Need advice on Maldives in November

[Scout]

Hi all,

I am planning to go to the Maldives in mid-November this year, first staying at a resort at Baa Atoll, then at another one in South Male Atoll. This would be my first time there and I'm very excited about it.

I've tried looking up various sources on the web about diving conditions, pelagics to see, and the weather during this time of year on the web, but have found conflicting reports. It just sounds like November is unpredictable weather-wise, and if I'm incredibly lucky, I may spot a manta on the western atolls.

What I'd like to ask here is, if you've been to the Maldives in November before, to kindly provide me with a brief description of your experience. After all my web research, it would be helpful to get an informal poll as well of personal experiences.

Thank you very much in advance!

- Scout

 

[stiebs]

(Disclaimer: My account of the Mavldives was prior to the Tsunami a year ago, and I am unsure of the extent of impact)

Hi Scout. I haven't been there in November, but two years ago spent the first week in December there. Weather was absolutely awesome! Always around 30ºC (86ºF) both above and below the surface. There were a couple of days when it was raining, but you have to expect that on the equator.

We were on a liveaboard, and spent time on Nth Male, Sth Male and Ari Atolls. It was the "mission" of our crew to make sure that we all saw at least one hammerhead, manta and whale shark. And they were successful on all counts.

You pretty much can't go wrong with dive spots anywhere in the Maldives, but a liveaboard does allow you to cover a wider range of options. The next best thing is to do what you are doing, and spread your time over two different atolls.

The most amazing dive was the hammerhead dive, off Nth Male - we entered about 200m off the reef, decended in deep blue to about 30m, and spotted about 20 hammerheads circling about 20m away from us.

Probably saw about half a dozen mantas, mainly in the confines of the atolls in about 10m of water. Even the couple of non-scuba passengers had a good look at them with a snorkel.

And the whale shark was a treat to us conservative breathers. Heading into the 50th minute of a rather ordinary (by Maldives standards) dive, most buddy pairs had already surfaced, with the last 4 of us just completing a safety stop and about to ascend. Needless to say the stop was extended by another minute or so as a huuuuge whale shark swam past within about 5 meters of our little underwater gathering around a safety sausage line.

I don't have any pics on me (I'm at work) but I can post some over the weekend...

 

[Zippsy]

I was there in November in 2004, on a LOB mostly in the South Ari and North Mali Atolls. The weather was decent - 1 day it rained about 6 hours, 2 nights it drizzled. A tad cold at nights sleeping on the deck but sunny and hot during almost all the rest of the time. Froop is right, stay on a LOB if you can. You should be able to find some mantas, a whaleshark or two, more sharks than you need and some eagle rays for the fun of it if you do. The fish move around with the seasons. The dive guides know where to find them but if you are at a resort, you may not be able to (or want to) travel every day to those places if they are further away. If you do have to stay on a resort for accompanying non-divers, in front of White Sands resort in South Ari was where they expected to see whaleshark at that time of year. Manta Paradise in North Male is where mantas were guaranteed. Good luck.

 

[Scout]

Froop and Zippsy, thanks so much for sharing your insights and experiences. It's so helpful to get this kind of feedback here after having exhausted all my web research.

Froop, it would be terrific if you could share your pics with us. Sounds like you had an amazing trip!

I did read that a LOB is best for the Maldives. However, this trip being my honeymoon and all, I figured it would not be the most romantic thing to share cramped quarters with 10 other people as much as we love diving

 

[Zippsy]

be thankful she dives. Otherwise, I'd recommend doing the LOB and just leaving her on shore.

If you are splitting your time between two resorts, you could still try to get near places I mentioned so that you will be close enough to get to the sites to see (hopefully) the whalesharks & mantas. Nothing is ever guaranteed though. Good luck, have fun and remember to enjoy whatever you see - don't be disappointed with what you don't.

 

[Deur]

I have been in the Maldives three times at the end of October/early November. Never had problems with the weather, a bit of rain, but never more than 1 or 2 hours. Nice and sunny after that.

Deur

 

[jeff99]

Hi Scout

New here, but came back from N Male Atoll on Nov 23rd 05. Didn't do Manta Point, but the divers who did saw Mantas Weather wise - quite a lot of rain and one bad squall - really strong winds with a horizontal downpour and lightning - you know, real Armageddon stuff:14: But all over within an hour - the sun came out just as strong!!! Bit blowy some days, vis not too bad - 15m or so I would guess. Talking to the island staff and the dive instructor, there appears to have been very little impact from the Tsunami. Things are basically what they were before, with remarkably little coral damage. ( This from talking to other island hopping guests as well.) Not sure how relevant this is to Ari, but I imagine the weather would be the same for there as it's not really too far away. To stop waffling and summarize, I would say that weather is OK - rain doesn't stop you diving after all! And even after a storm, the sun should soon re-appear! Good luck with your trip - really hope you see the Mantas

Jeff

 

[stiebs]

Hi Scout,
Sorry 'bout the delay in getting pics up..
Take a look at my gallery for some samples. Unfortunately all the underwater pics were taking with a Sony point-n-hope with only the camera flash, but they're good enough for my memories at least. All the manta pics (including this video (5Mb)) were taken snorkelling in 5m.

No pics of the hammerheads - they were just too far away.

 

[pelan-pelan]

Damage from Tsunami is very limited.

Do your homework about each of the resorts. Came back from Maldives a few weeks ago and there was quite a forum going in the airport about the different resorts. Our experience was Vakarufalhi was beautiful, tranquil, delightful and the cottages have large beds! :05:

We then transferred to a bigger resort Meerufenfushi which was hell - unless you like staff who won't carry the luggage but still insist on a tip, green mould up the bathroom walls, and although I know cockroaches are quite normal in the tropics, the ones running around the floor were some of the largest I have ever seen.

According to the word in the airport, some resorts are even worse. And others are fantastic and truly "paradise".

 

[Scout]

Thanks for the additional feedback, everyone. I guess this being our big trip of the year (oh yeah, and our honeymoon!) we just wanted to have it all - sunny days, great resorts, and an impressive array of pelagics swarming around us in every dive

Froop - Thanks for sharing your pics. I'm salivating already (and keeping my fingers crossed every day until we get there).