maldives-trip report

[SMOKEY]

i just returned home from a dive trip on a liveaboard in the maldives. the m/v sultan of maldivaru was my dive resort for ten days. http://www.sultansoftheseas.it/en/infoSMadivaru.php
i was the only guest aboard for the first two days. there are nine people involved as crew. along with the vessel comes a sixty foot dhoni which serves as the dive boat. as my holiday progressed, more guest would arrive by speed boat. by the end of my trip there were only ten guest. we dove the atoll huvadoo. on every dive, sharks, turtles, eels, rays and hundreds of other fish would be seen. we dove three times a day plus a night dive ever other day. most of the dives were drift dives. the visability the first of the holiday was excellent. however, as the tide and currents changed the vis dropped somewhat. the meals served aboard were excellent. the crew could not be more accomadating. this was my first trip to the maldives and i am allready planning a return trip with my family. i would highly recommend this vessel to anyone who is interested in staying on a liveaboard for a holiday.

 

[Welshman]

Smokey

Thanks for your report. Always helpful to have personal recommendations. Feel free to post some photos if you have them.

regards

 

[Universal Diver]

It sound like you had a great time. I can't believe you were the only guest for the first two days. You must have felt like a king. On the down side, nobody to tell you dive stories to.

Still, I'm envious of you. What did the 10 days cost you?

Chris

 

[SMOKEY]

i thought it was nice having the dive master all to myself. it allowed me time to become familiar with the vessel and crew.
the way they had it set up, divers can come and go at their convienence and not worry about being made to stay a set week.
their are tons of other ways to spend your holiday in the maldives and not be on a boat the whole time depending on what you want to do. the plane ticket was $2,000 and 9 days on the boat was another 2 grand counting a nice gratuity. i thought it a great deal concidering the great time i had in a part of the world where i was.

 

[Arnaud]

What did you do topside during the trip?

3 dive a day is a reasonable number, but it's not that much for a liveaboard. Could you have done more?

 

[SMOKEY]

the maldives have a rule that no diver is allowed to go deeper than 30 meters and not to dive longer than a total of 50 minutes per dive. i had no problem with complying with their law. a night dive was offered every other night. the dives were set up on a schedule: 6:30 am, 11:00 am and 3:30 pm. because the vessel was not used as a dive platform there was a huge main salon with a seperate formal dining area. this allowed guest to read and relax in an area other than their stateroom. divers with digital cameras could edit their photos on the entertainment center provided. i read a book and took naps in the ac. i'm sure if additional dives were reqested the dm could work with you. i've stayed on 4 different liveaboards in the carribean and always had a ball. however the sultan of the maldivauru far exceeded anything i had experienced as far as amenities, quality of the dives and personal attention from the crew. i'm in the process of figuring out how i can post some photos for y'all.