Only four degrees north of the equator, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives - palm clad, with white sand beaches - provide a perfect tropical island holiday.
There are at least 1000 islands in the chain of 19 atolls which make up the Maldives. It's hard to be precise about the number because some are merely sand bars and few are bigger than a few acres. About 80 of them have been made over to tourism.
They're so small, there's never room for more than one hotel on an island - and sometimes even these have to include rooms built on stilts over the water. All have water desalination plants and their own electricity generating machinery. Nearly every island features a diving centre of some sort, but some are better than others.
An island with seductively turquoise water surrounding it probably means no shore diving, because the water is too shallow. This means boat diving is the order of the day, usually from a locally-built dhoni. These wooden fishing boats tend to be driven by small diesel engines, making them very slow. They can spend hours getting to the better dive sites, allowing you only one dive in the morning and one in the afternoon. Serious divers might find two dives a day limiting. However, those combining diving with a family holiday might settle for one dive a day and spend the rest of the time enjoying other facilities which such an island offers.
Here we look at four different islands and one liveaboard operation, and compare the merits of each. Lohifushi is perfect for divers accompanied by a family who may want other activities; Diggiri and Alimatha are more for those who want an exclusive (and possibly expensive) get-away-from-it-all, with some diving too; then there's Ellaidoo, a diver's island for those who don't like the idea of being confined on a boat; and finally, the mv Keema, a liveaboard for those with nothing more than the urge to submerge at the greatest number of different sites possible.
Lohifushi is conveniently situated in North Mali Atoll, half an hour's ride by speedboat (or three times as long by native dhoni) from Hulule (Male) airport. It's one of the larger islands, and offers excellent facilities, including tennis, squash, a fitness centre and even a swimming pool.
One side of the island has a terrific beach and a large lagoon, with windsurfing, water bikes, dinghy sailing, and safe bathing. The accommodation comes in three different standards, all with ensuite facilities. The standard bungalows are built in traditional coral brick, and the better classification bungalows are air-conditioned and have large verandahs plus enclosed rear courtyards with freshwater showers. There is a selection of restaurants.
There's a very efficient Swiss-run dive centre and two dives a day are possible with the hotel-operated dhonis. Night diving is only possible by special arrangement. Dives are strictly controlled as to maximum depth and time, and each diver is equipped with a safety sausage marker buoy. The down side of Lohifushi is the long hot walk out along the jetty to water deep enough to accommodate the boats, and diving which is rather over-organised. They do visit the best sites in North Mali Atoll though.
I took a ride in a helicopter from Male to Ari Atoll, and still had to take a further ride on a dhoni to get to Ellaidoo . An alternative is to make the connection by Twin Otter float plane. I recommend the latter. Ellaidoo is about 35 miles from the airport. If you don't like rides in small aircraft, there's also the option of transfer by speedboat.
Ellaidoo is a tiny island. It takes only 15 minutes to walk right round it. The hotel offers 50 quite large, airy, comfortable bungalows equipped with large fans, and a set menu or buffet in its open restaurant. There's a safe beach, protected by a man-made coral wall.
Entertainment comes in the form of diving, diving, and diving.Ellaidoo is blessed with its own house reef, with a 30m underwater wall only 20m from the shore. Thirty metres is the limit for diving in the Maldives but there's a wreck of a small freighter at 32m, just off the island's jetty, and no one seems to mind if you visit it.
There's a German-run dive centre which really offers unlimited diving, 24 hours a day - you just have to sign in when you take a tank and sign out when you return. Night dives are popular.
The currents can be quite strong round the island; they bring in the fish, but it's important to exit the dive where you plan to. Numbered entries and exits across the fringing reef are well marked by buoys at the surface, and a system of old scuba tanks on lines under water.
This is an island frequented almost exclusively by divers, and, with a maximum of 100 beds, non-divers will be hard pushed to find someone with whom they've got something else in common.
Axel, the dive centre chief, is an excellent diver, who speaks perfect English, as well as having the gift of being able to attract the grey reef sharks without actually feeding them (this is now banned under Maldivian law). He visits famous dive sites like Mushimasmigilli (Fish Head) and Mayatilla. A wreck of an old freighter at Halaveli attracts some very large marbled rays, and these come in and allow themselves to be handled by visiting divers in exchange for the odd bit of fish. These sites, along with 40 others, are well documented by the dive centre so that you're well briefed before you set off for them. They are reached by a fast dhoni-style glass fibre boat, and two boat dives are available each day. Ellaidoo is a good place to go to learn to dive.
Diggiri and Alimatha are tiny islands in Felidhu Atoll. Diggiri is exclusive and intimate, with only 30 bungalows, and its prices reflect that. However, if you want to enjoy personal attention and want to put your feet back on dry land between dives, this could be the island for you. It has an excellent and accessible house reef. It's reached from Male by high-speed inter-island cruiser in about 2 hours. Alimatha, a little further south, has 70 air-conditioned bungalows, but the house reef is not easily reached. It has good snorkelling.
