Dive Travel Services - Destinations

Because we didn’t want to repeat last year’s Christmas flight debacle, we decided to fly to New York the night BEFORE our international departure! That gave us an opportunity to get a good night’s rest before the long-haul flight and to visit Rockefeller Center after dark as well. Our gracious cab driver dropped us off directly opposite the giant Christmas tree and told us he’d grab a bite to eat and wait while we ventured around the beautifully lit area. We spent about 45 minutes gazing at the tree, the skaters and all the Christmas decorations in the concourse between buildings. It was about 28 degrees and we were dressed for WARM weather so we made it a quick photo trip!

Thursday morning found us at the Emirates ticket counter bright & early for our 11-1/2 hour non-stop flight to Dubai. Arrival in Dubai is early the next morning and our Arabian Adventures ground operator met us just outside the gate area and cleared us through Immigration and Customs. On less than 24-hour stopovers in Dubai you can check your luggage all the way through to your final destination so we just packed a “day bag” to use in Dubai. We were whisked to the Le Meridien Beach Hotel and upgraded to “Tower” rooms overlooking the gardens. Because it was a Legal Holiday in Dubai we were unable to visit the souks (markets) and the Historical Museum as we’d hoped, but we spent our late morning and early afternoon resting and enjoying the hotel itself.

At 3:00 we were picked up by Arabian Adventures and driven about 1-1/2 hours outside of Dubai to a specially designated nature preserve area called the Dubai Desert Reservation Reserve. Once inside the Reserve, the drivers made their way to a mustering area and proceeded to release pressure in our tires to about 12psi for our sand dunes adventure! Picture a roller coaster ride over sand ridges….slipping and sliding sideways … it was a hoot! Along the way we caught sight of a pack of oryx, an indigenous ram-like animal, that our guide said he’d never seen in a pack before … we had 5 individuals who posed for our photos very cooperatively!

After about 30 minutes of dune riding we were taken to a Bedouin-type complex where we sat on cushions on the sand floor and ate typical Arabian foods, which were interesting and delicious! Our adventure ended after a peaceful drive back into Dubai enjoying all the beautiful city lights, including one palace that had been totally decorated in white lights to celebrate a wedding! The world-famous hotel shaped like a sail was beautifully lit with pale blue lights and would have been a photographer’s dream had I been able to stop and use a tripod for photos, but nevertheless with no tripod, it was a sight to behold!

After a quick shower and short rest back at the hotel, we were picked up a little past midnight and taken back to the airport for our 3-1/2 hour flight to Male, Maldives. This route is one of the shortest and most direct we’ve done over to Asia, I have to admit …. piece of cake travel!

Our arrival in Male was early in the morning and after being met by our ground staff, we were taken to a small local bed and breakfast-type hotel on Hulhule Male, a little island connected to Hulhule (where the airport is located). Air-conditioned rooms, although tiny, overlooked a beautiful sand beach and an ocean dozens of shades of blue! Later that afternoon we boarded the Male ferry (about 75 cents per person) and took the 25-minute ride to the capital of the Maldives, the Island of Male.

The Maldives is an island country consisting of more than 1,200 islands, only about 100+ being inhabited. The population of Male is 100,000+, over 1/3 of the country’s total population! Male itself is a bustling city with narrow streets, lots of shops and office buildings, private homes, a huge marina and many hotels. We were able to see the Maldivian fishing boats and learn about how they fish there. NO long line or net fishing is allowed in Maldivian waters; all fishing vessels use men with single pole lines to catch fish….the record catch for ONE fishing boat was 80 TONS in one day – mind you, all the fishermen were using a single line!

We ended our Male visit with a stop at the brand-new, not yet “officially” opened Holiday Inn! They have a roof-top restaurant and an infinity pool so we decided to have dinner there. The sunset views were stunning and the food was wonderful. Hotel rates in Male average $250 per night and on any of the out-island resorts, the average hotel rate is between $800-$1000 per night, with some of private-island resorts topping $4,000 per night! We were glad we were heading to the MV Manthiri in the morning! Accommodations, meals & diving are ALL part of the price which isn’t anywhere near $800 per night!

Bright & early on the 20th we were taken to the Hulhule Male jetty and were met by Moosa, the cruise director, and the dhoni crew, Razaq the skipper, Saif (Dr. Nitrox) and Mohamed. All luggage was loaded quickly into the dhoni and we were ferried out to the harbour where the Manthiri was waiting. After Manju greeted us with fresh fruit drinks, everyone was taken to their cabin to unpack and dive gear was loaded into plastic baskets for transfer to the dhoni, our dive boat for the charter.

