Enjoy a New Year Cruise on Theia Liveaboard

This year, bring in the New Year in the Maldives on the scuba diving holiday of a lifetime on Theia liveaboard.  This unique scuba diving trip will combine world-class scuba diving with a great party atmosphere on the most luxurious and stylish dive vessels in the Maldives.

Places are limited on this special New Year’s cruise so book your place today!

New Year's Eve Dive Party on Theia

New Year Dive Holiday: December 27 2010 – 8 January 2011

Places are limited on this special New Year’s cruise so book your place today!

The Theia 12-night “Dive ‘n’ Party” Cruise kicks off on December 27 and lasts until January 8th, giving you the perfect winter getaway and great New Year’s Eve party in paradise.  Expect an incredible dive holiday with delicious cocktails at sunset with the best chill music and then, after dark each night, be prepared to party with sounds of Ibiza and best in house music.  The provisional schedule of events for the dive safari is as follows: (This is subject to change.)

Enjoy the Island Paradise of the Maldives on the New Years Cruise on Theia

Theia New Year Cruise: December 27

Arrive and check-in on Theia.  Theia departs for the North Male Atoll and guests enjoy lunch on-board followed by some snorkeling, a general briefing about the safari and have the opportunity to get to know each other over some sundowner cocktails at Theia’s Sky Bar.

The Skybar on Theia is Great for Sundowners!

Theia New Year Cruise: December 28

Guests begin the day with the orientation dive, which allows the staff to acquaint themselves with everyone’s diving ability and allows guests who have not dived for a while to refresh their skills.  The dives will take place at Nassimo Thila and Manta Point dive sites.  The evening will play host to a Poker Night on board.

Theia New Year Cruise: December 29

Dives on the third day of the cruise will take place at HP Reef, widely considered to be one of the very best dive sites in the Maldives – a great place for spotting eagle rays and Lankan Manta Point, a cleaning station for many enormous manta rays.  After a day of great diving, guests will enjoy some relaxing sundowner cocktails to the sounds of great house music.

Diving with Manta Rays at Lankan Manta Point

Theia New Year Cruise: December 30

On December 30, the New Year Theia liveaboard cruise will move to the South Male Atoll after first completing a dive at the amazing Okobe Thila, where you are likely to see eagle rays, napoleon wrasse, and schools of smaller reef-dwelling fish.  Once in the South Male Atoll, divers will enjoy an afternoon dive at Kandooma Thila and then in the evening will play a great Fishing Game, before getting a good nights’ rest before the highlight of the cruise, tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve party!

Theia Liveaboard is the Maldives' Most Luxurious Dive Boat

Theia New Year Cruise: December 31

Before beginning the New Year’s Eve celebration, Theia will stop off for a morning dive at Guraidhoo Corner, a great place for spotting grey reef sharks and eagle rays.  Then, the boat heads to Maadhoofinolhu, where the New Year’s Eve celebrations will begin with a beach buffet and relaxing on the beach all afternoon.  Later, pre-dinner cocktails and chill-out music before a stunning New Year’s Eve dinner on the beach and beach party.  Dress code: white.

Grey Reef Sharks at Guraidhoo Corner Dive Site

Theia New Year Cruise: January 1

Happy New Year!  After an amazing New Year’s Eve party under the stars, it’s time to get back to the water.  Theia will begin traveling to the South Ari Atoll and along the way will search for whale sharks, one of the prime attractions of the Maldives.  The dives today will be held at Kudarah Thila.  In the evening, guests will enjoy a Black-themed evening with Sangria and a crab race, a quirky event that is often the highlight of a Maldives’ dive holiday.

Whale Sharks in the Maldives

Theia New Year Cruise: January 2-4

Great scuba diving continues on January 2 with dives at 5 Rocks,  Thinfushi Ethere Thila and the cruise continues for the whale sharks.  The next two days will include dives at Broken Rock, Dhigurah Thila, Vilamendhoo Thila and Dhigaa Thila.  Guests will also enjoy a unique island visit to a secluded island where there will be a visit with a local community.  The evening on January 4 will include a Margarita party and a beach dinner on Raidhigaa Island.

Theia New Year Cruise: January 5-8

The last few days of the New Year’s Eve 2010 diving holiday on Theia liveaboard include some of the finest dive sites in the Maldives, including Pannettone, a wreck dive at Fesdhu and the legenday night dive at Maaya Thila, where grey reef sharks can be found prowling the reef for their evening meal.  A stunning daytime dive at Maaya Thila will also feature among the activities of the last few days as well as several dives at the manta ray cleaning station at Rangali Madivaru dive site.  The cruise ends on January 7th in Male with a shopping trip in Male and a visit to the historical sites in the city.

