Excursions
Island tour, seaplane flight, trip to the capital Male (Sultan’s Palace with park, Grand Mosque or Islamic Center, Friday Mosque and Minaret, Presidential Palace, markets and souvenir shops), trips to the “desert island” (full day with exotic lunch).
Entertainment
The most common way to spend time in the Maldives is diving, since there are coral reefs near each island. In addition, windsurfing, catamaran, water skiing, snorkeling, beach volleyball, tennis, billiards, squash and darts are popular. Fishing – morning, afternoon and evening – will cost about 35-40 USD (the price includes a barbecue of fish, even if you can’t catch anything). Some hotels have discos, live music (local celebrities play and sing) and karaoke (including in Russian). There are a lot of SPA-centers.
Diving
The undoubted advantages of diving in the Maldives are the water temperature of +27 ° C at a depth of up to 40 m, excellent visibility up to 30 m and professional dive centers. Its minus is that sometimes there is a very strong current outside the reefs.
A one-time dive including equipment rental in the Maldives will cost ~40-50 USD, a package of five dives (with equipment) ~150-200 USD, 10 dives – about 300 USD. For those wishing to take a full course in diving, a special training package is offered (5 lessons, 5 dives in the lagoon and 5 dives from a boat). It costs about 500 USD, upon completion a certificate is issued. The schedule of classes, I must say, is very, very tight – you will have to dive almost without rest from morning to evening.
The best season for snorkeling is from January to April when the weather is sunny and the water is clear. In May and June, the weather is unstable, until September it can be stormy, and the sky will be covered with clouds. In October and November the sea is calm, but visibility can be reduced due to the abundance of plankton. December is usually windy and rainy.
Reef diving. For beginners, the inner slope of the reef and the body of water inside the atoll are suitable. Advanced divers will be interested in the outer slopes of the reefs (caves with ledges and terraces, ocean fish), but do not forget about the breaking waves and strong currents. In the reefs surrounding any “island-resort”, only guests of this resort can swim: such reefs are called “home”.
Channels (straits) between islands, atolls and reefs. There is a strong current in all channels. A lot of big plankton lovers gather here – manta rays and whale sharks.
Coral slides (hills) are coral slides and reefs that have not yet grown to the island: their tops are under water at a depth of 5 to 25 m, and the base reaches a width of 40 m. The tops of the slides are interesting for fish and corals, and the bases are caves and crevices.
Sunken ships (“wrecks”). Of interest are mainly sunken ships located inside the atolls. There are several “wrecks” that are deliberately flooded – to the delight of divers.
The Maldivian authorities have developed a whole set of laws, rules and restrictions for divers aimed at preserving the flora and fauna – this document should be read in advance at any dive center.
Those who intend to seriously dive in the Maldives are strongly advised to take out special insurance for divers in addition to the usual one. Its cost is low – about 10 USD for three weeks.
