Maldives 2018

A late night arrival after a very long journey, a quick hello to the crew & off to bed. Bloody bell rings at 6.00am & we drag our weary bodies to the lounge for coffee and our first dive briefing. Everyone looked like they had a Sunday morning hangover. We're filed on to the dhonie & told to gear up. A little bit of excitement manifests but it quickly dissipates as someone has a wardrobe malfunction and another has forgotten to pack a vital piece of equipment. Everyone hold stations.

Finally it's “go, go, go” and our combined entries varied from a failed half twist with pike to full on face plants. Are we really ready for this? As the bubbles steady and we all gather our senses, there was a combined muffled call through our regulators of “WOOHOO”

As we climbed back on board there was a few “Wow, sorry I didn’t get your name but did you see...” The water temp of 28 degrees, the viz of 30+ metres, the largest bright yellow eels resembling sea serpents hiding in rocks and slithering across the reef, huge schools of fish in various sizes and colours. The “Whoohoos” continued all the way back to our luxury 58 metre liveaboard yacht, “Ritrella”. Oh, forgot to mention, this was only our “check dive.”

Coffee cups clanged & rattled in saucers as we fiddled with our breakfast, each person throwing in another superlative to describe the dive. We talked & got to know each other in the next 2 hours of surface interval then it was on again. A quick but thorough briefing of the next site and we were off.

Our water entries this time resembled those of somewhat more experienced divers and we grouped together as we started our decent. One of our wonderful dive guides, Ari, signalled for us to keep low & still. As we layed there, half a dozen large mantra rays came in from behind the cleaning station and played in our bubbles for more than 40 minutes. They swooped and rolled, came face to face with each other in a playful dance then glided face first towards us as if posing for photos.

Back on the dhonie it was more of “Wow, your name was Bill wasn’t it, no?, doesn’t matter that’s not important, did you see the one that......”.All the way back to the yacht there were Cheshire grins on everyone’s faces.

On board, lunch was consumed with one or two bites in between more “wows” and silly grins. It was then time to get the cameras out to see if you caught that one special shot that you could gloat about or as in my case, wonder what was wrong with the camera to be taking such shitty pics.

The afternoon was spent exploring our new home for the week. Some relaxed in or by the pool some sunning on the top deck while others sort the comfort of the air conditioned lounge and endless cups of coffee.

5.30 and the bell rings in our ears. We're off for a night dive. Another quick but precise briefing and it was torches, cameras action. The moonlight shone through the surface as we descended down the side of the reef. Black tip reef sharks gliding by, turtles galore coming out to see what was going on, fish of all colours and sizes photo bombing your pics. As we swam to the top of the reef for our safety stop, we were entertained by a feeding marbled stingray and a spanish dancer sliding over the rocks. Back on board we repeated the woohoos and laughed at each others description of their encounter as we headed back to the yacht.

Dinner was served and consumed and we all wondered how our crew was going to top today’s experience, that was just about when the weary body said it was time for rest and we adjourned to our staterooms for a very much needed recovery sleep.

Day 2 and the bell once again rings at 6.00am. This time there was no hunched over, feet dragging walks into the lounge, no low gruntled groans from anyone saying it's too early, it was all “lets go” and “Can’t wait” as we sat in on our next dive brief.

Once again we plunge into the warm clear waters and as we descend to our max dive depth a large school of black tip reef sharks came in to investigate us. For 20 minutes they swam over us, under us, between us almost posing for the cameras. We ascended to the top of the reef where the eagle eyed ones searched for nudibranchs and they had their cameras pointed at anything colourful that wasn’t moving (or at least very, very slowly). Dive two of the day was pretty much the same but on this occasion we were greeted by a huge Napoleon Wrass that continued to follow us throughout the dive. Our third dive we were surrounded by schools of sweetlips of various colours and an assortment of hard & soft corals and huge gorgonian fans. The adventures for the day didn’t stop there though with the crew organising a night fishing expedition. Thankfully the galley was fully stocked because unfortunately our expertise in fishing definitely was not our strong point.

A beautiful slow drift dive for our 4th morning with turtles galore. Not ones that swim by slowly and scurry off as you approach them. No, this was their house and they weren't in a hurry to go anywhere. They swam towards you, over you, pushed you out of the way to get to their favourite feeding spot, real cool dudes. Ahh, can it get any better? YOU BETYA. WHALE SHARKS. Yes before our second dive of the day we got to snorkel with 2 whales sharks then we geared up and dived next to them. It may of only been a short encounter but it got us excited. Wow, Wow, Wow. You would think that would just top off not only the day but the whole trip. Not on a liveaboard in the Maldives. Oh no. That night we plunged into the darkness with our torches aglow to find more than 30 tawny nurse sharks that just wanted to be next to you. Look up, down, sideways, it didn’t matter, there they were, even snuggling up next to you in the sand. Add to that 4 or 5 large sting rays that also wanted to rub up against you and we had what some guys were saying as the best dive of their lives.

That 6.00am bell rang again on our next to last day but the group was a little more sombre realising it was our last dive day. Still we put in two wonderful dives that brought more hard & soft corals, schools & schools of fish, sharks and the endless search for that perfect pic.

What a great bunch of travellers, an amazing dive crew, superb accomodation and absolutely magnificent crew.

If you’re reading this and have ever thought, “that would be good”, do it. Get in touch with Quest Tours and put your name down for 2019 before spots run out.

Maldives we'll miss you.