Maldvies Trip Report Nov04
Getting there/around/back:
Due to the two public holidays long weekend in Singapore, SIA was fully booked so we had no choice but to fly by Sri Lanka Airlines. The afternoon flight was delayed by an hour (due to heavy rain??) & we had to check out to overnight in a hotel in Colombo due to the long transit (about 12 hrs). All else went well except once again for the long transit (about 6 hrs) in Colombo. Colombo airport do not have a lounge for transit. We had wanted to have a day room for rest & freshen-up but they have such funny & unfriendly regulation that they do not allow more than 2 persons (there are 4 of us) sharing a room ..what a bummer!! It was a torture spending 6 long hrs sitting around doing NOTHING!!!!
Accommodation:
Paradise Island Resort: 2 nites stay. Nicely decorated & comfortable. Lovely beach resort with wonderful view of different shades of blue ..just like in PARADISE!!!
http://www.mal-dives.com/paradise/
Baani Explorer: 7 nites LOB. Spacious cabin with air conditioning, en-suite hot shower. Two towels provided per person. Two power points in each cabin. Housekeeping done daily.
http://www.maldivesliveaboards.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?direct=MS_Baani_Explorer&img=0
Food:
Paradise Island Resort: Full board. Buffet style with variety but only disappointment is that there is no drink included. Juices are served only at breakfast. Note: Drinks are expensive!!!
Baani Explorer: Buffet style most of the time with additional main course (pepper steak, creamed chicken, king prawns pastas etc) served at dinner. The chef & crew made an effort to make our time on board a memorable one during the barbecue dinner by building a sand whale shark on the beach & special German fondue dinner on another nite ..what an amazing experience!!
Diving/ Sea Condition:
As we were on a safari, we encountered different kinds of diving conditions: some dive sites were calm while some have current so strong that we flown through the water (like skydiving) & were whipped around in whirlpools (like washing machine). The corals & reef (most top reef almost dead) were quite badly damaged by El Nino (bleaching) but the fish life is spectacular with lots of schooling bluestripe snappers & thousands of shoaling fusiliers. We saw white-tip & reef sharks, napoleon wrasse, turtles, lionfishes, few nudibranchs, stingrays, manta rays, tornadoes of barracuda. We did two nite dives & they are not to be missed: shrimps, crabs & the colours of the soft corals were simply awesome during the nite. We also had the chance to snorkel with a 6m whale shark.
The DM & boatmen were very helpful. Dive briefing was clear. Most of the dives were done with BC fully deflated & immediate descent after giant strike. Water temperature is at 29°C & hence a 0.5mm full suit is recommended.
Staff:
Very friendly, helpful & accommodating. Love them all.
Overall, Ive REALLY enjoyed the 10 days break from work. .till then , lets continue to blow more happy bubbles
here is the link to my gallery ENJOY ..
http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Maldives-Nov04
jovin-
Getting there/around/back:
Due to the two public holidays long weekend in Singapore, SIA was fully booked so we had no choice but to fly by Sri Lanka Airlines. The afternoon flight was delayed by an hour (due to heavy rain??) & we had to check out to overnight in a hotel in Colombo due to the long transit (about 12 hrs). All else went well except once again for the long transit (about 6 hrs) in Colombo. Colombo airport do not have a lounge for transit. We had wanted to have a day room for rest & freshen-up but they have such funny & unfriendly regulation that they do not allow more than 2 persons (there are 4 of us) sharing a room ..what a bummer!! It was a torture spending 6 long hrs sitting around doing NOTHING!!!!
Accommodation:
Paradise Island Resort: 2 nites stay. Nicely decorated & comfortable. Lovely beach resort with wonderful view of different shades of blue ..just like in PARADISE!!!
http://www.mal-dives.com/paradise/
Baani Explorer: 7 nites LOB. Spacious cabin with air conditioning, en-suite hot shower. Two towels provided per person. Two power points in each cabin. Housekeeping done daily.
http://www.maldivesliveaboards.com/cgi-bin/gallery/gallery.cgi?direct=MS_Baani_Explorer&img=0
Food:
Paradise Island Resort: Full board. Buffet style with variety but only disappointment is that there is no drink included. Juices are served only at breakfast. Note: Drinks are expensive!!!
Baani Explorer: Buffet style most of the time with additional main course (pepper steak, creamed chicken, king prawns pastas etc) served at dinner. The chef & crew made an effort to make our time on board a memorable one during the barbecue dinner by building a sand whale shark on the beach & special German fondue dinner on another nite ..what an amazing experience!!
Diving/ Sea Condition:
As we were on a safari, we encountered different kinds of diving conditions: some dive sites were calm while some have current so strong that we flown through the water (like skydiving) & were whipped around in whirlpools (like washing machine). The corals & reef (most top reef almost dead) were quite badly damaged by El Nino (bleaching) but the fish life is spectacular with lots of schooling bluestripe snappers & thousands of shoaling fusiliers. We saw white-tip & reef sharks, napoleon wrasse, turtles, lionfishes, few nudibranchs, stingrays, manta rays, tornadoes of barracuda. We did two nite dives & they are not to be missed: shrimps, crabs & the colours of the soft corals were simply awesome during the nite. We also had the chance to snorkel with a 6m whale shark.
The DM & boatmen were very helpful. Dive briefing was clear. Most of the dives were done with BC fully deflated & immediate descent after giant strike. Water temperature is at 29°C & hence a 0.5mm full suit is recommended.
Staff:
Very friendly, helpful & accommodating. Love them all.
Overall, Ive REALLY enjoyed the 10 days break from work. .till then , lets continue to blow more happy bubbles
here is the link to my gallery ENJOY ..
http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Maldives-Nov04
jovin-
certainly great lazing around doing nothing! Think if there is reincarnation, I'd like to be a sloth or a koala. And, don't forget the awesome dive the Austrian chef (Gerhard is his name, I think) had with the group of dolphins and a manta.
