Dive Review of
Maldives Scuba Tours in
Maldives

 Red Sea; Galapagos Islands; Caribbean; East Coast USA 

Dive Conditions

Max depth at 100 feet; absolutely no deco. All mandated by law.  

[None]  

Overall Rating

We were looking for a destination with relatively warm water, coral and big
fish. 
We found the Maldives which is frequented by European divers but not so
much American divers since getting there is rather cruel. Thanks to
ReefRainforst, we got flights on Singapore Airlines which make the 7+12+4
hours bearable.
After a quick immigration procedure (The Maldives do not require any visa
in advance), we were greeted by Lisa from Maldives Scuba Tours and were
transferred to our swimming home for the next week, the MV Sea Queen. 
Maldives Scuba Tours is a UK operation and caters mostly to Europeans.
They own two vessels, the MV ea Queen and MV Sea Spirit.  Both vessels are
roughly similar in size but the Sea Queen offers nitrox. 
Accommodations are excellent with en-suite bathrooms and a/c and enough
space for all your stuff. 
The two trip directors, Lisa and David, as well as the crew did their
utmost to accommodate any wish you had. Food was excellent, a blend of
international and local dishes. 
The diving: Diving is done from a smaller dinghy which also houses the
compressor and where you keep your equipment. The upside to this concept is
that the actual boat you live on has more space for living and the noise
level is lower when tanks are filled. It also gives the advantage that dive
sites can be reached easier while the main boat is anchored in calmer
seas.
While we were in the Maldives, the weather was cloudy and overcast with
the occasional rain shower. We had lots of wind. That made the crew change
the trip plan slightly. 
All dives are drift dives in low to medium currents. If you want to remain
stationary, the use of a reef hook is encouraged. Visibility is somewhere
in the 30-40 feet range mainly due to the plankton rich water.  This, on
the other hand, is the reason for all the mantas, sharks and whale sharks
that we saw. In one case, two whale sharks and a manta feeding at the same
time. Aside from big fish, we encountered frog fish, tons of anemone fish
and other smaller reef fish. 
All in all, I would rate the diving and destination a notch below
Galapagos but just by a tiny margin. 
If you are not shy to dive with Europeans and save a little money only for
being on a boat the does not cater exclusively to Americans, Maldive Scuba
Tours is the way to go. 
 

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