Dive Review of
Pretty Thombili/MY Teate in
Maldives

 Caribbean, Micronesia, Australia, Bali/Komodo, Papua New Guinea, Red Sea,
Fiji, Vanuatu 

Dive Conditions

No decom, 100 feet max, 60 minute max, buddy diving, use surface float
during safety hang - not checked nor strictly enforced   

[None]  

Overall Rating

The MY Teate was built as a luxury yacht, and it shows - air-conditioned
throughout, teak decks outside, varnished mahogany decks throughout inside,
light oak paneling and carpentry, eight spacious double cabins for
passengers with side-by-side beds and private baths and showers, two large
lounges, outside eating and relaxing spaces on rear and forward decks, and
a sun deck.  The food was usually too highly spiced for my taste, but
others in our group of 12 enjoyed it, so the problem was me, not the chef. 
Beer, wine, and liquor was available.

Both nitrox and air were available.  We dove from a "dhoni" - a
local boat about 35 feet long with a roof to provide shade, a row of
benches down each side, and a rack for tanks down the middle - comfortable
for 16 divers.  The crew was capable, competent, and helpful.  Dive
briefings were excellent, offering a clear picture of the upcoming reef
structure, what to expect or hope to see, and where to look for it.  Most
of our diving was on "giris" or "thilas" - coral reefs,
usually flat-topped, located in the channels between islands.  The former
are too shallow to safely take a boat over their tops (often 15 feet of
water or less) while the latter's tops are deeper (often 25 to 30 feet). 
Since the Maldives consist only of atolls, the channels between islands
drain or fill the lagoons  within and there's usually lots of current
there.  Hence, it's drift diving looking for big stuff and difficult to
find little critters. An big stuff we did find!  White tip and grey reef
sharks, a half dozen thresher sharks, and a couple of whale sharks; large
snappers and groupers on almost every dive; jacks and tuna cruising the
edge of the reef; many turtles; seven HUGE bumphead parrotfish on one dive;
manta, spotted eagle and sting rays; schooling barracuda and a few large
great barracuda; numbers of humphead wrasse; schools of large unicornfish;
numerous giant, honeycomb, and whitemouth morays.  In addition, there was
the expected array of colorful or conspicuous reef fish; especially
striking and numerous were clown triggerfish, a variety of anemonefish,
many species of butterflyfish and angelfish, surgeonfish, and an assortment
of triggerfish.  Included among the latter were the agressive (when
nesting) titan triggerfish and huge numbers of small redtooth triggerfish.

Occasionally, especially toward the end of a dive when my buddy and I
hooked in or found shelter from the current to execute our safety stop over
a reef instead of in the deep blue, little critters could be found.  I
spotted a pair of banded pipefish on one dive, octopi on several, the
blenny and blind shrimp pair a few times, banded coral shrimp, and others.

I'd rate the diving a notch higher for experienced divers except a few
things: the bilge pump exhaust right at the dhoni's ladder, the lack of 
overhead handholds as one shuffled with fin-clad feet along the benches to
the exit points, and the need to switch tanks after every dive since
filling-in-place never occurred.  The latter capability would eliminate the
need for the tank racks since we returned to the Teate after every dive. 
In fairness, the dhoni was leased and had the Teate its own at that time,
these deficiencies may not have existed.  The often-strong currents would
always make this difficult diving for the inexperienced. 

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