Diving in the Maldives is NOT done from the main boat. Instead, all dive gear, compressors, hot showers and bathroom are located on the dhoni. There are six dive exits from the dhoni so entry into the water is quickly accomplished with a giant stride right onto the dive sites. All wetsuits are fresh-water rinsed after EVERY dive; camera gear is quickly rinsed on the dhoni and then transferred back to the Manthiri for another fresh water rinse before being taken into the camera room for lens changes, image downloads, etc. Tanks are filled in place on the dhoni with either 21% air or a 32% Nitrox mix from a membrane system compressor. Tank fills were routinely in excess of 3000 psi and they had steel 100’s available for the guys who absolutely loved having MORE air! Saif, Mohamed and Razaq assisted everyone into and out of the water and camera handling was top-notch by the whole staff. Fresh towels were provided after every dive.

The camera room on the Manthiri is very well equipped with both 110v and 240 volt plugs and power strips, so plenty of power was available at everyone’s station. Countertops were wide with rubber padding and fresh towels available and nice shelves underneath for charging and the bits & pieces that go along with underwater camera gear. Large camera cases were stored underneath the shelves so the room was spacious & neat at all times.

Cabins have ensuite baths, small refrigerators with soft drinks, bottled water and beer & small liquor bottles inside. Bottled water, tea & coffee and wine with dinner are included in the pricing; beer, wine, liquor and sodas are charged additionally. The Maldives is a Muslim country and you are not allowed to bring liquor into the country. The hotels and liveaboards, however, do serve alcohol and everyone’s favorite beverage was readily available.

Bedding and towels were changed frequently and “the other” Mohamed took care of our cabins and laundry. Personal laundry is done complimentary, and placed neatly folded back on your bed within a day or so. We were amazed at the size of their washer/rinsing machine … it fit into a small cupboard in the camera room and ALL dive towels and personal laundry are hung upstairs on the sun deck to dry! Bedding and bath towels are done commercially when they are in port … it would be much too cumbersome to hang out all those sheets!

Food … one word … YUMMY! Lots of fresh fish, chicken, lamb and beef. No pork is served in the Maldives. Lots of delicious fresh fruits at breakfast, lunch and very often for dessert after dinner. Wonderful salads and fresh vegetables, pastas, potatoes done differently every day, white rice and some Maldivian traditional dishes. No one went hungry and those with dietary preferences were very well accommodated. Thanks to Amadey & Hemanthe for their wonderful food and beautifully presented buffets for both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Last but not least, of course, the diving! The Maldives is the “fishiest” place we’ve ever been in the world! Schools of various fish numbering in the thousands, not hundreds, were common on all dives! Reef top fish like butterflies, damselfish, anthias, all the usual common reef fish were present in great numbers. We saw sharks on EVERY dive, even if they just cruised quickly by us. We saw several leopard sharks resting on the sand, white-tip reef sharks, black-tip reef sharks, even a baby white-tip hiding under a small coral head.

We saw the biggest Napoleon wrasse we’ve ever seen, in good numbers on a lot of the dives, even though they are extremely camera shy! The one exception to that was at Fish Head where we’d hoped to see “George” the big Napoleon wrasse that loves divers. Well, we didn’t see George on either dive but “Maggie” showed up on the first dive and she’s equally friendly and photogenic!

We saw schools of manta wing tips breaking the surface numerous times, a few dives featured giant manta cruising past us; we got to see one whale shark underwater and one who popped up right next to the Manthiri on a surface interval! We also saw a couple groups of eagle rays – five one time and seven another – and 2 mobula rays cruised by us too. Several large stingrays were seen as well.

Currents ranged from non-existent to mild to strong and Moosa and Hassan guided everyone expertly in all conditions. Dive sites were walls, passes, ridges, sand channels & bommies (pinnacles). Some of the hard corals are still bleached from several years ago but we saw some of the biggest, most beautiful table corals we’ve seen anywhere in the world on several of the dives, especially at Table Top. Other hard corals were equally beautiful and a lot of dive sites featured soft corals in all colors of the rainbow. Many different types of eels were spotted, anemonefish of all types were present and we particularly loved the indigenous Maldivian anemonefish – it’s a beautiful orange color with a black underside. We even found some giant balled up anemones the color of pumpkins which we’d never seen before and they were absolutely gorgeous!

The 14-night charter featured dives at many of the atolls including West Felidhe Atoll, South, West & Mid Ari Atoll, then finishing up at North Ari and then ending up at Mid Male Atoll. Favorite dive sites were Fish Head & Table Top, Mamagili Corner where we saw the whale sharks, Hithi Faru where we saw the “pumpkin” anemone and lots of others. The Maldives is essentially a 3-dive-a-day destination because they must transit during daylight hours due to quickly changing water depths. Captain Dhonbe expertly navigated us through and around all the atolls! This gave us plenty of surface intervals during which folks could rest, read, work on images or just watch the beautiful scenery from the sundeck! This also makes for very smooth sleeping since the Manthiri anchored inside the atolls at night in protected seas. This is a little different from other liveaboards we’ve done since most of them transit at night and sleeping can be “rock-n-rolly”!

Dive Travel Services, 29480 Ten Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48336