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Maldives Report
October 2010
As our plane
descended through the clouds everyone got their first glimpse of the Maldives
islands. Blue seas and turquoise lagoons, the view is simply breath taking the
first time you see it but equally magically on a return visit.
We are transferred
to the liveaboard on our dive dhoni, which affectionately becomes known as 'the
Donut' over the course of the next few days. The boat doesn't seem to
disappoint anyone. It isn't luxurious but it has character and over the
next few days brings all of us close to her heart. The crew are fabulous (that
becomes Jo's
favourite word for the next ten days) and we quickly start to feel as though we
are all one big happy family on board. The food was plentiful and tasty all week
and a testament to what the chef can do in a very limited galley. All our varied
dietary needs were catered for and every time a plate was emptied it was
instantly refilled.
We learnt very
quickly the ground rules to diving in the Maldives. Descend as quickly as
possible, swim straight to the reef and then regroup. Everyone dives as a buddy
pair and when you get to 50 bar you ascend to 6m for your safety stop. DSMB's
really are a necessity and the reef hooks we all took with us were invaluable.
We also learnt to stay close and low to the reef in a current although we didn't
experience any REALLY strong currents that can be found on some dive sites in
the Maldives.
Conti was a
wonderful host and dive guide, picking sites that suited our abilities. He
helped to build the confidence of the less experienced divers and also
fulfilled our desire to take as many photos as possible.
We started our
adventure at South Male Atoll, each day travelling further south towards Felidhe
Atoll. From there we crossed westwards to Ari Atoll where, although we didn't
manage to see any whalesharks the table corals spread before us were FAB-U-LOUS!!
We also had our night dive here as well.
As well as the
diving we were also treated to a beach barbeque by candlelight which is always a
wonderful experience and we were lucky enough to have not one but two island
visits where we could meet some local inhabitants and buy some souvenirs.
Mena and Nigel
even managed to find the ice cream shop at Dhangethi!
We
had to change plans slightly because of the predicted winds which meant
traveling back to South Male Atoll a day earlier than we might have done but we
were fortunate to have hardly any rain. There was one very light shower before
everyone was up on one day but the rainbow was beautiful. There was also one
short shower the same day as we got ready to dive. By the time we surfaced it
was a distant memory.
Returning to some
of the dive sites we had visited earlier did not disappoint in the slightest. We
realised just how much there was to see and it simply left us wanting more.
Nigel thoroughly
enjoyed fishing with the crew on several evenings - he even managed to catch a
few!
He also found out
just how slippery the steps on a jetty can be and he learnt that it really isn't
a good idea to go poking a lion fish on the bum!!
Congratulations go
to Jo for completing her digital underwater photographer speciality while we
were away. Ben was happy just to hang around - looking way too cool!
Although we had
booked this trip with up to three dives a day, there were several days where we
opted to have a lie in and just do two dives, even though some of us were still
waking up at 6am regardless. None the less we completed 23 dives over nine days
of diving, many of them up to the hour maximum allowed.
We had numerous
shark encounters and mantas on three separate days but this one was the closest.
Several people would have missed it completely had it not changed direction at
the last minute to swim along side us for a few moments.
Our turtle
encounters just got better and better. We were honoured to be able to watch one
feeding for quite some time.
There were
numerous Morays and the fish life just had to be experienced to be believed.
Schools of Snappers and Bannerfish, Oriental Sweetlips and Soldierfish that just
hung in the water or huge schools of Fusiliers that shot past by the 100's.
There were Angelfish, Butterflyfish and Hawkfish. We found Lobsters hiding under
overhangs and inside caves. Parrotfish posed for us and Titan Triggerfish teased
us. For those with eagle eyes there were plenty of Nudibranchs to be found,
although it was hard to know where to look first and it was simply impossible to
take everything in.
The variety of
corals was breath taking, although some of the outer reefs do show some damage there were also plenty of sites with a variety of corals with
colours that seemed unreal, even to the naked eye.
Overhangs just
dripping with soft corals...
...and a wall that
seemed never ending that left us begging to be able to go back again but sadly
it was the last dive of the trip.
There was plenty
of opportunity for sunbathing but for those that preferred there is also a
covered deck at the rear of the upper deck.
We ate lots, we
slept lots and we dived lots. Possibly best of all we laughed lots too!
Alice deserves a
special mention for growing gills part way through the week. Much to Mark's
disgust!
Mena and Nigel had
a very special 'unbirthday' celebration on the Saturday night with balloons,
banners and a very special cake which the crew came and very shyly shared with
us.
We had another
party on our last evening, a farewell from the crew so all in all we were pretty
well spoiled. There was pole dancing, and even pirates on board for much of the
time.
On Bruce's first Tour to the
Maldives was
Alice, Mena, Nigel, Jo, Ben, Dot and Mark. Thank you to each and every one of
you for making this trip so special.
If you would like to see
some video highlights from this
trip please get in
touch to request a copy of our DVD
Bruce
Jones
Sessions
Hall, Mathry
Pembrokeshire
SA62 5HB
e-mail: westwds@aol.com
Tel.
01348 831526
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