Opinions of Maldives???

[ff404]

Trying to plan a vacation in September. I am currently living/working in Djibouti, Africa, so looking for something moderately close to east Africa. Vacation in January was Egypt & Jordan, including diving in Dahab... Vacation in May is 2 weeks in Italy, vacation in July is climbing Kilimanjaro, Vacation in September will be a scuba trip somewhere. Looked at Seychelles, but from the research I've done there are better places. Looked at South Africa, again, unsure. Looked at going back to Egypt & stuff... but would like to go some place different.

For those of you who've been to the Maldives, what did you think? As good as its cracked up to be? Or is there some place in my vicinity (Africa, Middle East) that you consider better?

Thanks for the advice!

Matt Green

 

[Oceanic Dreams]

Hello FF404,

I couldn't help noticing your post. I a Maldivian. Maldives has much to offer any diver or tourist. Whether it is enjoying the nature on a resort or hopping on a live aboard to cruise through out the atolls. Liveaboard holidays lies on diving, the boat cruises on the ocean making stops at their favorite dive sites, enjoying the natural beauty of Maldives as comfortable and relaxed. On a liveaboard mainly you would be able to do 3-4 dives on a day. And the best part of it is getting to dive on different dive points; some of them are world class dive sites. As the Maldives is scattered in Indian Ocean our dive sites are also spread through out the atoll reefs. Advantages of a liveaboard is that you can cover a lot of atolls and do island hoping and have chance to experience the rich cultural life styles the islanders have preserved for years as well. Eagle Ray attains to give the passengers the best tour possible. Our experienced dive instructors/masters have so much experience that they have their own route and excitement in store.

Visit and feel free to contact us with any questions you may have concerning your vacation with us. We are proud to represent two outstanding live abroads and only the best five-star resorts the islands have to offer.
Either way Maldives is an exotic place which really does look like a post card.
Warm wishes
Oceanic Dreams

 

[saltynay]

Maldives are absolutely beautiful islands and really are the picturesque desert island dream hotels scattered on the Atolls. Species diversity is very good however the coral wasn't anything special due to the damage from natural storms.

Visit the maldives whilst you still can its expected to be largely inhabitable via sea level rises within the next 60-90 years.

 

[stiebs]

Absolutely awesome, and would go there again at the drop of a hat.
I spent seven days on a liveaboard and wouldn't have it any other way. It was out dive master's personal goal that we saw manta rays, hammerheads and whale sharks, and he wasn't going to be happy until we ticked all three boxes. And we did

 

[smokey braden]

ff404,
welcome to this board.
i did a liveaboard in the maldives in '04.
it was one of the best trips i have done yet.
do some research on this board and i'm sure you will find what you are looking for.
regards,

 

[Damselfish]

we did a liveaboard there a couple years ago and it was our best dive trip ever. (I've been to Palau, Yap, Australia, Hawaii, and lots of the Caribbean.)

There was some damaged coral but in some places it was either relatively undamaged or recovered some and was still amazing in places. And the wildlife was wonderful everywhere. I wish it was closer!

 

[Rhone Man]

Never been, but my tec instructor has been a diving for about 25 years, working in the Caribbean, the Red Sea, the Pacific and various other places.

And he said he never dived anywhere quite as beautiful as the Maldives.

 

[khacken]

Maldives are great. But I would suggest a liveaboard over staying on an island. You get much better variety and I was completely unimpressed with the dive shop I used on the island. For instance, they would not let you dive the day you arrived, and then went on to say that I should know better than to dive right after flying. To say the least, they were arrogant and insulting to the customers. The liveaboard was a completely different matter and loved my time with them.

 

[edasque]

Best reef I ever dove. I would go back in a second if I could.

Gallery | Maldives 2003 | Page 1/5

 

[Doc]

Done a Liveaboard a couple of times, and visited many resort based ops as well. I would go with the liveaboard, unless you want a "vacation with some diving". Select your liveaboards with your needs in mind, some are "dive-dive-dive", others are more likely offer you "two a day" with other activities.

The Male Intl Airport is merely a hopping off point, you have to hook up with the ship or transit to the resort- either by high speed boat or float plane.

If I were traveling from your location, I would go in a heartbeat... that and the Red Sea. The reefs are not all that florid, and by comparison to the SoPac- they are relatively colorless, but interesting for sure. Orange Cup Coral even during the day, which is contrary to the Caribbean. I have always been favored there with large critters. Some pelagic, such as Sharks, Rays, and big fish- but also humungous worms (looked like Beaded Sea Cucumbers), lacing themselves through the corals. The reefs are laced with 100# monafilament line, the stuff that's about 1.5mm- not a diver entanglement hazard at all, just visually a mess.

From the US however, I would rather take the same comparative plane ride and get to the Philippines again. (and again, and again)