Before you "kick the bucket": scuba diving in the Maldives

I hate the actual term "bucket list", but I do like the action of doing something you have always wanted to do before you "kick the bucket".  One of mine was to scuba dive in the Maldives.  As the seas continue to rise, the Maldives may not exist in the future.  So when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to the Maldives, I was in -- without hesitation.  

We decided to stay at the Barefoot Eco Resort on the island of Hanimaadhoo, a 45 minute airplane ride from Male, the capital.  The island of Hanimaadhoo is VERY remote, there is only one resort on the entire island.  Since there is only one resort, there is really only one dive shop, the Barefoot Diving Center.  Overall it is a good quality shop and they run an efficient dive center.  There are some management personalities that were a bit off-putting to the less experienced divers at the resort, even turning people away for their full day boat ride, which I have mixed feelings on.

I did 3 days of diving.  The dive center only runs a boat in the morning for a one tank dive and one in the afternoon, also one tank.  The boats are older and slower so it takes them much longer to get out to the sites which is why, from my understanding they only do one tank dives.  The dive equipment is fairly new and maintained really well.  Since I was adding on the Maldives to some other city traveling, the only equipment that I brought was my own mask.  

Getting ready on the boat.

When we arrived, I got on the afternoon boat that was headed to Hanimaadhoo Faru, with a max depth of 20m.  Water was warm and visibility in the 50-75ft range.  It felt amazing to get back in the water.  Not too much to see though, except for the reef fish.  Total dive time: 46 mins with no wetsuits (I know, everyone thinks I am crazy for not wearing one).  

The next day I was up early to get on the morning boat, we were headed to Finey Thila with a max depth of 27m.  One thing that dawned on me -- the dive sites were NOT crowded.  I don't even remember seeing another dive boat motoring around.  All of the sites were found by GPS and there was no tie up line.  Another thing that I noticed, the boat followed our dives (which NEVER happened in some of the other countries I have been to).  We headed back to the resort after our first dive and I had lunch before getting back on the afternoon boat headed to Muraidhoo Corner, max depth 24m.  Saw some beautiful fish and a turtle hanging out on the coral.  He got bored with us though and took off.  There were a few big lobsters that we found hiding in the crevices, but those guys are always shy.  I am kind of bummed that I didn't see any mantas or any other big guys, but it was all good -- to me diving feels like you are flying, so just the experience is always fun.

The last day of diving before leaving the Maldives was a full day boat ride.  We were going to dive some spots that were at least 45mins to an hour away.  We left early in the morning for Mathi Faru Caves, max depth 25m.  It was terrific visibility, around 100ft and had some fun swim through cave passages.  Again, there were NO other dive boats which was awesome.  

After the morning dive, we motored to the next dive site, Alidhoo Caves, max depth 22m.   Saw a pretty large stingray and a few fish.  Since this was my last dive in the Maldives I was disappointed that I did not see more critters, but when we surfaced I was again awe struck by how clear and beautiful the water was.  Visibility was incredible the last few days, so I couldn't really ask for more.

Before heading back to the resort we motored to a near by island to relax.  The shoreline of this island was covered in trash.  It had perfect, white sandy beach but was completely littered by plastic bottles, old clothes, containers, etc.  It was truly a sad sight.  The island was not a tourist destination and from my understanding, it was not uncommon to see a shoreline like this.  A line for the boat was dropped near shore and the motor was cut.  We sat on a boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean after a full day of diving just relaxing -- I couldn't have asked for a better time in the Maldives.