Instant Reader Report
on Sea Spirit / [same] in
Maldives / [N/A] on
2003/02
by
Jerry Loveless , NV, USA
Report Number 030329164722843

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

 Carribbean, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Mexico, Hawaii 

Dive Conditions

Common sense - no deco diving - generally unlimited bottom times.    

Sea Spirit and the accompanying dhoni have very little space dedicated to
cameras.   One small charging station in the Salon.   For camera
maintenance we used dining tables or did it in our cabin.     

Overall Rating

Singapore air flight from Las Vegas to Male via Hong Kong and Singapore ,
overnighted in Male in the Hulhule Hotel - very pleasant and convenient.  
The next morning we boarded Sea Spirit, a lovely boat with an eager all
Maldivian crew - who, unfortunately,  speak little English.  The Dive
guides, Erica and Jason, were from Australia.

The dive trip was slow getting started - we had to go back to the airport
and after a long delay finally boarded the dhoni for the trip to the Sea
Spirit.   Only one dive the first day.  The second day was similar - long
transit and little diving.  Not a good start.   It got better after that,
but with a maximum of three dives a day and an occasional (rare) night
dive.  

However, we really enjoyed the boat.  Spacious cabins, comfortable beds,
OK storage.   The bathrooms worked, and the lounge was comfortable.   A/C
worked just okay; the cabins got hot at night so  several people slept
topside.   

The food was a very nice surprise; the chef did a wonderful job giving us
a varied menu.   

All diving is done from “dhoni’s” which look like a rustic version of a
Hong Kong water taxi.   overed, with good shade, they have benches for
(sometimes) long transits to the dive sites.   All dive gear is kept on
the dhoni & tanks are filled there.   We felt that the dhoni was slow
and clumsy and dangerous to board in rough seas.   For diving we much
prefer the faster and more maneuverable inflatables that most other
liveaboards use.   

The fish life throughout the Maldives was super abundant - lots and lots
of fish of all sizes.   Schools of Mantas, dozens of Eagle Rays, sharks
(grey reefs & white tips), Napoleon wrasses, on down through the chain
to the millions of little guys.   By far the most fish life we've seen in a
long time.    

Unfortunately, the coral is still in very bad shape from el Nino, but
starting to redevelop.   Small hard coral developing and some larger soft
corals.   On a couple of dives the coral was really quite pretty.   
Generally, visibility was not great - 60 feet - but that's where you find
the mantas, right?  And we did!   It’s hard to explain the excitement of
seeing a "herd" of 30-50 mantas hovering around like B-2
bombers.   Very cool!   Again and again we encountered these magnificent
creatures along with eagle rays, lots and lots of sharks, turtles,
Napoleon wrasses.   

With such a nice boat, and tons of sea life, including the mantas, how
could everything not be perfect?   It almost was.  The wet blanket on the
trip were the "dive guides" or "cruise directors" or
"videographers" (they devoted the vast amount of their time
making an underwater video which they tried to sell to us at the end of
the trip.)  They really added little to the dive experience except to cast
an atmosphere of gloom - Rarely smiling, or talking and frequently grouchy.
 Significant communication between these 'managers' and the divers was
almost nonexistent.   There was no introduction to the crew,  no safety
briefing, no discussion of our schedule - where we were going or what we
might expect.   Well into the trip we were told that there was a pamphlet
in every cabin that explained it all.  Not true.  Even if it was, why is
this very critical information being relegated to a pamphlet?   We should
be briefed at the very beginning of the trip with opportunity to ask
questions.  

We were told that we’d be able to go ashore and visit one of the many
resorts, but that never happened.  We were told it wasn’t convenient.  

I'm not sure what the dive guide’s problems were - burnout maybe - they
told us they’d been on the boat a very long time.   Or maybe we're
terribly spoiled having just come from Ocean Rover and her fabulous crew. 
 We were expecting more, and it was disappointing to run into a couple of
sour personalities.  It’s a shame because the owners have done a great job
creating this beautiful boat - Sea Spirit is just too nice an operation to
let a couple of disgruntled managers ruin it.  

I don't want to give the impression that we didn't have a good time.   We
had great fun, and some very memorable experiences with Mantas - which
were worth the whole trip - but the it could have been so much more
enjoyable with a good divemasters.  

In many years of diving I've never before made a complaint like this -
sure there have been problems before but we were always able to talk it
out.   Here, there was no discussion.  I felt uncomfortable asking for
anything or making any recommendations because they showed so little grace
and understanding.  Never asking, "How are things?" or "What
do you need?" or "Do you have any suggestions or questions?"
  They just weren’t open to anything like that.  So we did our diving and
had our fun.  I hate to be a complainer but this was beyond anything I'm
willing to ignore.   

We liked the boat very much and the diving was great.   We'd go back to
Sea Spirit again tomorrow - assuming there'd been a change of managers.  

Arrangements by:  Reef and Rainforest  800-794-9767 
www.reefrainforest.com  Email: Jenny@reefrainforest.com   

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. It is presented here to provide Undercurrent readers with timely information on dive operations worldwide. The material may contain errors, typos, ... Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above. An edited version of this report will likely appear in the next Travelin' Divers' Chapbook, which will be sent to newsletter subscribers and published online for Online Members.