MALDIVES
(2)Moby Dave and Sue, tell of their experiences diving the islands and atolls
that make this into what some say, is one of the worlds best diving locations.
Looking out of the aircraft window as we made our approach into Male airport,
the Maldivian republics capital, I could not help thinking I do hope the diving
here lives up to its reputation as one of the worlds premier dive destinations.
My wife Susan and I were not to be disappointed.
After more than 16 hours flying we had finally arrived at the Maldives for a two
centre dive holiday.
The first week was to be
spent on the' Atoll Explorer' a 50 meter cruise ship. It was small enough to
be informal as it carried only 40 passengers, and acted as a dive come
cruise vessel which does trips around the atolls, sailing every week from
Male.
Everything you needed was there for a totally relaxing holiday.
There were 6 or so divers on board here to sample the pleasures of diving some
of the worlds best reefs, and to experience diving with the big pelagics.
All this was not made easy due to the good living on board the Explorer.
There were 3 big meals per day with all the beer and spirits you want, and some
very adventurous cocktails which we had to try.
All this did nothing to improve my waistline, or dispel my diving nick name of
Moby.
The diving on board was run by Euro Divers, who together with the crew of the
Explorer were absolutely brilliant and could not do enough.
The diving was out of this world and included all kinds of sites including
wrecks, with their own big resident sting rays all wanting to meet the new
visitors.
One day we had a very early start and had to be in the water at 05.00.
We were promised that we would be rewarded for our efforts by being able to dive
with a shoal of about 20 hammerheads if we swam out over a deep water drop off.
Sure enough there they were, cruising below us at about 50 metres.
We were told that as the sun comes up they drop down into deeper water, hence
the need for the early wake up.
It is not however, a good idea after a good night on the cocktails.
There were generally quite a
lot of sharks on every dive, mainly white tips. As they got a bit braver
they would come in very close being very inquisitive creatures. These dives
were usually on the outer side of the atolls where the ocean currents were
quite strong, so it was a case of hanging onto the rocks being sure to avoid
the coral.
On one of the dives we spotted the largest lion fish we had ever seen. It
would have put anyone unlucky enough to have been stung by it, in the ships
hospital for the rest of the week.
We were fortunate to have some very exciting runs ashore to some of the
beautiful islands.
One in particular was the island of laguna beach resort.
This tiny island only about 250 x 250 meters boasted its own fresh water
swimming pool, which is rare in the Maldives, and had all the facilities one
could wish for without it being commercialised.
Thankfully it still retains its desert island atmosphere.
The second week took us to a little island in the northern atoll called Rethi
Rah.
Our friend Kate had visited it a couple of times, and so it came very
recommended.
The island itself was only
50 yards wide, by 1/2 a mile long. A real Robinson Crusoe spot.
The accommodation consisted of around 40 bungalows going the full lengh of
the island, and about 18 luxurious water bungalows at the head of the
island.
The food was out of this world, they made up some marvellous dishes and very
rarely was fish part of it.
The diving here was also run by Euro Divers and their boats allowed us to
dive sites both on the local house reef, and on some of the other outer reefs.
Most of the diving here was drift diving and sometimes in fast currents. A
delayed SMB was a must and was deployed at the end of most dives as a marker to
the boat crew to show our position when we surfaced.
The boat staff knew the runs of the current and were highly trained in what they
needed to do. They needed to be as divers could surface 3/4 of a mile from where
they were dropped in, but the boat was never far away.
One dive in particular was called the washing machine.
The dive itself was a small submerged reef called banana reef presumably because
of its shape.
The current funnelled into a gully at about 15 meters which swept us in and back
out, not at all dangerous but a bit like being in a Hotpoint on fast spin.
It was well worth the effort as the spot was teeming with all sorts of marine
life including a huge stone fish, the likes of which we have never seen before
on any other tropical dive.
Again, not recommended after a heavy night on the local hooch.
Our longing to spot a big
Manta had not been forthcoming until the second week when we had nearly
ended one of our dives. Susan was at 6 metres doing a safety stop while I
was using up the rest of the film in my camera at 10 metres, when over the
horizon not 20 metres away came this huge manta estimated at some 18 feet
across, and glided past us into the distance.
The rest of the film got used up very quickly.
Some of the reefs were a bit bland in places but more than made up for it in
marine life.
All-round it is some of the best diving we have ever encountered, a unique part
of the world above and below the water.
We came away with some very happy diving memories and plenty of film & video
footage of the underwater scenery.
If you are an aquatic film fanatic like myself or if you have got the Robinson
Crusoe spirit, and like the idea of being on a tiny island with beautiful
beaches, then this is the place to head for.
David.
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