Maldives - A Divers Delight

Maldives

The Maldives is a tropical nation in the Indian Ocean composed of 26 ring-shaped atolls, which are made up of more than 1,000 coral islands. I'd been looking forward to visiting the Maldives for the longest time. Most popular for its beaches, blue lagoons and extensive reefs. I was excited to get to the Maldives but nervous about the passage at the same time.

We departed Phuket, Thailand on the 23rd March 2013. It took us 16 days to cross the Indian Ocean. My longest passage thus far. It was an eventful passage. Some memorable moments include catching a baby shark (which we carefully released), getting chased by Sri Lankan fishing boat "pirates" on 5 different occasions (about 380nm south of Sri Lanka), and jumping into the water to watch the dolphins swim with us (we did this of course when we were drifting at 1-2knots/hr). 

Chased by Sri Lankan fishing boats/pirates

16 days at sea did not go by as quickly as I had hoped but the sight of the dolphins really cheered me up and brought joy and excitement to everyone on board. Apart from the baby shark, we didn't have much luck with fishing. We can't help but wonder if the oceans are fished out. It might just be the reason why the fishing boats decided to "fish" us instead!

Reeling in the baby shark

Sharp teeth!

The pod of dolphins that swam with us for almost an hour

We had to motor on many occasions during this passage as we didn't have much luck with the wind either. No wind, but when it came, it was against us. 227nm east of Male, we had to motor all the way with 10-12 knots of wind on the nose. It was very unpleasant!

Male up ahead!

3 days later and with hardly any diesel left, we finally arrived and anchored in between Viligi Island and Male (N 04.10.142 E 073.29.697) on 8th April 2013. 

We waited for 2 days for our agent to get to us. Unlike other countries, it was compulsory to use an agent to check in. The visas for the four of us together with a one month cruising permit cost us $950 USD!

After clearing in, we moved to Hulumale island just 3 nautical miles away. Unfortunately, on our way there the alternator bushes shorted and all our instruments died. Our toilet flush pump decided to act up too! We spent a week working on repairs. 

Fortunately there is a ferry which runs from Hulumale to Male, the capital of Maldives everyday. We often caught the ferry to Male for provisioning.

Even though the visa and cruising permit was pretty pricey, we had the freedom to explore the many atolls and dive whenever we could not far from our very own floating "villa". 

Clear pristine waters

Here's our cruising log and some of our anchorage points:

16th April: Picked up a mooring in Coral Atoll (N 04.10.620 E 073.28.412)

19th April: Moved to South Male Atoll. Anchored at Velassaru (N 04.06.868 E 073.26.087)

21st April: Moved to Emboodhoofinolhu (N 04.05.700 E 073.31.216)

23rd April: Moving to South Ari Atoll, anchored at Dhigurah island (N 04.05.693 E 073.31.218)

Some islands are really tiny

24th April: Anchored closer to Dhangethi Thila dive site (N 03.34.957 E 072.56.70).

25th April: Moved to Long island. Anchored in 8.5m of water near Dhigurah Arches dive site (N 03.32.300 E 072.55.584).

28th April: Moved to southern tip of Ari to look for whale sharks (N 03.33.520 E 072.54.980). Didn't see any.

29th April: Anchored at Maavaruhuraa island (N 03.11.095 E 073.02.184). Eastern side of North Nilandhe Atoll FAAFU.

30th April: Heading south to Huvadhoo Gaaf Alif Atill.   


To be continued..