Please Help Me Find My Ideal Maldives Liveaboard...

[mantajohn]

I am fortunate in having dived a few different Maldives liveaboards (Sea Spirit, Nautilus II, Carpe Vita, Maldives Siren & Orion).

There is now a wide choice of boats in the Maldives. Whilst at first glance the diving from them can appear very similar, the dive experience can be very different.

I've had great trips on the boats Ive used so far, but, over time, I've worked out what would make my ideal Maldives liveaboard. Despite spending quite a lot of time looking online, I've not been able to find a boat that completely hits the spot.

Perhaps someone can help me?

* itineraries of > 7 days. Pref 9 or 10 days
* itineraries that get away from the Central Atolls and explore less dived areas eg 'Deep South'
* < 20 divers - ideally 12-16
* 4 star ish quality
* side by side (not bunk) beds in the twin share cabins
* diving from a dhoni (not a rhib)
* nitrox

Thanks

 

[Divebooker.com]

Hi Mantajohn,
it seems Manta Cruise with it's Extended South Atolls (Male - Gan) (12 Night Trip) meets almost all your requirements.

 

[mantajohn]

Divebooker - many thanks.

I've not come across 'Manta Cruise' before. It ticks all the boxes. I'll do some homework on it.

Are there any other boats operating that meet my 'ideal' criteria?

 

[msnunn]

I am also very interested in this topic and figured I wouldn't start a new thread. My wife and I will be in the Maldives from November 23 to December 8 for our honeymoon. We love diving, but do not have the experience of many of the people who choose to do live aboard trips. I have my Advanced Open Water with about 40 dives and my wife just has her Open Water cert with closer to 30 dives. Will this be an issue when trying to find a live aboard?

Also, below is an ideal ask list. They are very similar to MantaJohn's...

* itineraries of > 7 days. Pref 9 or 10 days
* itineraries that get away from crowds and see unique areas of the country
* < 20 divers - ideally 12-16
* 4 star ish quality
* Private cabin
* At least 2 night dives

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mantajohn]

You are thinking of taking your honeymoon on a liveaboard!!!

Liveaboard cabins tend to be quite small, dining is communal etc etc. Might a resort work better?

In view of your limited diving experience, if you go for the lob, i would suggest staying with the central atolls/best of maldives itinerary. which run for the standard 7 days. Most of the extended itineraries have a focus on strong current which i would not have enjoyed with 30-40 dives under my belt. You can always extend by adding a resort for a few days as well.

If you go this route, Carpe Vita Explorer is a lovely boat. They have some very nice upgrade cabins also.

Happy to try and help if you have any further questions.

 

[msnunn]

Thanks for the heads up! Most of the lobs in the date range that I have looked at are the central atolls/best of tours. I was originally thinking about a resort, but my wife and I really enjoy seeing as much of the country as possible when we travel. I worry that we would get bored staying on the same island for the entire trip (15 days). If we do a live aboard for 8 days, we would also have some time for some R&R at a resort. Plus, it seems like we would spend as much on a room/diving as we would for a lob. Anyway, that was my thought process.

I'll definitely check out the Carpe Vita.

 

[mattia_v]

'Liveaboard' and 'seeing a lot of the country' are not things that really go together for me. Yes, it moves around, but you're not stopping off to visit cute fishing villages most of the time. You're diving 3 to 5 times a day, and spending he rest of the time recovering, eating, sleeping, and getting briefed on your next dive.

You'll see more of the underwater bits and more different bits of shoreline though. I agree it is one of the more affordable ways to see the Maldives compared to the swanky resorts though.

 

[msnunn]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was going for. I'm not particularly interested in going to fishing villages and would rather see isolated shorelines and dive as much as possible.

 

[mantajohn]

Whilst I love the Maldives, I wouldn't recommend them for any form of sightseeing. There's precious little shoreline & an enormous amount of open water to see during a liveaboard trip there.

Most of the islands are less than a mile long & on a central atolls trip are few and far between. A good number of the reefs you will dive barely break the ocean surface. Sometimes you will anchor overnight in the lee of a resort island, but you'll not be going ashore.

If you are looking for an interesting second week, had you considered spending it in Sri Lanka?

John

 

[msnunn]

Whilst I love the Maldives, I wouldn't recommend them for any form of sightseeing. There's precious little shoreline & an enormous amount of open water to see during a liveaboard trip there.

Most of the islands are less than a mile long & on a central atolls trip are few and far between. A good number of the reefs you will dive barely break the ocean surface. Sometimes you will anchor overnight in the lee of a resort island, but you'll not be going ashore.

If you are looking for an interesting second week, had you considered spending it in Sri Lanka?

John

I had a friend recommend the same thing and flights from Male to Colombo are pretty cheap. I was thinking about going over there for 4 or 5 days after the liveaboard.