Ocean View Guest Suite on Theia

Theia New Year Cruise Package

This amazing New Year 2010 Dive Holiday on Theia includes the following:

• Total 24 dives
• All meals
• Island visit
• Beach Barbecue
• Sunset and Night Fishing
• Island visit
• Whale shark search
• Traditional music on Local Island with Maldivian Bodu Beru Band

All activities, dive sites and routes can change without prior notice.

The total cost for the USD $3,480 per person.

Places are limited on this special New Year’s cruise so book your place today!

Map of Maldives

A map of Maldives is an essential tool to any holiday in this exotic destination.  But, finding a map of Maldives is not as easy as you might expect.  The islands of the Maldives are spread out over an enormous distance, so a map of Maldives is a very long map, with not very much land mass at all.  We have put together a selection of maps of the atolls of the Maldives to help you get a better grasp of where everything is in the Maldives.

Map of Maldives Islands

Map of Maldives

This map of the Maldives shows all the atolls, which cover an area of around 90,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean.

Map of Maldives’ Male Atoll

Map of Maldives Male Atoll

Male Atoll is divided into two sections – the North Male Atoll and the South Male Atoll.  Dive sites that can be found in North Male Atoll include Lion’s Head, HP Reef and Okobe Thila.

Map of Maldives’ Felidhe (Vaavu) Atoll

Map of Maldives' Felidhe Atoll

At Felidhe, or Vaavu Atoll, there are a variety of great scuba diving sites, but by far the best is Fotteyo Kandu, widely regarded as the very best dive site in the Maldives.

Map of Maldives’ South Ari Atoll

Map of Maldives' South Ari Atoll

Ari Atoll has a wide variety of dive sites, including the exciting Pannettone, Gangehi Kandu and Broken Rock.

Map of Maldives’ South Male Atoll

Map of Maldives' South Male Atoll

In the South Male Atoll, divers can look forward to diving at Guraidhoo Kandu, Kandooma Thila and Cocoa Corner.

Guests aboard the Black Pearl liveaboard spot grey reef sharks and eagle rays at Guraidhoo Kandu

With the beginning of the North East Monsoon transition period, manta rays are becoming less frequent at the Lankan Manta Point cleaning station.

The Lankan Manta Point (of the North Male’ Atoll) manta ray season begins in early September and lasts until late November or early December.

Manta Ray at Manta Point in the Maldives

Lankan Manta Point Dive

Black Pearl liveaboard dived at Lankan Manta Point for the first time this week. However, no manta rays were spotted, so the divers enjoyed the colorful Maldivian coral and selection of other reef fish that darted along the sandy ocean floor. Read about the Black Pearl’s sighting of a school of mobula rays!

Black Pearl liveaboard plans to cover South Male’ and Ari Atoll this week.

Kuda Giri Wreck and Guraidhoo Kandu Dive

After the dive at Lankan Manta Point, the Black Pearl liveaboard crossed Vaadhoo channel and arrived at the Kuda Giri Wreck for the day’s second dive. The day’s third dive took place at Guraidhoo Kandu.

With an incoming mild current, all divers saw 8 grey reef sharks, a school of 12 eagle rays and loads of white tip reef sharks.

Black Pearl live aboard will be sailing to South Ari Atoll today.

Black Pearl Liveaboard searches for a Whale Shark around the Maldivian Atolls…

After three and a half hours, the Black Pearl live aboard crossed Alihurash Kandu (name given to the channel between Male’ Atoll and Ari Atoll) and reached the Southern Ari Atoll. The weather in the Maldives has been great since day one, and has remained extremely pleasant ever since.

Dive to Omadhoo Thila

On the morning of the 19th, we performed a dive at Omadhoo Thila. The current was relatively strong, and divers had the opportunity to see eagle rays, napoleon wrasse, and dogtooth tuna.

The search for a whale shark began at about 10:00 a.m. and continued till 3:00 p.m.  Unfortunately, we did not spot the massive filter-feeder.

Bluestripe snapper and diver

Dive to Kuda Rah Thila

The Black Pearl live aboard’s second dive was to Kuda Rah Thila (a protected marine area). With almost no current and visibility around 12 meters, divers got to explorer Kuda Rah Thila at length. With or without current, Kuda Rah Thila has an abundance of fish life and excellent coral growth. Lutjanus kasmira, commonly called bluestripe snapper, is one of the main attractions at Kuda Rah Thila.

