Maldives Scuba Diving is Gorgeous

Want to head off somewhere to get away from it all? We discovered a way to experience beautiful beaches and luxury yachts while we enjoy our love for each other and unforgettable scuba diving adventures all at the same time. Yes, our holidays this past year were in the Maldives. This is not a new destination for us - in fact, this would be the 6th time we have been out here on the ‘other side’ of the world and boy is it worth the trip.

The flight to Male is typical of a long international journey until the final approach when the landing strip is in sight. OK, it is a real runway - gone are the days of compressed coral runways - the Maldives have invested in infrastructure and as we walk the tarmac toward passport control for the sixth time in ten years we can’t help but notice how well this small island nation has adapted and oriented itself to tourism. Every few minutes another passenger jet was landing or taking off yet there really is only this one terminal building and except for a few lines causing a wait of approximately 30 mins there were no hassles at all.

After coming out of customs and meeting the welcome wagon we are whisked off by a boat that takes us on a 5 minute ride to our awaiting Yacht. This is luxury and up until now it was all inclusive!

On board the crew greet each new guest as though you were a member of the family and assure you that you need not worry about your suitcases, dive gear or anything else… just sit back, meet a few more of the guests and enjoy the complementary drinks - after all you are now really on vacation.

After some briefings, introductions, stories, food and libations we all head off for a good night’s rest because tomorrow morning bright and early we will have sailed to our first dive site for a checkout dive. Now, for those of you that are not familiar with the practice… a checkout dive has a dual purpose. The first is to test your gear in something of a protected area where there are few surprises such as surges, current or large pelagics surrounding the boat. The second is more for the crew, your dive masters and such - to ensure that you are a capable and responsible person / diver that will not cause them too much concern on this cruise. When the checkout dive is over, most of us have spent a good portion of an hour underwater, we arrive back on the yacht to find a sumptuous breakfast ready for all and a few non-divers already sitting at the dining table awaiting our company so that we can all enjoy some good food, drinks and talk about the past hour’s adventure. That’s the thing about dive trips… we always find things in common to discuss and enjoy with fellow divers - it is strange that on similar trips with surfers that this sort of thing is rare. I guess divers share a common bond due to the diverse adventure each dive brings and the associated potential for danger that delivers adrenalin rushes each and every day on demand. Anyway, after breakfast and a nap it is dive time again because while you were enjoying your meal and relaxing, the yacht has traveled to the next dive site - a completely different sort of adventure awaits. The dive bell rings and in moments, we are all headed back down into the big blue. Naturally after listening carefully to the dive briefing and the Q&A session that followed. This dive, a drift dive, was like floating through an underwater botanical garden filled with colors that we simply do not experience in nature above water. It is simply gorgeous and breathtaking but fortunately - we have enough air to last an hour and after sucking down so much compressed air that you could have filled the Michelin man twice, you surface and it is time for lunch. What a day this has been thus far. I don’t even care what sort of weather we are having anymore… let’s just dive.

So, after a wonderful tropical lunch, the yacht heads south in search of whale sharks - the largest fish in the sea and we along with our fellow divers, head back to the poop deck for a much needed nap. This is GREAT - I could practically dance to the rhythm of eat-sleep-dive-eat-sleep-dive oh yea, bring it on!

In the early afternoon it is again dive time. No whale sharks in sight yet but we have another 6 days to go so.. no rush. This dive was outstanding. It was a wall dive and a drift dive with beautifully clear water and 30meter visibility (approx 100ft). If you ventured away from the wall into the big blue you might catch a glimpse of something large swimming gracefully out in the open water and consider that at that moment in time you were no longer at the top of the food chain but, these thoughts are fleeting and swimming near the wall brings so many more delightful thoughts to mind that you can easily get rid any any remaining jet lag as you breath the nitrox strapped to your back and wonder out loud how beautiful this underwater world actually is. It is during moments like these that I make promises to myself to do this at least once each quarter not realizing that twice a year is usually the most we are able to manage given the career paths that we have selected. Thank goodness we can dream and here, at 30m (approx 100ft) underwater, as I type this into my new underwater blackberry, I think about nothing and everything all at the same time… I am narked! High on the good things life has to offer and then as our hour of underwater pleasure comes to an end, we ascend to the surface to taste some special cookies and fruit on the yacht before reading a chapter or two and dosing off for the rest of the afternoon. What a life!

