Need advice on liveaboard in Maldives

[loandd]

Hi, i am down to three liveaboards and I would like the opinions of those who have been at any of these LB or known someone.

1. Explorer Venture ( Carpe Vita Explorer)
2. MV Orion (I know this is a more luxury boat)
3. Aggressor

What I am interested in is quality of dives, that is my top priority while of course being in a comfortable place.

Thank you

 

[Doc]

What I am interested in is quality of dives, that is my top priority

Meaning what, exactly?

The layout and design of the dive deck, the dive process?

Or the specific area that any given boat might take you?

What is it about each that have you discovered and found to your liking so far?

 

[loandd]

I meant the quality of the diving, as in visiting nice dive sites rather than trashed places as I have heard about Maldives because some companies not care much about the environment. The divesties seem a little different among the three companies so hopefully some someone who had at any of the could give good feedback .

Thxnk you

 

[Doc]

Okay then, it's about the itinerary ...

Boats usually change their routes and operational zones depending upon the time of year-
(tropical storms and all of that)
What different routes are these individual boats cruising during your specific time frame?

 

[supergaijin]

All 3 boats you have listed are of a good quality.

Depending on what the local weather is like during your trip will dictate which divesites are accessible. Today I cancelled our scheduled dhoni dive as the wind was too strong. Some larger dhonis would have been alright but ours would have been tossed around like a salad. I operate from land so am restricted whereas the safari boat will be able to go to the lee of any island where it is calmer. There would still be surface waves but nothing too arduous.

However diving the channels would not be advised in wind like this. The wind is prevailing from the west at the moment so diving the western fringe of the atoll would be impossible but the eastern side would be calm.

The safari captains know the conditions and take stock of the minimum experience of the divers and it would take weather much worse than this to affect divesites all over the Maldives. Such storms are almost unheard of in this part of the world.