Dive to Kudhimaa Wreck, aka Machafushi Wreck

The divers started the 20th with a morning diving at Kudhimaa Wreck, also known as Machafushi Wreck. The Kudhimaa Wreck was purposely scuttled in 1998 to provide a wreck dive for scuba divers (If you enjoy wrecks, check out Maldives Victory Wreck and the Kuda Giri Wreck). The highlights from the Kudhimaa Wreck were sting rays, eagle rays and many more.

Dive to Dhigaa Thila

The second dive of the day was to Dhigaa Thila, where the divers saw a few grey reef sharks and colorful soft coral.

BBQ on Raidhigaa Island

The excellent weather gave Black Pearl Live aboard divers a chance of enjoying a great night of BBQ dinner on Raidhigaa Island.

The Black Pearl Liveaboard performed dives at popular Maldives dive site Kandooma Thila, later crossing over to the South Ari Atoll…

Yesterday, the Black Pearl live aboard performed Kandooma Thila for the first dive. With a strong current flowing from west to east and visibility at around 10 to 15 meters, divers managed to spot 6 grey reef sharks.

Scuba Diving Tips for Kandooma Thila

While diving at Kandooma Thila when the currents are strong, there are few points to consider in order maximize your bottom time, reduce drifting and ensure a safe dive.

Scuba Diving Tip #1 for Kandooma Thila – Strong Outgoing Current

Firstly, if a strong outgoing current is present, then get ready for a negative entry, making sure that you have deflated all air from you BCD and that your weight belt is on. As soon as you hit the water, start your descent head first and swim to deeper waters, allowing the reef to protect you.

Scuba Diving Tip #2 for Kandooma Thila – Drifting

Secondly, don’t drift all at once. The reef is no more than 350 meters in length and you don’t want to run out of reef and abort the dive. Make a habit of stopping or hooking the reef every now and then to observe your surroundings.

Bat Fish, Platax Teira, a fish from the Indo-West Pacific

Scuba Diving Tip #3 for Kandooma Thila – Reef

Thirdly, don’t swim away from the reef when the current is strong since you might not be able to get back to the reef. The current pushes you away from the reef when they’re strong.

Scuba Diving Tip #4 for Kandooma Thila – Surface Balloon

Lastly, be sure to carry a surface balloon and start inflating it as soon as you start your ascent or reach shallower water.

After diving, the guests snorkeled, followed by a tasty lunch. During lunch, the Black Pearl liveaboard began crossing the channel to the South Ari Atoll.

Present location of the Black Pearl live aboard is the Dhangethi Region, Southern Ari Atoll.

Black Pearl Dives at Lankan Manta Point of the North Male Atoll

The Black Pearl live aboard continues its scuba diving adventures in the Maldives!

Lankan Manta Point, North Male’ Atoll

Black Pearl live aboard diving started from North Male’ Atoll at Lankan Manta Point. With a mild current and visibility of 10 meters, divers from the Black Pearl observed 3 mantas at the cleaning station during the entire dive.

Kuda Giri Wreck, South Male’ Atoll

After Lankan Manta Point, the Black Pearl live aboard cruised to South Male’ Atoll and dived at Kuda Giri Wreck. With almost no current at all, divers got the chance to explore the wreck without much difficulty.

Manta Ray over Coral in the Maldives

Guaraidhoo Region

For final anchorage, the Black Pearl live aboard was around the Guraidhoo region and will be crossing over to the South Ari Atoll today.

Maldives Weather

This week began with clear, sunny skies…Holidaying and scuba diving conditions have remained perfect!

For present weather in Maldives and a 5 day weather forecast, click here.

Weather: Apart from a few showers in the upper north province, generally favorable weather is expected to prevail over the country.

Temperature: 30° C / 86° F

Humidity: 63 %

Winds: West / north-westerly 4 – 11 knots.

Visibility: 12 km

State of the sea: Slight

Wave Height: (open sea) 1 – 3 feet

A new week of diving adventures begins in the Maldives on the Black Pearl live aboard…

***Make your reservation for a holiday on the Black Pearl live aboard now!***

The Black Pearl live aboard, a boat measuring 95 feet long and 26 feet wide, featuring a magnificent main deck made entirely out of Balau wood, begins a new week of fabulous diving in the Maldives. Learn more about the Black Pearl’s accomodation, diving & prices here!

Black Pearl Live Aboard Welcomes Guests from the UK

Yesterday, the Black Pearl live aboard began a new week of diving adventures, playing host to a total of 10 guests from the UK, of which 7 are divers. All arrivals were checked in and  the Black Pearl live aboard left Hulhumale’ after the orientation dive.

