Maldives - Whale sharks or deep south during first four months of year?

[Lriemann]

Hi there!

I'm a diver with 99 dives, mostly in the Red Sea.

My Girlfriend, sadly a non-diver, wants to go to the Maldives either December or January, but I could probably convince her to go in February, March or April.
We'll spend a week on the beach and I can probably stay another 8 days for my diving. Yay.

I'd really like to see Whale sharks, and tiger sharks (and mantas, which I saw in the Red Sea!) would also be great.
From what I understand, Liveaboards are the way to go (tell me otherwise if I'm wrong) if you want to see big stuff.
I also heard that the Deep South is the best - Fuvahmulah seems to be the place to go.

But It seems like Liveaboards to the deep south only start later in the year - March and April.
And Like I said, late December or January would be better.

How big is the difference between Deep South and South and central Ari, which seems to be the most popular route?
Any differences in visibility and water temperatures between the months and destinations?

If anyone had recommendations for specific Liveaboards that are not too expensive, let me know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Parlem]

Hello!

My diving has been mainly in the Egyptian Red Sea too, but I've had a number of dive trips to the Maldives, including one liveaboard. Unfortunately, my information might be dated, as massive coral bleaching and the ridiculously high prices have put me off the Maldives for several years now.
So please take my advice with a pinch of salt.

The main difference between the Egyptian Red Sea and the Maldives is the quality and variety of coral (much better in Egypt) and the sheer number of fish and large animals (much better in the Maldives). Of course, there will be specific dive sites where the opposite will be true (think Ras Mohamed in summer, for instance). But you get my meaning.

You will likely encounter large animals (be it mantas, reef sharks, etc) on any dive holiday, land-based or liveaboard, in the Maldives, if you do enough dives. But, indeed, Fuvamulah seems the place to go for guaranteed, repeated encounters with tigers and other rare/pelagic shark species.

The classic Maldives route (North Male, Rasdoo, Ari, South Male) boasts some iconic dive sites and there are many more operators offering it all year round. You can't go wrong with it and I'd suggest a liveaboard. But if tigers is a must, then you'll want to head south.

Another observation I should make is that, in comparison with the Egyptian Red Sea, diving in the Maldives can be a little more challenging, generally speaking. While fast currents are exceptional in the Red Sea, they are frequent in the Maldives. And, in my experience, there is less hand-holding than in Egypt, if you see what I mean. You should be able to deploy an SMB by yourself without much fuss, ideally.

Overall I think the Red Sea remains the better value choice for European divers, but the Maldives are well worth a trip.