nycjOHN170
Contributor
Maldives Dive Report 05 Feb 2012 - 14 Feb 2012
I committed to this about a year ago, going with People from my dive shop.
We were on the M/V Manthiri out of Male, a liveaboard. In addition to the Manthiri, there was a divetender a “dhoni” which was very convenient, giving the space that would’ve been for diving over to roomy camera tables. I’ve been on liveaboards where you’re either servicing your cameras on the dining table or over your bed. Having dedicated space for this is a huge plus. I’m spoiled forever.
The food was excellent as were the quarters. I’m unaware of any complaints or gastro-intestinal issues from our group.
There was a coup in the Capital City while we were there which affected us very little.
Most of us wore 5mms but I believe my 3mm would've been fine, even for 4 dive days. Our first dive was around 6:30am and there was nice spacing between dives, allowing us to off gas.
We didn’t have a single dive that was humdrum. Each dive had some special characteristic. Huge schools of fish. Large Coral gardens. Some dives had so much going on, you’d find yourself hurrying from a wreck to a coral garden. One night dive , we were hanging onto a ridge looking off into deep water while a shark circled directly in front of us.
The current was often a factor. An entry level diver would find this trip unpleasant. Often, you’d be flying through the divesite at up to 5 knots. Fish would collect at sheltered areas. I’m “Rescue” qualified and have about 150 dives. I was the least experienced of our group of 12, which included several Tec divers, Instructors, people with a thousand or more dives. We had nearly zero drama even in extreme conditions. Very relaxing. I was honored to be invited.
On our last dive, an assistant guide, did a free dive down to our group at around 50 feet, sharing gas with the group leader. There was sand in the Octo and they shared the Primary. Afterwards, he swam slowly back up and the leader took apart his Octo at depth and cleared the sand. It was classic.
Being the least experienced, I often became low on air the soonest and there was little problem with that. I’d turn my buddy over to someone else, usually the dive leader. The dhoni would go around the site picking people up where ever and whenever they were done with their dive. We regularly deployed an SMB.
We had one dive with several Manta appearances, multiple dives with schools of Devil Rays. The schools of fish were often large and frequent. We often saw Morays free swimming. We saw loads of turtles. It was a great trip. I would do it again.
I committed to this about a year ago, going with People from my dive shop.
We were on the M/V Manthiri out of Male, a liveaboard. In addition to the Manthiri, there was a divetender a “dhoni” which was very convenient, giving the space that would’ve been for diving over to roomy camera tables. I’ve been on liveaboards where you’re either servicing your cameras on the dining table or over your bed. Having dedicated space for this is a huge plus. I’m spoiled forever.
The food was excellent as were the quarters. I’m unaware of any complaints or gastro-intestinal issues from our group.
There was a coup in the Capital City while we were there which affected us very little.
Most of us wore 5mms but I believe my 3mm would've been fine, even for 4 dive days. Our first dive was around 6:30am and there was nice spacing between dives, allowing us to off gas.
We didn’t have a single dive that was humdrum. Each dive had some special characteristic. Huge schools of fish. Large Coral gardens. Some dives had so much going on, you’d find yourself hurrying from a wreck to a coral garden. One night dive , we were hanging onto a ridge looking off into deep water while a shark circled directly in front of us.
The current was often a factor. An entry level diver would find this trip unpleasant. Often, you’d be flying through the divesite at up to 5 knots. Fish would collect at sheltered areas. I’m “Rescue” qualified and have about 150 dives. I was the least experienced of our group of 12, which included several Tec divers, Instructors, people with a thousand or more dives. We had nearly zero drama even in extreme conditions. Very relaxing. I was honored to be invited.
On our last dive, an assistant guide, did a free dive down to our group at around 50 feet, sharing gas with the group leader. There was sand in the Octo and they shared the Primary. Afterwards, he swam slowly back up and the leader took apart his Octo at depth and cleared the sand. It was classic.
Being the least experienced, I often became low on air the soonest and there was little problem with that. I’d turn my buddy over to someone else, usually the dive leader. The dhoni would go around the site picking people up where ever and whenever they were done with their dive. We regularly deployed an SMB.
We had one dive with several Manta appearances, multiple dives with schools of Devil Rays. The schools of fish were often large and frequent. We often saw Morays free swimming. We saw loads of turtles. It was a great trip. I would do it again.
