A Spiny Devilfish "walks" along the sandy bottom

The first sight of this guy was quite intriguing, since it was indeed "walking" along the bottom. I wondered if maybe it was a shrimp that looked like a scorpionfish, but once back on the boat I confirmed it was in fact the Spiny Devilfish.

Thanks again to Two Fish Divers and their guide Franz for a great trip.

Ghost Pipefish – there is small stuff around Bunaken

I’m also staying at Two Fish Divers resort in Bunaken. They are one of only two or three resorts with operations in both locations. The big advantage with this is that I didn’t have to stop diving hours before the transfer so my gear would have time to dry out before I packed it. Instead, Two Fish puts my wet gear in one of their own day bags for transfer between their resorts along with my luggage.

Two Fish Bunaken resort.

In addition to convenience, Two Fish is a very nice operation. The accommodation may not be posh, but it’s comfortable and well maintained, as is their equipment. Their staff – not just the dive guides but also the reception and restaurant – are all friendly and helpful.

A Seahorse

Pink Painted Frogfish (?) – the same color as the sponge.

A Flamboyant Cuttlefish

I’m staying with Two Fish divers in Lembeh. Really nice folks there, and as you can see, some really good dive guides.

The important work of updating the site’s guide to the Similans is already done, so this will just be an overview of the trip.

This was a seven day, six night cruise aboard the MV Nautica. We departed from the pier in Taplamu up in Phang Nga, which is much better than making the long slog from Chalong on Phuket. We left in the late afternoon and were anchored in Honeymoon Bay in time for dinner.

We followed the typical route up through the Similans to Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and on to Richelieu Rock. I didn’t get to the rock on my first trip to the Similans. It was too early in the year and conditions were too rough. This time, at the peak of the high season, there was no problem getting there, and spending the day there. Of course, with such good conditions, nobody else had any trouble getting there either. There were at least five other dive boats there at the same time. However, the thing about Richelieu is that it’s a really big dive site. Even with five dive boats on the site, you won’t necessarily have to contend with a lot of other divers in the water at the same time on the same side of the rock.

While Richelieu Rock is definitely the star attraction of the Similans, I did have a few other favorites: Koh Bon pinnacle was definitely one of the best sites. You have to dive it at slack tide, as there’s no mooring line and it’s not that big of a site. I also like Elephant Rock. But, the real standout for me was the Boonsong Wreck. A lot of dive guides downplay it, and it’s true that, as wrecks go, it’s not that interesting. However, the wreck is home to amazing array of sea life, including an incredible number of harlequin morays and other distinctive critters. I’m definitely considering returning to Khao Lak again for a few days, just to dive the Boonsong a few more times.

I’m not sure if this moray is ticklish, or if the shrimps are pinching it, but it’s certainly tolerating the services of these two cleaners. One brave crustacean even goes into the eel’s mouth!

A couple of shrimps clean a moray eel.

On the main deck was a large enclosed, but not air conditioned, salon where dive briefings were held. Breakfast was served here in the mornings, as was lunch if the weather was bad, which fortunately only happened once or twice during our week-long voyage. The salon had several cozy ‘booths’ which were comfortable places to laze about between dives, while the tables made good workstations for those with computers. There was a ‘charging station’ for cameras, laptops and computers, as well as a large flat screen television. Like most live-aboard boats, there was complementary soft drinks, water, tea and coffee.

Forward of the salon was a covered dining area where we had lunch and dinner. Meals were definitely a high point of this trip. The Sri-Lankan chef – the only non-Maldivian member of the crew aside from the dive guide – was a master of Asian, Indian and European cuisine. We had some amazing curries – including beet root, which I’ve never heard of – as well as some well prepared European dishes. The cruise director took pains to keep abreast of any important events, such as one diver’s birthday, or even my 50th dive, and each event was celebrated at dinner that day.

The top deck was a large space completely dedicated to sun worshipers, although there was a covered area for those of us that didn’t want to get too much sun.

Some Redfin Butterflyfish on the reefs of the Maldives

The Dive Boat

Diving was off a separate smaller boat, the Niumath. The 18 meter boat was built in the style of a traditional “Dohney” used around the Maldives. The Niumath held all our dive gear and had air compressors and nitrogen to refill the tanks between dives. There were four exits for giant-stride entries, so all the divers could get into the water quickly. Note that due to currents, it’s common in the Maldives for divers to be instructed to submerge immediately on entry (in other words, entering the water with an empty BCD), rather than doing a surface check. Re-entry to the boat after a dive was up a ladder dropped from the bow. A firmly attached rope gave other divers something to hold on to while waiting to board. The two crew members handled your fins and helped you back into the boat if needed. The only minor negative point about the whole setup was the lack of fresh water on the dive boat. You had to wait to get back to the Sea Spirit to get anything to drink, shower, or even rinse off your camera and other gear.

Dive Gear Rental

The Sea Spirit has rental gear available, for a fee. Be sure to let them know ahead of time what you need so they can arrange it.

Sea Spirit Arrival and Departures

The Sea Spirit departs from Male and returns there at the end of each cruise. The boat will pick you up at the airport, or alternatively from the main pier in Male town, as arranged with the cruise director.

Quick Summary

Pluses: Comfortable rooms and common areas; excellent food; and friendly crew.

Minus: No fresh water on the dive boat – for showers or drinking or rinsing.

