Things to Do Scuba Diving

Dive Schools | Dive Sites | Dive Equipment | Fish Watch | Dive Safety

All 88 resorts in the Maldives have dive schools on them. Of course the facilities, equipment and the staff differ from resort to resort, depending on its size, its location and clientele. However all the resorts offer beginners’ dive courses and a variety of other courses towards PADI certification. In almost all the resorts instruction is available in English and German, however many resorts offer instruction in Italian, French, Japanese and a host of other European languages too. While some dive schools are Instructor Development Centres (IDCs), others too offer a wide variety of advanced and specialised dive courses. It is advisable to check up on the languages of instruction and courses available, before you book at a resort for your diving holiday.

Equipment wise, all have the basics - compressors, tanks, BCDs, wetsuits, weights and weight belts and can provide a limited number of other accessories such as lamps and dive computers. Only some dive schools rent out underwater cameras and video cameras. Dive schools at all the resorts conduct daily dive boat trips to dive sites around the island, throughout the year. However, bigger schools offer a variety of trips everyday to different dive sites. In these resorts, the advanced diver would have choice of dives daily, to choose from. Night dives and other specialised dives are not conducted on a daily basis at all the resorts. However on the more specialised dive resorts, these too are available. The same goes for night diving in the resort’s house reef.

The dive schools in all the resorts invariably consist of one or more classrooms - air-conditioned at some, wet room and storage space for the school’s as well as private equipment. Some of the bigger schools also have dive shops and video processing facilities.

Resorts and live-aboards in the Maldives provide high quality and often the latest in diving equipment. All resort dive schools and live-aboard diving dhonis are equipped with compressors, tanks, regulators with octopus, BCDs, masks, fins and snorkels and other equipment such as dive computers, wetsuits, weights and weight belts. The equipment is well maintained and stringent safety checks are regularly made. You may bring your own mask, fins and snorkel. If you wish to bring your own wetsuit a 3 mm full-length wetsuit or lycra suit is perfect for any time of the year. However some prefer a 5 mm wetsuit when doing more than one dive a day. Ocean temperatures rarely vary beyond 27 - 30 degrees Celsius. During hot periods water temperatures inside the lagoon increase measurably, and most divers are comfortable without a wetsuit during this period.
Note that under Maldivian diving laws all divers must have octopus regulators. Carry some spares just in case of a breakdown or shortage.

Currents
To enhance the enjoyment and safety of a dive, consideration of the direction and strength of currents is extremely important, wherever you are diving; whether it is in the 'kandu', a pass between the atoll reefs or 'thila' a shoal, inside the atolls. The success of a dive almost always depends on these variables.

The Maldivian archipelago is swept by ceaseless currents caused by the monsoons; generally east to west during the northeast monsoon, from December to April and west to east during the southwest monsoon, from May to November. However this is not a hard and fast rule, as changes in wind directions and tides can offset the influence of the oceanic currents - especially so during the transitional period between the two seasons.

Further, the location of islands, reefs and 'thilas' cause great irregularity in the flow of current streams inside atoll passes. Many local boat captains show great skill in telling the direction of the current by observing tiny ripples or wave patterns on the surface. However, the dive guide often jumps into the water to determine the exact strength and direction.

Strong currents often make a dive site livelier, and that makes the additional effort worthwhile.

Tides
Tides are an important aspect to consider when diving. Tides often determine the strength and direction of the currents and often visibility depending on where you dive. A rising tide brings in clear waters from the ocean into the atoll, while receding tides carries out less clear water from inside the atolls. For instance a drift dive through a channel, taking advantage of rising tide and clear water flowing into the atoll would offer an exciting dive with high visibility. Therefore even though it may be easier to dive in slack waters at high or low tide, it does not always provide the most exciting of dives.

The time between successive high tides is approximately 12 ½ hours and divers may take the advantage of the tides depending on the time of the day when the tide moves.

Spring tides cause the maximum variation in tides - highest at 110 centimetres. On the other hand during neap tides the variation can be just a few centimetres.

Safety
With more than a 1000 dives being conducted each day in the Maldives, dive accidents have fortunately been rare and far between. Increased safety measures have further reduced the risk of accidents. However utmost care should be taken when diving, especially in difficult conditions.

Drift diving is the most common type of diving in the Maldives. It gives divers the opportunity of seeing more fish life and more coral and rock formations than they would otherwise. Drift diving is easy and safe when conducted with proper care.

These exciting dives are staged on the outside reefs and channels - usually with an ingoing current as they are safer. However if you are diving in a channel with strong outgoing currents stay close to the reefs and shallows on the outside corners. Only a knowledgeable divemaster would be able to plan and instruct you on these dives and competent boatmen are essential.  

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