Orientation Dive on the Black Pearl Live Aboard

The check dive (normally the first dive you do on holiday or in new diving conditions) was performed at Beyru Faru (Farukholhu Fushi Outer Reef). Surface conditions and underwater conditions were more than perfect to perform yesterday’s check dive. The current remained mild and visibility at around 10 to 15 meters.

Starfish Seen on the Reef in the Maldives

Diving Adventures on the Black Pearl Live Aboard

The Black Pearl live aboard anchored in Himmafushi, in the North Male’ Atoll, for the night. This week, the Black Pearl live aboard will explore the dive sites of the North and South Male’ Atolls and the Ari Atoll.

The group from the UK requested to perform 2 dives per day and daily snorkeling for the group’s non divers. They are also looking forward to visiting local islands and unihabited islands.

Current Weather Conditions in the Maldives

Weather: Generally fine

Winds: southwest / westerly 3 – 11 knots

Visibility: 12 km

State of the sea: Slight

Wave Height: (open sea) 2 – 4 feet

Get more information and Maldives weather updates here!

Guests aboard the Black Pearl Liveaboard dive at Nassimo Thila and Kuda Giri in the Maldives…

The Black Pearl liveaboard began the day’s first dive from Nassimo Thila, which is considered to be one of the Maldives’ best dive sites.

Nassimo Thila Dive Site

During your next diving holiday in the Maldives, Nassimo Thila is a must! Nassimo Thila is an oval-shaped Thila displaying a good variety of colourful, soft corals. The most interesting aspect of Nassimo Thila is the randomly scattered pinnacles.

Nassimo Thila features scattered coral blocks rising from the ocean floor up to 23 meters, as well as caves and overhangs where divers can swim around and observe the beauty of this oval-shaped thila.

Tubastrea

Gulhi Island, South Male’ Atoll

The weather conditions improved, allowing the Black Pearl liveaboard to cross over to the island of Gulhi in the South Male’ Atoll.

Kuda Giri Dive Site

The second dive was performed at Kuda Giri as night dive. Kuda Giri is one of the ideal locations around the Male’ Atoll for to perform an easy night dive site. This small Giri offers everything from beautiful coral growth to interesting reef dwellers during the night.

Caves and overhangs are filled with a species of sponge called tubastrea, also known as sun coral. Marine life includes leaf fish, scorpion fish, moray eels and nudibraches.

A new diving season has arrive in the Maldives…

For more information on diving holidays, visit Maldives Dive Travel now!

The Maldives, an island nation located in the Indian Ocean and comprised of over 1000 atolls, features some of the world’s best scuba diving sites…

Maldives Diving Season

Iruvai, the North-East Monsoon, brings with her the Maldivian dry season, ushering in a distinct diving season.

Maldives Weather

The Indian Ocean has a great effect on the climate in Maldives by acting as a heat buffer; absorbing, storing, and slowly releasing the tropical heat. The temperature of the Maldives ranges between 24°C and 33°C throughout the year. Although the humidity is relatively high, the constant cool sea breezes keep the air moving and the heat mitigated.

The weather in the Maldives is affected by the large landmass of South Asia to the north. The presence of this landmass causes differential heating of land and water. These factors set off a rush of moisture-rich air from the Indian Ocean over South Asia, resulting in the southwest monsoon.

Two seasons dominate Maldives’ weather: The dry season, associated with the winter northeast monsoon “IRUVAI,” and the rainy season, brought by the summer southwest monsoon “HULHANGU.”

According to the traditional Maldivian calendar, the IRUVAI begins in December with typically strong, unsettled winds and rough seas that gradually travel down the Maldives from the north. It is divided into nine “Nakaiy,” or periods, with the last “Nakaiy” finishing in April. The “Iruvai” brings the driest weather period to the Maldives, where the air possesses a comparatively short sea track compared with that during the remainder of the year.

Diver hooked on the reef using a current hook

Currents in the Maldives

The exposure of the Maldives to the vast Indian Ocean ensures that an immense body of water is constantly flowing across the plateau on which these atolls are built. Oceanic currents are largely influenced by the direction of the trade winds. They flow from the NE to SW during the Iruvai and from SW to NE during the Hulhangu. They are of great strength, where currents in the channels near Male’ have been recorded at four knots or more.

Tidal currents flow according to the height of the tide and the direction of the prevailing winds, and are said to be much weaker than oceanic currents, though they causes velocity variations in the flow. At the atoll passages, current streams can be quite irregular due to the islands, reefs and sandy shoals.

