Friday, October 27, 2006How many Maldivians does it take to find a night dive site?![]() The islands of the Maldives are tiny, tiny, tiny. It is one of those places where there is not much to do but dive, sleep, spa, snorkel, walk around a tiny island in 7 minutes and drink (of course). ![]() Troy and I both agreed this is probably some of the best diving we have ever done. Since there are strict fishing regulations and most of the area is a marine protected environment, there were just tons of fish on most of our dives. There were some dives that we would be right on the edge of a huge school that consisted of thousands and thousands of 4-7" long fish. Something would spook them and they would suddenly swim left then right then left again and it was like "ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM!!!!!" You could feel and even hear the sudden rush of their movements. It left you thinking "What the hell was that?" It was quite freaky and is one of those things that can't be described very well. Our last diving trip to Myanmar was our first experience with Manta Rays. We were so excited to see 2 Mantas is 30' visibility of water. ![]() We also finally saw whale sharks as well! We actually took these photos as opposed to past blogs where we used someone else's pictures. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean (whales are mammals) and can measure over 30' in length and weigh several tons. They feed on plankton so they are completely harmless to people. As we're heading to a dive site our guide saw one a short distance from the boat. We all scrambled for our fins and snorkels and jumped in. ![]() About the only disappointing thing on this trip was we were only allowed to do 3 dives a day. For most liveaboards, divers have the option of doing up to 5 dives a day. We thought it was a regulation but we quickly found out that it is just the choice the dive boats make. So needless to say, we had a lot of downtime on the boat. Because we could only do 3 dives we were given the option of only one night dive. Even though it was just one night dive, it was by far the best night dive we have ever done and actually had our adrenaline cranked up a few notches. But before it could get good, it had to be frustrating first. Meaning that our dive guides couldn't find the dive sight. ![]() We finally found the sight and was very excited to see all the animals were out feeding. Sharks, eels and the biggest Barracuda we have ever seen. They normally measure about 2-3', but this one was about 6'. Fellow divers, I know you think I'm lying but I swear he was huge!!! Baracuda's are scary enough as it is, but to do a night dive with a 6' mother is something else. Troy and I came across an area in the coral wall where 3 eels were feeding. Normally they are tucked away and all you see is their head. These guys were out swimming around and trying to grab fish. We have never seen anything like this so we hung out to watch how they feed as well as watching the occasional reef shark swim by. As we're watching, one eel lightning quick grabbed a fish but was not able to get the whole thing in his mouth so there is this mangled fish just hanging out. All of a sudden here comes this shark, excited by the smell of blood. ![]() The Maldives is mainly Muslim and while we were there it was during Ramadan which is a time for the Muslims to concentrate on their faith and to fast for a month. A few nights Troy and I slept on the top deck of the boat for a few reasons: the lounge cushions were more comfortable then our bed, the constant noise of the boat generator was annoying and the Maldives have about a gajillion stars whereas Hong Kong has six! It was very nice and relaxing until 4am came and we could hear the call to prayer that was being blasted from a speaker on a nearby island. Click on the link below for more photos. http://tspadventures.fotki.com/maldives/ Link to Reference 1 Comments:Maldives is a popular diving location and because of the crystal clear waters and abundance of marine life. By scuba diving maldives, at 3:34 PM |