Here Tim Simond, best-selling author of Dive in Style, gives his tips on Maldives low season diving for less.
Read with envy about those amazing luxury Maldives resorts with over-water bungalows and private steps into the crystal water, hot and cold everything, cool face cloths at every turn, but all out of your price range? Think again; if you're clever you can have a luxury Maldives low season diving holiday for a fraction of the cost.
One glance at the weather chart for the Maldives will tell you when not to go, but working as a true contrarian, in this instance when to go! I have dived the Maldives in all seasons and to be honest, have always been lucky with the weather and really could not tell the difference above the water most of the time. However, as regards rain, nowadays there is no absolute guarantee. So, visit the Maldives between May and November and prices crash meaning your Maldives low season diving holiday will set you back less than you thought!
In my research for the book, Dive in Style, we travelled all over the world specifically targeting the best seasons so I could be assured in our short stays to get the shots I needed for publication and I have lost count of the number of times I heard the hotel manager say 'it is never normally like this' as I struggled to shelter my camera from yet another shower! In Bora Bora in the South Pacific they look at you in amazement that you have come in high season over Christmas when it seems you were almost guaranteed a biblical downpour every day (as I have experienced for 10 days straight but that was 25 years ago), but then what resort would not have Christmas as high season?
I digress, back to the Maldives. This is a destination on any diver, snorkeller or indeed any holidaymaker's bucket list. You simply have to go, trust me. Thousands of beautiful islands surrounded by concentric aquamarine rings strung out like a turquoise necklace in a sea of indigo off the west coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean and even before you land the view is mouth-watering. As a diver or snorkeller you simply have to go and whilst there, if not already qualified, I question if there is a better place to take that first step in your PADI qualification.
Thought you could never afford to stay at a top quality Maldives resort? Travel in the Maldives low season and you can, and even if the rain does come, it 'doesn't rain underwater' as they say and your room will be so luxurious that you can just relax in there!
But for divers there are other big pluses to Maldives low season diving, and so as to be clear, I am going to list them:
- Because it is the Monsoon season, the islands are generally far less busy and that means the dive sites are too. Less traffic above water means more life underwater.
- If it's raining whilst you are clad in neoprene, sheltered on a covered Dhoni with hot tea and coconut or underwater with whale shark, who cares?
- There is a good chance it won't rain for much of the time, but when it does come it is normally heavy and brief.
- May to November, the official low season, brings plankton and thus poorer visibility but the upside is that is the best time for mantas and whale sharks in certain areas as they flock to feed.
In short if you want to dive or snorkel one of the world's top destinations in total luxury, Maldives low season diving is a must and a very reasonable risk.
Have you been diving in the Maldives? Tell us your story in the comments. To find out what we can offer on Maldives low season diving please contact us.
