| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
> travel > travel features > maldives special | appeared in DIVER May 2004 | ||||||||
|
Intro | Liveaboards | Coral | Wrecks | Currents |
|||||||||
 |
Mantas, grey reef sharks, fish everywhere. That's what comes to mind when you think of leaving the drysuit at home and returning with a deep tan from the Maldives. You might even bring back a few shots of a whale shark this time. But wrecks? Surely they're the preserve of Chuuk, Bikini, the Philippines and the Red Sea? Yet as long as there are captains fond of rum, sharp fringing reefs and a shortage of lighthouses, there will be wrecks, and the Maldives has its share. If you like to combine wreck-diving with tropical diving, get a few mates together and charter a Maldivian dive-boat. Before the stamp on your passport has dried, you could be checking out the Maldives Victory, a 3500 tonne, 360ft-long freighter. She ploughed full tilt into the reef ringing Male Airport more than 20 years ago. Her crew all survived the impact, and the wreck quickly became a new diving attraction. It is shotted to the midships mast and the deck is at 30m. You can shelter from the current in the two open holds or stay outside and explore the bridge and accommodation. It's well-stocked with fish, and you'll see giant trevallies and groupers there, with the chance of turtles. By late afternoon, and less than 24 hours since you left home, you could be 30 miles north of Male, taking in the wonderful peace and isolation of the little-visited Gaafaru Atoll, where three more wrecks await. The Erlangen is another big ship. She sank in 1895, and remains largely intact, though some of the structure was deposited on the reef on her way down. The hull sits on the sand at 50m. The steamship ss Sea Gull is scattered mostly in the shallows close by, the coral encrusting its shattered structure, which has lain there for more than 120 years. The anchor sits above the waterline at low tide. And the bow of the Lady Christina can be seen at high tide, though there isn't a lot more to this survey vessel, such was the battering she received in a storm in 1974. More remains lie scattered down the reef wall, which you'll find is well-populated with fish and invertebrates. Unlike UK equivalents, these wrecks can be enjoyed from a long way off. Visibility here is outstanding, often more than 50m, and there is usually plenty of life swimming by. These three wrecks are by no means the only ones on this tiny atoll. At least three others are waiting for someone to find them - Aracan and the Clan Alpine, both victims of the almost invisible ring reef in the 1870s, and the ss Crusader of 1905. Nobody has really tried. The next destination is further north at Llaviyani Atoll. Here a cracking dive awaits in the shape of Skipjack II, which lies vertically on the sand, its bow protruding 5m above the surface. This Japanese hulk was used for years by Felivaru's tuna-canning factory but when she reached the end of her usefulness in 1985 it was decided to give her a traditional burial well out to sea (disappointing the local diving centre at Kuredu). Workers began making holes in the hull even while Skipjack was being towed out of the channel. Perhaps someone was over-enthusiastic with a welding rod, but however it happened, the ship caught fire. Evacuation was rapid, as there was apparently a stash of chemicals aboard, which may have been one reason why money was turned down to make her into a dive site. Fearing an explosion, the crew turned Skipjack loose. Dragged back by the current, she soon ended up in the channel, where she blazed furiously and sank sternfirst. Whatever chemicals may have been on board, an explosion of life has since occurred at the site, including well-established soft and hard corals. Schools of big-eye emperor lie in the wreck's shadow, frantic sergeant-damsels lay eggs all over the decks, ghost pipefish and giant morays hide in its corners and, best of all, they sank another ship next to it, the Gaafaru, so you get two wrecks for the price of one! The Gaafaru is mostly intact and you can explore its wheelhouse and holds. With more and more atolls opening up to tourism, wrecks that were once off-limits are open to anyone who can reach them. Others have yet to be located. Go west from Llaviyani to the remote Goidhoo Atoll, and you will find much unidentified wreckage in shallow water. This was first thought to have been the remains of the Corbin, a French trader that met its end there in 1602, and which some still think is loaded with silver. A survivor who spent years in the Maldives surviving on his own stash of silver later reported seeing the remains of a huge wooden vessel from the East Indies