The yacht motors onward - another destination awaits us. This next island is something of a protective lagoon where we all decide to swim, frolic and free dive. It is a such a primal pleasure to simply enjoy the tropical sun and beach for a few hours - it is again, pure enjoyment and relaxation on a different plane. Who needs the ‘real’ world. By now, we have stopped thinking about the news of the day, newspapers, radio and tv are easily left behind during a week like this - what a difference it makes…

The next thing I remember is waking up on a beach and staring out across the water at the gorgeous yacht anchored in the sand - thinking about how our holiday could possibly be any better. We swam for the yacht and 20 minutes later were back on board feeling fit from the exercise and ready for dinner.

Dinner was wonderful, all guests showered and dressed for the occasion. Some wore silk others were clad in linen and a few from the west were in t-shirts and shorts but all were in good spirits and dedicated to having a good time together - afterall we are all on the same boat for a week - and it’s so much nicer to simply get along setting all land-based differences aside. Needless to say, discussions are usually personal yet void of politics and religious topics so people get to see inside each other if only for a moment during meals before heading off to bed. OK, there is a bit more to say here.. cocktail hour can also be a blast and after dinner drinks are usually lots of fun but this particular evening we watched an amazing presentation after dinner of how a man with a dream built a beautiful luxury yacht on an island in the Maldives using only local labor and plans that were still being finalized long after the construction had begun. We had read and heard about the Tsunami but until now, we had no idea of the impact on this nation of islands here in the Indian Ocean. Each of the islands is less than 2 meters above sea level! Each island got flooded during the Tsunami some for 5 minutes, others for 20minutes or more. Since the water came from one direction and moved through the atols there was little permanent damage but a lot of ground based items were damaged beyond repair or even lost. Although there is a law regarding minimum height for power generators and other infrastructure key to operations on the islands - the Tsunami brought a new level of realization to the Maldives that perhaps one should not try to save a few pennies by placing the power generators, computers and other key equipment on the ground instead of up on a platform. Anyway, back to our adventure… The presentation was also a slide show and we were able to experience the emotional roller coaster ride the owner and yacht builder had as 2 hurricanes blew away the building protecting his boat during construction not once but twice as well as the experience of the Tsunami just after the yacht had been launched. What an ordeal - the story had us in tears a few times and all guests felt a much deeper bond with the yacht from that point forward. No longer was this simply a boat that we were on for a dive trip, this was something more, something special and certainly not for everyone.  It was with these thoughts that I dosed off for the 4th time that day only to wake up for our morning dive some hours later.

I should explain that this yacht, this beautiful luxury yacht, is made of several types of wood rather than fiberglass - it was build in 2005 and launched in 2006 for the first time so it is a new boat with new technology
and chartered by divers for 6 months of the year (the best months for diving the Maldives). It is really like no other dive boat I have ever experienced. I would not recommend it for the budget diver or backpacker.
I would highly recommend it for someone that enjoys luxury scuba diving with a touch of class.

OK, back to the adventure. The following morning we awoke to the sound of a bell and a crew member calling out “good morning” there was hot coffee and tea and hot chocolate to enjoy before heading to the dive briefing. by now, you are probably getting the idea that a routine was emerging - every day we experienced a similar schedule and what kept up our interest was the variation in menus each meal, the scenery, the incredible variety of dives and of course, what each of us saw, did and experienced underwater. These are the types of holidays one does not want to end. Long live the captain, crew and the owner of this wonderful floating holiday was the toast of the evening that night. I can’t wait to return and, as I mentioned earlier… if you want more details - just leave a comment and let me know.

Published by Travel Buff on February 12th, 2007 | Filed under Luxury Yachting, Scuba Diving |