Planning a scuba diving trip to the Maldives can be overwhelming. How do you choose just one of those incredibly beautiful islands? If you feel confused about where to go, make life easy for yourself. Hop on what is endearingly called a 'safari boat' out in the Maldives, a liveaboard to the rest of us.
After being met at the airport, a 10 minute transfer will drop you onto a comfy floating hotel. Depending on the prevailing weather, you then sail around two or even three atolls. Evenings are spent moored near uninhabited islands with almost no neighbours, while days are filled by crossing over to the dive dhoni: this second vessel shadows your floating home and takes you off to find the best dives around.
Routes can cover almost any atoll although the most frequently covered ones are North and South Male and Ari Atolls. The boats do a circuit of the best dives – weather patterns influence the exact dive site choices but being on a boat allows a much larger variety of dives than being on an island as schedules are adjusted daily. Longer schedules will go further afield to more distant atolls that are less busy than those closer to the airport.