Maldives vs Seychelles Diving?

[Christopher_B]

If you have to chose between the two, the Maldives is better, and best on a liveaboard. Better value for money than the resorts, and more variety of dives. I can recommend some boats.
As others have said, plenty of fish and sharks, but the coral is in a poor state. If you want beautiful Indian Ocean reefs, you should look at Pemba Island, Zanzibar, or Ibo Island, Qurimbas, Mozambique. And if you are on a budget, I rate the diving in Tofo, Mozambique over the Maldives.

 

[chillyinCanada]

npole, does your friend know why they seized his dive gear?

 

[npole]

I don't, I may ask. However I do not expect more than a generic "normal security checks".

 

[Christopher_B]

I heard about the ”black list”. Don’t know how that will play out. New rule.

It's been around a while I think, and is in force. A client told me last year that he had been to Sudan and after applied for an ESTA for the US and it was refused. He got a new passport (without the Sudan visa in it), re-applied, lied to the question asking if he had been to Sudan, and got it.

 

[Christopher_B]

he has been repatriated last week bent (to an arm) as they doesn't have rechamber rooms there.

Even if they had a chamber there, I think his insurers would have chosen to repatriate him as soon as possible after preliminary treatment, Of course it depends how bad his DCI was. In remote locations it is always a good idea to dive more conservatively than you would when at home and close to a chamber and reliable facilities. And really, you should dive like there wasn't a chamber around, even when there is. I don't just mean looking out for your NDL and making sure you stay X minutes away from it, but more importantly in my opinion, keep well rested and fully rehydrated. A safe diver's wetsuit smells of pee.

 

[Christian]

It's been around a while I think, and is in force. A client told me last year that he had been to Sudan and after applied for an ESTA for the US and it was refused. He got a new passport (without the Sudan visa in it), re-applied, lied to the question asking if he had been to Sudan, and got it.

Think it's a Trump-thing, so no longer than a few years old. Wasn't a problem four years ago (my last visit to thje US) so "new" for the middled aged, I guess.
Agree on Pemba/Tanzania being beutiful and fishy. Not a lot of big fish though (sharks and mantas). Whalesharks do pass but are more regularly seen along the Kenyan coast and near Mafia (situated south of Zanzibar and like Z, in shallower water on the continental shelf). Tofo inmo -- great diving and hard to beat for mantas and whalesharks, but the coral and fish diversity is not as good as further north (pemba/maldives). Haven't dived in the Qurimbas but it is supposed to be the "best" in that part of the Indian Ocean.

 

[Christopher_B]

but the coral and fish diversity is not as good as further north (pemba/maldives)

The corals in the Maldives have really suffered over the last few years. Noticeable decline in health, increase in bleaching over visits in 2014, 2015, and 2017. Pemba's corals a re way better, as is diversity of reef fish and critters. Definitely not a big fish destination though. Going back in June for a week on Pemba, have done about 500 dives there in total, over the last 11 years. Also having 5 days on Zanzibar with clients, and 5 days on Mafia revisiting suppliers.
For anyone who's reading, Mafia Whale sharks are seasonal, November to March is best. I'd rate Pemba over the parts of the Quirimbas that I have dived, more varied topography and better viz, and i love the walls that drop off into the inly blue.

 

[Christian]

Most drastic hit on the Maldives (and the central/western Indian ocean) was in the 1998 El Nino. Lots of coral died. Then a small in 2010 and then during 2015-2017 there was a pretty bad streak according to reports and research. I dived there in 2014 and recently in 2018 but since it was in vastly different areas and types of diving, I couldn’t really make the comparison. Still healthy thriving reefs below 5-10 metres. Fish life as good as it gets in the Indian Ocean. Didn’t the dive the Maldives before 1998, but it was apparently the year of Big change. Regrowth of some spieces of coral was faster than expected, but in 2014 there were still lots of dead coral in the shallows. None of the coral on house reefs I saw then were very healthy (fish life seemed unnaffected though).
Was a while ago since I was in Pemba/Zanzibar. Really enjoyed the diving in Pemba. Used to be mantas I heard but according to locals they had been heavily fished in the 1990’s and a rare sight after that. This was in 2005 and most of the reefs seemed to have escaped the 1998 El Nino, however we could find small patches of dead reef, but it looked more like dynamite fishing. Locals blamed fishermen from the mainland and the military.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Imnsho, they've also got serious damage from resort development. It's pretty dam sad to see construction materials mixed in with dredged sand during a dive next to an island.

 

[Christopher_B]

Construction run off and cement dust is often a problem for shallow reefs, unsurprisingly.
Dynamite fishing on Pemba is very infrequent these days and the reef fish are plentiful, the corals superb, lots of hard coral, fans, and some soft. Nice schools of black snapper, rainbow runner in the "winter", GTs, some schooling barracuda. Loads and loads of varied fusiliers, sweetlips etc