staff were professional and safety conscious.
Not cheap though! Basically $39 per dive WITHOUT the boat ride and using your own kit. Everything else was extra and the boats were $10 single and $16 for a two tank dive (so a total of $94 for a two dive morning). There were package discounts but NOT off the boat trips. This was bizarre since the owners of the boats and the dive centre were essentially the same people.
I did 22 dives in 10 days. Most were drift dives due to the tide forcing current in and out of the Atoll. Difficult to get deeper than 30m anywhere but no need either.
Regularly saw Manta including one encounter on a cleaning station for 30 minutes where I was basically within touching distance the whole time.
Only one site with sharks - a dozen grey reefs on Kuredu Express - a high octane drift at a channel entrance.
Other highlights included large Stingrays, Eagle Rays, Tuna, Barracuda, Dolphins and Turtles. Lots of great small stuff as well. The coral has suffered though and is not of the same healthy standard as parts of say the southern Red Sea or Similans.
All in all a great holiday diving experience with loads of variation and colour.
Kuredu itself though is a tacky holiday camp masquerading as a natural Maldivian island. It was expensive and the resort service was poor. Not surprising really since most of the staff are imported from Bangladesh or India and have no stake in the place. Give me the natural cultures of western Thailand or Indonesia any day.
Cheers
