Maldives next Autumn

[divingbrit]

Coming back to diving after a short break (well close on ten years :o ) and I want to take the girl friend to the Maldives, she will start her training this spring with my old Club.
Having been to The Maldives twice I checked out the BSAC Trip reports to see the state of the diving, bit disappointing to see that there is few really up to date feedbacks on the state of the coral etc. Did notice my dive trip from 1996 is still listed, which is nice, but is it now accurate?

So question is, has anyone been to the Maldives within the last year, and can they recommend an Island with a good house reef for my girl friend to do her diving on.

Derek

PS Nice to see that there are some old names from the rec scuba uk newsgroups posting here.

[Eddie Clamp]

Coming back to diving after a short break (well close on ten years :o ) and I want to take the girl friend to the Maldives, she will start her training this spring with my old Club.
Having been to The Maldives twice I checked out the BSAC Trip reports to see the state of the diving, bit disappointing to see that there is few really up to date feedbacks on the state of the coral etc. Did notice my dive trip from 1996 is still listed, which is nice, but is it now accurate?
So question is, has anyone been to the Maldives within the last year, and can they recommend an Island with a good house reef for my girl friend to do her diving on.
Derek
PS Nice to see that there are some old names from the rec scuba uk newsgroups posting here.

Welcome back Derek :)

You will find some Maldives reports here: http://www.bsac.com/findit.asp?cat=tripreports&section=0001000100150047&view=list&glat=&glng=&gzoom=&keyword=Maldives&submit.x=42&submit.y=12

Among them two of my trips on the MY Atoll Explorer plus a visit I made to the old RAF Gan amongst many others.

HTH

[divingbrit]

Thanks, I did read all the trip reports before posting, with the girl friend being a complete novice, will be not be looking at a liveaboard this time, (did the MV Keema last time)

Good House Reef is important, something nice and easy to get her interested.

Was in the Maldives in 1994 before 'El Nino' and the coral bleaching, then back a couple of years later and was disappointed with the shallow stuff, the deep stuff was fine, but she will not be doing that just yet.

[Eddie Clamp]

[QUOTE=divingbrit]Thanks, I did read all the trip reports before posting, with the girl friend being a complete novice, will be not be looking at a liveaboard this time, (did the MV Keema last time)
Good House Reef is important, something nice and easy to get her interested.
QUOTE]

Sorry!;) Overeager as usual. Have to say the Atoll Explorer is not a liveaboard. More a luxury event with varied diving. Wouldn't mind going back on the northern itinerary again.

Gan was brilliant but you have to cross the equator in a plane :)

[Strike]

Among them two of my trips on the MY Atoll Explorer plus a visit I made to the old RAF Gan amongst many others.

HTH

Gan was a brilliant place to dive. I made my first commercial salvage dive there back in '65. It was a search and recovery of a set of false teeth that an RAF sergeant had lost while fishing. I received a crate of beer. :D

Strike

[brooksy]

I would happy recommend Komandoo and Athuruga islands.

I went to Athuruga about 3 years ago and it was amazing. I think its located on the South Ari Atoll, so its a seaplane transfer. Brilliant island, popular with italians so its top quality without the typical italian tourists. its a small island with abut 45 rooms i think. It was the location of my best ever dive! The house reef is pristine and some sections of it have been untouched by divers. Its a spit shaped reef (an island with a long tail) The dive centre was an idive centre and it was very friendly and welcoming. The only problem is that i think the centre has changed hands now.

Komandoo was for this christmas, its a nice island another small island with about 50 rooms. Run by a very friendly spanish woman, called Nathalie. It has a prodivers centre on it which is run by Rosa. They run regular dive trips in the morning and afternoon. What i really liked was how friendly it was, if i requested a site in the afternoon they would sort it for the morning. They have rental equipment from mares which is of high quality. Once you've done your check dive you can dive anytime on the house reef without supervision.

As with Maldivian law as you probably know its a 1hr max bottom time with max depth of 30m for all dives.

if you are looking at going to komandoo or athuruga i'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the islands or the holiday.

many thanks matt....

[divingbrit]

Great info, just what I wanted to hear.
Its mainly the house reef that worries me, as I am sure that Lynn, my girl friend , will spend her time there. And I don't want to her to see too much bleached Coral on her very first over seas dive trip.

Derek

[brooksy]

if you do go to komandoo, ask to dive anemone thila, its an amazing dive site. Its a bell shaped reef, with the top at about 10/12m descending down to about 30. But the real highlight is that its top is entirely covered with anemones, its an amazing site! When i dived it we had massive schools of glass fish, and i'm not joking if they saw between me and my buddy we couldn't see each other! and the other plus point is that its only about 20minutes motor from the island!

oh and also go for the gold all inclusive at komandoo, it costs a bit but it will save you money! You get, free drinks in the bar, 1 free dive, 1 dinner in their al-a-carte restaurant, a 1hr spa treatment, and a few more things.

I think the best side of the island on komandoo is the sunset side, i also recommend staying in a beach villa, as although water villas are nice, you don't get a piece of beach with your sunbeads, and it can be quite noisy in the room with the water/wind lapping around the supports.

cheers matt...