Bookings may be made through Maldives Scuba Tours.

I’ve come to the Maldives for what’s under the water’s surface: some of the best diving in the world. There are over 1,000 islands perched on 26 different atolls. That’s a lot of reefs worth diving. Our dive guide reckons that you could spend a year diving three different dive sites every day, and not see them all. But I only have a week.

Swimming with the triggerfish in the Maldives

My home for the week is the MV Sea Spirit (see my separate review of the Sea Spirit), with its companion dive boat the Niumath. We set out from Male, the capital of the Maldives, on a bright sunny Sunday morning. First, we head just a short way north of Male to do our check-out dive at Langkhan reef in the afternoon. It proves to be not the best check-out dive you can have. A wicked surge has come up, making it a bit like diving in giant washing machine. It’s not a great start to the trip, but it turns out we’ll be back here for another dive, which will be better, much better.

The next day we sail to South Male atoll to dive Kuda Giri, a very nice wreck dive, with a couple of spectacular lion fish on the prowl. Next up was a site called the "Manta Spa" because it was a cleaning station favored by mantas. We settled on the sandy bottom near the station, but didn’t see any mantas. I ended up trying to sneak up on a patch of garden eels to get a good picture. I skipped the last dive of the day. The sun and the sea were getting a bit much for me.

I was feeling much better the next day when we arrived in Ari Atoll, and was definitely up for the next dive at Kidi Maa, which was another wreck dive. This time, the ship was sunk on purpose to provide a fantastic diving opportunity for a dive resort on the nearby island. There were plenty of friendly batfish as well as a cab full of glassfish in the deck crane. Large holes had been cut in the sides of the ship, making an easy swim through the hold. Next we went hunting for whale sharks along the outer reef, but there were none to be seen, so we dived on a site I’ve logged as "Diva Reef". This was a long sloping reef on the outside of the atoll. The last dive of the day was Angaga Thili, which was another great dive site. We saw a few turtle on this dive. One juvenile seemed to bury his head in the reef when we first came alone, but then seemed to swim along with the group once he saw we weren’t going to do him any harm.

The next morning started out with my 50th dive, on a site called Dega Thila. It’s been just a few weeks over one year since I did my open water dives, and it’s hard to believe I’ve managed so many dives in such a short time. We were greeted on the bottom by a school of batfish, followed by assorted angels and butterflyfish on the reef. The mid-day dive was on a site the guide called Fish Head reef, and the last on Maaya Thila, where we saw schools of unicornfish, as well as bright yellow-striped sea perch.

Incredible Reefs of the Maldives

Makaro Thila the next morning was definitely one of the best dives of the trip. The broad flat top of the pinnacle was covered with several large table corals, under which were sheltering juvenile white-tip reef sharks, flower groupers, and assorted other fish. This was followed by a roller-coaster of a drift dive through Congchi Pass. This was one of those dives where I eventually just had to turn off the camera and enjoy the ride. We got to take it easy on the last dive on Madivaru Finolhu at the northern edge of Ari Atoll.

We’d now worked our way through South Male Atoll, up through Ari Atoll and on to the small Rasdhoo Atoll. The next day we made our first dive on Raschoo Madivaru, on the west side of Rasdhoo, then headed back to North Male Atoll. We reached Bodufinolhu Thila on the west side of North Male just before mid-day for our second dive. After lunch, the boat sailed across the atoll for our next dive, Trixie’s Cave. The ‘cave’ is really just a deep overhang, but the most interesting aspect of this site is the profusion of soft corals. The entire rim of the cave is lines with a profusion of small Dendronephthya soft corals in a variety of pastel colors. It was a refreshingly different dive site, and got even more interesting after dark, since we also had the option of doing a night dive on this same site. The color of the corals got even brighter, and the cave was visited by several other interesting creatures as well, such as a few morays out of their holes and on the prowl.

Mantas Being Cleaned in the Maldives

The next day, we could only do one dive, since the following day would be the end of our cruise, and some people had noon flights that day. There was a bit of a groan when it was announced that our last dive would be on Langkhan, the same place where we had a rather disappointing first dive. But, the dive guide hastened to point out, we came back here because the Sea Spirits sister boat had seen mantas on the site the night before. So, we somewhat skeptically got ready for the dive. This time, we weren’t disappointed. The mantas were on the cleaning station when we got there. Our guide had briefed us well and was quick to show us exactly where to settle on the bottom for the best view. There were two groups of mantas about. As soon as the one group of three moved off, a pair came to take their place. They switched back and forth for almost an hour, after which we had to surface. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic week of diving.

Getting to the Maldives

The only way to get to the Maldives, really, is to fly. Male International Airport is served by the major carriers of South and Southeast Asia, like Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Air System, Sri Lankan Airlines; as well as several carriers from the Gulf and Europe.

Dive Operators

There are several dive operators working the Maldives. Most dive sites are reached by live-aboards, although there are a few dive-oriented resorts. The Sea Spirit is operated by Maldives Scuba Tours.

Three manta rays perform their "ballet" over a cleaning station.

The mantas were already there when we got down, and didn’t seem at all disturbed by our presence. I took mostly still shots, but did take one video sequence to try and capture the gracefulness of these big creatures.

We spent almost an hour on the bottom watching the show, as the mantas came and went.

Of course, I saw a lot more than mantas in the Maldives, but it will take some time to sort through all the pictures, so more will be coming later.