May vs Oct. When to go ?

[regina55]

Hi All,

I have read that it is possible to dive in the Maldives all year round but the best time for a liveaboard is Jan-April. I only have time for flying to the Maldives in early May or early October and am thinking which time is better for me in terms of currents, big fish or marine diversity, etc.

What I am concerned about the most is the currents. I am quite new to diving with around 80 dives logged so far. Except for the experience with currents in Bali, I have done most of my dives in the "flat" sea in Mexico and the Philippines. I have read that the currents in the Maldives could be very unpredictable especially when the season goes into monsoon. I am worried that the currents in May might be too strong for me to manage. Should I change my travel plans to October? Would there be differences in weather and sea condition between May and Oct?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

 

[Land Fish]

Hi Regina,

I went on a liveaboard last month (July) and perhaps I could share some of my thoughts.

Weather. It was a 8N9D trip, besides a couple of heavy showers in the evening during dinner time, we had glorious sunshine for the rest of the trip.

Currents. Yes, drift diving seems rather common in Maldives. It's only challenging when I had to hook down and stay in one place when the currents were strong, otherwise I'd just go with the flow, quite literally, and it was easy. One dive guide on my boat would always go down and check the current before we jumped in, so we had a rough idea what to expect. Stay close with your buddy/dive guide, then it's no biggie. If you hear medium plus currents and you're not comfortable with it, call it. Your buddy could always buddy up with dive guide.

Experience. With around 80 dives, you're definitely more experienced than I am

One more thing, like I mentioned in another post, bleaching seems to have taken a toll on Maldives, and I didn't see much colour down there. Perhaps anyone who's been to Maldives more than once could shed light on it?

 

[Tippytoes12]

We have been twice on LOBs in May and on both occasions had cloudy weather. The first time there was a fair ammount of rain too , but last year there was lots and lots of rain. It does not affect you too much on a LOB , but we stayed a second week on each trip where the weather made a big difference.

 

[regina55]

Thank you for sharing your experiences Sandfish and Tippytoes. I am going to book my flight. Hope the weather will be nice !