Maldives Liveaboard

2010 Dates: Jan 6, 17, 31; Feb 10, 17, 28; Mar 7, 17, 28; Apr 4; Nov 14, 21, 28; Dec 8, 19

To experience the best of diving in the Maldives, you need to move with the seasons and the currents. Diving from the “Ocean Dancer” allows this and gives you the optimum chance of seeing thrilling animals such as sharks and manta rays, while visiting the very best dive sites.

The Ocean Dancer:
~ 110 foot motorized yacht
~ Eight double occupancy staterooms
~ Fourteen to sixteen passenger capacity
~ Ten member crew
~ Up to 3 dives daily, 1 - 2 night dives weekly
~ Tender diving from the Dive Dhoni, a 55 foot custom built vessel that holds the entire dive operation of the Ocean Dancer. All dive equipment (SCUBA tanks, air and Nitrox compressors, dive equipment, wetsuits, etc) stays onboard the Dive Dhoni for the duration of the voyage.

Sample Dive Spots:

North Male Atoll: One of North Male Atoll's most thrilling dives, Lion's Head, offers the chance to see schooling grey reef sharks as well as superb soft corals and a mass of colorful reef life. The overhang, shaped like a lion’s head, is the pinnacle of a natural break in the reef which interrupts the tidal flow and causes upwellings.

South Male Atoll: Guraidhoo Kandu South is well known for sightings of grey reef sharks and eagle rays. The break in the atoll rim south of Guraidhoo is a complex structure of two channels with a large reef in the middle. The southern channel, Guraidhoo kandu, is 300m (330yd) across, and has sheer sides; its sea bed meets the ocean drop of at 35m (115ft). Evidence of pelagic action can be observed on the ocean drop off, where the oceanic water enters the channel. Inside the channel, all along the reef wall, are overhangs with plenty of sea fans and black coral bushes. Keep an eye open for the family of friendly and curios napoleon wrasse that patrols the reef.

Ari Atoll: Maaya thila, a Protected Marine Area, offers one of the best-known dives in the Maldives. There is a remarkable variety of marine life on the thila, including grey reef sharks, white tip sharks, turtles, stonefish, frogfish, zebra morays, batfish and many, many more species. The thila is small enough - 30m (33yd) in diameter – that you can swim around it easily in a single dive but, as always, it is the point of the current that concentrates the underwater activity.

Includes:

• Seven or ten nights on board the M/V Ocean Dancer
• All meals and most beverages (including wine with meals)
• Airport transfers in Male
• 5 1/2 or 8 1/2 days of diving up to three dives per day plus two night dives weekly (depending upon itinerary)
• Other standard Dancer Fleet services and amenities.

• Nitrox fills (based on availability). Nitrox divers will be charged $150/7 night charter or $10/fill.
• $8 per night Maldives Tourist Tax
• Port Charges $65
• Recompression Chamber Support $15
• Crew gratuities