Moz, Maldives or Similan

[scubajunky17]

Anyone dove all three, which is the best ?

 

[ocdiver1]

I have. In my opinion Moz is the best. Pelagics, schools of fish, coral in good shape, even rare macro like rhinopias. I consider it some of the best diving I've ever done outside of Asia/Australia.

 

[scubajunky17]

Wow, thanks for getting back on that! what time of year did you dive those spots ? how long ago did you dive moz if you dont mind me asking ? i'm hearing rummblings of not much manta action in moz these days ! I'd be interested to hear your response. It is so hard to chose a dive location sometimes, you here so much contradicting stuff it makes your head spin, but rare to speak to someone who has done all three so I value your input. I would be going at easter. Thanks in advance. I'm inot the big stuff really if that helps.

 

[ocdiver1]

Wow, thanks for getting back on that! what time of year did you dive those spots ? how long ago did you dive moz if you dont mind me asking ? i'm hearing rummblings of not much manta action in moz these days ! I'd be interested to hear your response. It is so hard to chose a dive location sometimes, you here so much contradicting stuff it makes your head spin, but rare to speak to someone who has done all three so I value your input. I would be going at easter. Thanks in advance. I'm inot the big stuff really if that helps.

No problem. I was in Moz in 2012..made two trips April-June to a combination of Tofo/Barra/Zavora, so same time of year you'd be thinking of going. Plenty of mantas, and I'm on the FB feed for one of the ops I dove with (Peri Peri, who I really recommend), and they would seem to be seen constantly, as the area has always been famous for. Can't say enough about Moz...feel free to pm if you have any questions.

For the other two, I've dove the Similans several times in May, also late in the year. Maldives both times were late in the year. April I believe would be considered "prime time" for the Similans. If budget is a concern, it's also the cheapest of the three and easiest to get to.

 

[Nami]

I've been also to all three sites by (my) preference
1. Mozambique - Nov 2012 (Tofo/Zavora) Good amount of mantas but only one whaleshark - while snorkeling. Lot's of huge potatoe groupers. No need for liveaboard, all landbased and the launch from the shore is a rush. Make sure you are Nitrox certified to make the most of your dives. Unfortunately, while we were there, vis was minimal in Zavora. During the time we went there were very few divers so you had the place for yourself


2. Maldives- Dec. 2013 Best with liveaboard. You should be comfortable with strong currents (channel dives). We saw lot's of mantas and a couple of whalesharks diving and snorkeling. In our case, we had great vis but it can get quite crowded as sometimes there were up to 5 liveaboards at the same site. Many many different nudibranches and small stuff to discover too.

3. Similan - Feb 2009 Cheaper, good vis. Great macro. But also can get crowded with several liveaboards visiting the same site. I think of all three sites, this was the easier one.

There are many more details -each has its pro and cons but it all depends on preferences.

 

[scubajunky17]

Thanks for that, I am off to Protea and tofo next week, will post a report when I get back. Thanks

 

[ScubAn@]

Anyone dove Quirimbas? How was it?

Any information about diving around Pemba?

Curious to hear your report scubajunky17.

Thanks

 

[scubajunky17]

I had a great time in Moz, loved Tofo and Zavora. Tofo is a stunning beach, good schools of fish and all round very good diving. Saw plenty of Giant mantas in Zavora but the visibility was poor.

 

[Christian]

Been to all three. Similans -- too many boats these days.
Moz (Tofu) has the big stuff, but poor coral and diversity. May be better in the North? So depending on what you're looking for it can be great or not so great.
Maldives -- expensive but has the best over all diving with big stuff, great reefs and diversity. Diving wise, not a bang-for-the-buck place.