Both these islands have their own dive centres but are most suitable for those who want an utterly relaxing beach holiday with a few dives thrown in. If you want to visit a greater variety of dive sites, a liveaboard dive boat is the answer. Although, at the time of writing, Male harbour is stiff with boats being converted to this purpose, many so-called dive boats are more exist-aboard than liveaboard since they are really only converted fishing dhonis.
The mv Keema is set apart, since it is managed by a British company and, although crewed by Maldivians, it carries a European tour manager and underwater guide. It's 80ft long and has twin-bunk cabins for 12 passengers, each with ensuite facilities. Food on board is simple but nourishing. Since only tourist islands are licensed to serve alcohol, mv Keema is a 'dry' ship. It uses a separate 30ft dhoni as a dive support vessel, which means there is no diving equipment cluttering up the deck of the main vessel. It also means that the dhoni is out of earshot while cylinders are being refilled by its onboard compressor.
Three adventurous dives a day is the norm, and passengers tend to be experienced divers, although this need not be essential to a successful stay on board. The biggest animals tend to congregate where the currents are strongest, which means that a willingness to dive in fast-flowing water is essential. All divers are supplied with a surface signalling flag to ensure that they get picked up after the dive.
The mv Keema operates in different atolls around the Maldives, but usually returns to Male every two weeks to exchange passengers. At some times of the year it makes shorter excursions, allowing the possibility of combining time on an island with time on board. Otherwise, it's for those who want only to dive, eat and sleep!
Like the great whales, mantas cut out the middle-men and feed directly from the bottom of the food chain, on the tiniest life-forms in the sea. They can be giants. The largest specimen caught measured nearly 7m across its wingtips. Often, they're seen swimming at the surface with an occasional wingtip showing above the water. At other times they leap clear of the water and fall back with a tremendous booming crash.
There are countless 'Manta Points' visited by divers around the world. Manta Point at Lankanfinolhu, in North Mali Atoll, is the one I visited. Soon enough, the first manta arrived, wheeling and dipping on the current, and feeding as it went. Its two horn-like projections, normally hanging down like lobes, were repeatedly folded in order to funnel food into its mouth.
Some divers were drawn towards the massive animal, trying to get a closer shot with their cameras. They were soon pulled back by their fins. With many divers in the water, discipline had to be maintained, or none of us would see anything.
Other mantas joined the first after about 10 minutes. We watched, fascinated. After another 10 minutes, some divers grew bored and made their way off to look for other entertainment along the reef. Others started to run low on air, deciding to head back to the cover boat. Four of us stayed on.
We were stationed by a coral head which was known to be a cleaning station for mantas. Our patience was eventually rewarded. After about 45 minutes, the mantas decided we were no threat and they came up in turn to the cleaning station and hovered while a veritable gang of cleaners climbed on board and started work. I was reminded of a stopover on my journey out to the Maldives, when a similar thing occurred with our Emirates Airbus! The fleshy white underparts of the rays became cluttered with pods of electric blue cleaners.
Seventy minutes after first submerging, we were back at the surface. I had less air remaining in my cylinder than I would care to admit, but I'd certainly made the most of a precious experience.
The Maldives are composed of tiny coral islands which sit in rings around the sunken rims of prehistoric and defunct volcanoes, forming atolls. The water is usually very calm inside these atolls.
Currents are most evident during the January to April season, when visibility and the weather is at its best too. Visibility can be variable during our autumn, according to whether the currents are flowing in or out of an atoll. The in-currents are clear and bring with them the big fish - not so the out-currents. Avoid the rainy season in August and September. Usually, the best dives sites are underwater reefs which are found in the centre of channels between the main reefs. The current tends to flow quickly here, either in or out of the atoll.
There are a few wrecks, notably the mv Maldive Victory, a small freighter sunk upright close to Hulule, and the twin wrecks of the Skipjack and the Gaarverifaru, lost tuna boats which sank close to Felivaru in Lhaviyani Atoll, much further north. These wrecks are now almost entirely covered in coral which is well supplied by nutrients in the fast-flowing water.
Life forms include spectacular grey reef sharks and white-tip reef sharks, humphead wrasse, ubiquitous spade fish, nurse sharks, schools of jacks and barracuda, and moray eels. Watch out for large sting rays, eagle rays, moblia and mantas. Small animals like the leaf fish and the ghost pipe fish make exciting discoveries. New species of nudibranch are found every day.
Bandos island, near Male, has emergency facilities for diving injuries, including a recompression chamber. Since the Maldives are so near the equator, you should take care not to get sunburned.
