Maldives – One Week on a (Diving) Liveaboard

This post will differ slightly from the majority of my posts given that I had to do very little research and planning for this trip. Instead of a typical planned itinerary and DIY trip, we spent (most of) our time in the Maldives on a weeklong liveaboard. Essentially, that means we spent 8 days living on a boat with 19 other people, scuba diving (only 6 days of actual diving). 

While the Maldives is beautiful, I probably wouldn't have travelled there if it weren’t for the diving. It is a beautiful country with many private island resorts. However, I’m not a resort person nor a sit-on-the-beach person.

Day 1-2 - Travel to Male and liveaboard check-in

Day 3 - Diving in the North and South Male Atolls

• Fish Tank Dive
• Kuda Giri Wreck Dive
• Medu Faru Dive

Day 4 - Diving in the South Male and Vaavu Atolls

• Cocoa Corner Dive
• Kandooma Thila Dive
• Miyaru Kandu Dive
• Alimatha Night Dive

Day 5 - Diving in the Vaavu and South Ari Atolls

• Miyaru Kandu Dive
• Dhevana Kandu Dive
• Broken Rock Dive

Day 6 - Diving in the South Ari Atoll

• Kudarah Thila Dive
• Maamigili Beyru Dive
• Dhigga Thila Dive

Day 7 - Diving in the South and North Ari Atolls

• Moofushi Kandu Dive
• Fish Head Dive
• Maaya Thila Dive
• Night Dive with Manta Rays  

Day 8 - Diving in the North Ari Atoll and return to Male

• Kari Thila Dive
• Tour of Male

Day 9 - Chill day in Male and flight home

We decided on the Maldives after realizing it was a common item on a few of our diving bucket lists. Once we decided on the destination, we had to find a liveaboard. Luckily, there are several websites that make it easy to find liveaboards by destination, price, etc. In this case we used PADI’s website, which lists many options and has an easy booking process. 

We ended up booking the MV Ari Queen, which had decent reviews, was on the more affordable side and had a decent itinerary (hitting up the Male and Ari Atolls). 

The peak dive season for the Maldives is December to May. We went right in the middle of the season at the end of March. Our boat was mostly full and we saw several other dive boats throughout our trip. However, we only had a few dives where we saw other divers.

• Some people dove with wetsuits. However, in March the water temperature was 86-88 F so wetsuits weren’t necessary (I typically get cold diving and there were only 2-3 dives were I wished I had a wetsuit).
• Many of the dive sites (at least the ones we went to) have current, so it is recommended that divers have at least some experience (our boat recommended having at least 50 dives before the trip).
• Many of our dives were deep, so it was nice to have our Nitrox certification.

DAY 1-2: TRAVEL TO MALE AND LIVEABOARD CHECK-IN

We arrived in the Maldives the night before our liveaboard started. Since we had some hotel points to burn, we booked a night at the Sheraton Full Moon, a private island resort (owned by Marriott) that was only a 15-minute boat ride from the Male airport. We were upgraded to a nice Ocean Villa room that had a private pool. It was a nice stay, but we are not resort people, so one night was enough.

Sheraton Full Moon

Note: Even though we used points, we still had to pay around $250-$300 in resort fees (which covered our transfer to/from the airport). 

On the day our liveaboard started, we headed back to the airport to meet the liveaboard representative (who turned out to be the dive master). After waiting for a few more arrivals, they took us via boat to where the liveaboard was anchored. The first day we spent time checking in, setting up our gear and waiting for everyone to arrive (sadly no diving on Day 1 of the trip).

DAY 3-7: DIVING IN THE MALDIVES

Instead of going into detail on every dive, I will highlight a few of my favorite dive sites and experiences from the liveaboard. In general, I really enjoyed the diving in the Maldives and am now spoiled for future diving. Because of the strong currents, there were a lot of neat fish and reef sharks on many of our dives. We also saw a lot of interesting coral.

• Alimatha Night Dive (Vaavu Atoll): This dive site was a popular night dive spot in the bay of an island resort. Many dive guides chum the water to attract sharks, which is why it is so popular. It was a neat experience (although I’m not a fan of chumming the water) but also slightly terrifying. We had quite a few stingrays and sharks that swam close to us.
• Maamigili Beyru Dive (S. Ari Atoll): I was not very impressed with the actual dive site and dive. However, this is a spot where whale sharks are often seen. We spent about an hour driving around trying to find whale sharks. After no luck, we hopped in the water for a drift dive. Luckily, on our way back to the main boat, the captain spotted a whale shark. It was deep and moving quickly, however, we were able to briefly jump off the boat to snorkel with it, which was really cool.
• Moofushi Kandu (S. Ari Atoll): This dive site was a manta ray cleaning station. It was our first time seeing manta rays (apart from one that was far away during our trip to Maui) and was one of my favorite sites. However, it was one of the few sites were we saw other divers. 
• Manta Lagoon (i.e. diving of the back of boat): One of the highlights of the trip was a night dive with manta rays. Our boat turned on a light off the back to attract plankton (i.e. manta ray food). We all sat at the bottom in a semicircle with torches up (to attract more plankton). We then had 3 manta rays that were continuously swimming past the lights to eat the plankton.

In addition to diving, we had one night where we had a barbeque dinner on a private island. Our island experience was complete with whale shark sand sculptures, a lovely sunset and views of the Milky Way.

Manta ray swimming near the boat

DAY 8: DIVING IN THE NORTH ARI ATOLL AND RETURN TO MALE

Sadly, our last day of diving was a short one since we needed to get back to Male. After our morning dive, we packed up our gear and had a couple-hour ride back to the capital.

We had the afternoon free so our boat arranged a short tour of Male, which included visits to the main mosques and to the markets.

DAY 9: CHILL DAY IN MALE AND FLIGHT HOME

Unfortunately, we had limited flight options home, which meant we couldn’t leave until late at night. As a result, we spent a day relaxing in Male before heading to the airport.