that sank carrying some 500 souls and a rich cargo. This probably now lies under a section of collapsed reef next to the island of Guraidhoo - buried treasure. The Persia Merchant, also lost in the 17th century, could hold enough lost secrets and wealth to satisfy any movie-maker - as could a Dutch, a Portuguese and an English vessel, the Hayston, which went down around the time that Lord Nelson was terrorising the surrounding seas. There are accounts of these shipwrecks but we don't know exactly where they lie, which is a shame, for they carry fabulous and enchanted stories involving treasure, survival, convicts, sultans, desert islands and improvised escape rafts, as well as human treachery, desperation, generosity and kindness. The wrecks we mostly dive are, it has to be said, old tugboats placed on purpose. In their lifetimes they may have had fascinating stories, but there is usually no one around to tell them. Recently I was asked for information about a wreck we were to dive close to the resort island of Fesdu. I found myself at a loss even to name this 100ft fishing boat with any certainty - was it Fesdu after the island, or was the island named in memory of the wreck? The wreck, which lies in a maximum 30m, is liberally coated in soft corals and its wheelhouse plays host to grouper and glassfish. It is enjoyed by many visitors to the Maldives. To satisfy the curiosity of visitors, I eventually concocted a long story involving Rommel's flight from Africa, a U-boat and an off-course Japanese Zero fighter. This version I believe played to the satisfaction of anyone who wanted to believe it! If you travel all the way south to Addoo Atoll, otherwise known as Gan, where the British had a military base during the war, one of the wrecks will keep enthusiasts happy for weeks. The British Loyalty, a 5500 tonne oil-tanker, had the distinction of being struck by torpedoes on two separate occasions. It was a midget Japanese submarine that first hit her, in harbour in Madagascar, but she was restored and lived to sail another day. Almost two years later, the tanker was torpedoed again. She refused to go down, but at the same time she refused to go anywhere else either. When the British finally vacated the base in 1946, rather than giving anyone else the pleasure of sinking the ship that had proved so hard to kill, one of their destroyers was given the task. We don't know if the old tanker (built in Newcastle in the '20s) was this warship's only kill, but we do know that she was an easy target. That was unfortunate, as the defenceless vessel turned the turquoise waters black with oil, and the sands of the island shore would not be white again for a decade. Some wrecks in the Maldives seem like bath toys compared to those of Bikini or the UK, but most are great fun and, for no extra charge, you can enjoy their fabulous array of residents too. One wreck off Halaveli resort in Ari Atoll even has a curious population of unemployed remoras, which will approach a dive-boat in the hope that it's a whale shark, and then the divers in the hope that you're anything resembling a host, before retiring resignedly to the bottom. The deliberately sunk Halaveli wreck, which lies upright on the seabed at around 30m with its deck at 20m, became famous for its lively marble rays, which were encouraged to hang around because of feeding by the instructors. I don't know the story behind all the wrecks of the Maldives, and probably never will, but that doesn't stop me imagining those who walked the decks, where they were headed, what they carried aboard and what was their fate. I fantasise about grand adventures and terrifying disasters as I take time to explore every corner of these wrecks, and only hope that I'm not disturbing their inhabitants too much. |
|
 The Maldives Victory is the closest wreck to your arrival point in Male - the freighter crashed into the airport reef.  Many Maldives wrecks attract resident schools of batfish - here an inquisitive leader greets visitors by the hull of the Fesdu.  A Moorish idol finds food and shelter at the same location  A diver on the Halaveli wreck, which became known for its resident rays.  A sabre squirrelfish finds shelter by the capstan on ss Sea Gull. one of a number of wrecks in Gaafaru Atoll
| |||||||
|
Intro | Liveaboards | Coral | Wrecks | Currents 
| |||||||||
 |
DIVER this month
|
Latest News
|
Holiday Offers
|
Competitions
|
Travel
|
Equipment
|
Forums
|
Learn to dive
|
Wrecks
|
UK Boat Spaces
|
Centres Overseas
|
Centres UK
|
Personal ads
|
Weather
|
Careers
|
U/W Photography
|
Marine life
|
Dive Shows
|
Dive Wear
|
Sharks
|
Diving know how
|
Opinion & more
|
Subscribe
|
Books & DVDs
|
Links
|
Contact us
|
About DIVER group
|
Divermart
|