Best Time to Dive in the Maldives

The North-East Monsoon is considered the best period to dive in the Maldives, as a result of continuous flowing of water into the atolls, especially the channels the feature clear water and lots of food for the pelagic creatures, such as the gray reef shark and the whale shark.

Due to the continuous flow of the North-East Monsoon current, the visibility becomes crystal clear, which is why this is one of the best times to go scuba diving in the Maldives.

Felidhu Atoll

The Felidhu Atoll, within the range of liveaboard diving, is often visited during the North-East Monsoon due to the high possibility of spotting some larger marine life.

Almost all the dive sites are channels in local “Kandu” based dives. The incoming current attracts lager fish and channel crossing has become a common way of performing dives in these channels. The entrances of the channels are at a depth of 28 to 30 meters and the width of these channel are no more than 150 meters.

Gray Reef Shark

Maldives Fish Life

Due to the North-East Monsoon‘s currents, the channels’ entrances are attractive to bigger fish, such as gray reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, schooling silver jack fish, tuna, schools of eagle ray and many more.

Early morning dives to hammerhead shark point “Fotteyo Kandu” is also a highlight during this season. Hammerheads are not only seen during the early morning hours here, but have also been seen by divers during the day.

Channels like Miyaru Kandu, Devana Kandu, Diggiri Kandu and Alimatha Dekunu Kandu are also well known among the liveaboards.

In addition to Felidu Atoll, other atolls, North and South Male’, Ari atoll, Meenu atoll and Baa atoll are also considered to be excellent diving sites during the North-East Monsoon.

If you are booked for a diving holiday this season, I strongly recommend that all the divers possess a current hook, have your scuba gear tuned up and get ready for a new season of diving in the Maldives!

For more information on diving holidays, visit Maldives Dive Travel now!

A whale shark was spotted around the Southern Ari Atoll by divers aboard the Black Pearl liveaboard…

Divers aboard the Black Pearl liveaboard (book a holiday on the Black Pearl now!) spotted a whale shark around the Southern Ari Atoll.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest of all fish species alive today.  A filter-feeder, the whale shark feeds mainly on plankton and can grow to lengths of 40 feet, and can weigh up to 47,000 pounds.

Black Pearl Diving Safari – Day Four

Black Pearl Diving Safari – First Dive

The day began with a fantastic dive at 5 Rocks, located 25 minutes away from the final anchorage Dhangethi (also know as the Alif Dhaal Atoll).

The incredibly unique formation of the 5 Rocks, in addition to the canyon, made gliding through the caves and observing the soft, colorful coral a true delight!

Black Pearl Divers Search for Whale Shark

The whale shark search began after the aforementioned dive, and shortly after our efforts began, we came across a 9 meter whale shark. All divers aboard the Black Pearl liveaboard had the opportunity to snorkel with the giant creative for over half an hour!

Black Pearl Diving Safari – Second Dive

The day’s second dive was to the outer reef of Holiday Island, where the current was gentle and visibility was around 10 meters visibility, making for an easy-going, relaxed dive.

Divers Snorkeling with Whale Shark

Black Pearl Diving Safari – Third Dive

The third dive was to Thinfushi Ehthere Thila, one of my all time favorite dive sites. The timing couldn’t have been better in terms of current. The strong current brought an abundance of fish life. A massive cloud of fusiliers swam above the divers’ heads feeding on plankton, while a couple of white tip reef sharks patrolled back and forth. We also spotted napoleon wrasse and tons of other fish.

Black Pearl Diving Safari – Day Five

Kuda Rah Thila

Protected marine area Kuda Rah Thila, everybody’s favorite dive site around the South Ari Atoll, was the day’s first dive. The current was very mild, allowing divers to closely observe the intricate reef formations, caves and overhangs.

Angaga Thila

The Black Pearl liveaboard sailed towards the  atoll’s western side and performed the second dive at Angaga Thila. This tiny pinnacle is famous for its residential pack of giant dogtooth tuna that chase the fusiliers while gray reef and white tip sharks swim back and forth in the blue water. Today, we saw stingrays and white tip reef sharks.

Raidhigaa Thila

The third and dive of the day was to Raidhigaa Thila.  In order to see big fish, like grey reef sharks, at Raidhigaa Thila, divers should swim a little ways away from the reef and spend some time in the blue water.  The reef was full of fish life, starting at the 25 meter sand slop where divers could observe the giant sea fan corals to the caves and finally to the top reef, where the healthy acropra table coral flourishes.