Trip wrap-up:
MALE, MALDIVES
Well, the diving part of the trip is at an end…we are now back in Male Harbour and dive gear is dry and packing has begun! Yinnie & Andrea had two dives this morning because they are not leaving until later on Sunday but since we have a 2:30 a.m. flight from Male to Dubai, the rest of us finished our diving on Friday. The weather has been beautiful so books are being read up on the beautiful sundeck and we had a chance to visit another island earlier today…this one is MUCH larger than the village we visited last week. There are actually streets of shops carrying the usual Maldivian wood carvings, cloth sulus, many types of jewelry and other craft items. This village didn’t give us the same “local” feel as the one earlier in the trip so we just picked up a few items from the Mango Shoppe (“largest souvenir shop in the Maldives”) and headed back to the ship!
Tonight will be our farewell dinner and group and crew photos taken. This has been a fabulous boat with a wonderful crew. Our many thanks go out to Moosa, our Cruise Director and overall very funny guy & amazing diver. He makes every guest feel like the Manthiri is their home and his crew shares his enthusiasm. Hassan also dove with us; Dhonbe captained the “big” boat, Manthiri, while Razaq captained our dhoni dive boat. Saif (Mr. Nitrox) and Mohamed helped us with our gear and cameras off and back onto the dhoni. Smiling Manju took care of all our dining needs and refilled endless cups of tea, coffee and water. I can’t say enough about our chefs, Amadey & Hemanthe…..the food that came out of that small kitchen was incredibly varied, most plentiful and delicious. Our only complaint was that they cooked SO MUCH food for every meal…it seemed a shame to waste so much but in this climate, food spoils very quickly and they just don’t have enough room for refrigeration for left-overs! Fruits and vegetables were so plentiful, it was amazing! The other Mohamed took care of our cabins…fresh bedding, fresh towels and laundry were his responsibilities. The cabins are very comfortable and have great storage as well.
This is one of the most comfortable boats we’ve ever been on. Because all diving is done from the dhoni, there’s never any compressor noises on the “big” boat. The dhoni pulls away from the big boat to recharge tanks. And since all traveling in the Maldives takes place during daylight hours, all nights are spent inside the atolls in extremely calm waters so no rocking & rolling in the beds either! The salon is spacious with couches and loveseats to curl up on with a book or space to work on photos. The large dining tables make up the other half of the salon and all meals are served family-style. Behind the salon is the very large, well-equipped camera room with lots of shelves for camera bits & pieces and plenty of charging stations. No one feels cramped in there either. The kitchen is tucked in next to the camera room….it’s amazing the food that comes out of that small space!
The upper deck consists of the bridge and a covered deck with comfortable cushioned chairs and a sundeck with padded lounges. Today our sundeck looked like a garage sale up there with all the gear strung along the rails to dry!
We can’t thank this fabulous crew enough for the best dive spots, every attempt to get us on the dive sites precisely and time the currents and patterns this unique diving destination demands. Unfortunately, even though we saw whale sharks and manta as promised, we all would have loved to have even longer and more frequent encounters, but lots of dives were logged and this is the “fishiest” place on the planet, bar none! So long, Manthiri, until next time!
Well, the diving part of the trip is at an end…we are now back in Male Harbour and dive gear is dry and packing has begun! Yinnie & Andrea had two dives this morning because they are not leaving until later on Sunday but since we have a 2:30 a.m. flight from Male to Dubai, the rest of us finished our diving on Friday. The weather has been beautiful so books are being read up on the beautiful sundeck and we had a chance to visit another island earlier today…this one is MUCH larger than the village we visited last week. There are actually streets of shops carrying the usual Maldivian wood carvings, cloth sulus, many types of jewelry and other craft items. This village didn’t give us the same “local” feel as the one earlier in the trip so we just picked up a few items from the Mango Shoppe (“largest souvenir shop in the Maldives”) and headed back to the ship!
Tonight will be our farewell dinner and group and crew photos taken. This has been a fabulous boat with a wonderful crew. Our many thanks go out to Moosa, our Cruise Director and overall very funny guy & amazing diver. He makes every guest feel like the Manthiri is their home and his crew shares his enthusiasm. Hassan also dove with us; Dhonbe captained the “big” boat, Manthiri, while Razaq captained our dhoni dive boat. Saif (Mr. Nitrox) and Mohamed helped us with our gear and cameras off and back onto the dhoni. Smiling Manju took care of all our dining needs and refilled endless cups of tea, coffee and water. I can’t say enough about our chefs, Amadey & Hemanthe…..the food that came out of that small kitchen was incredibly varied, most plentiful and delicious. Our only complaint was that they cooked SO MUCH food for every meal…it seemed a shame to waste so much but in this climate, food spoils very quickly and they just don’t have enough room for refrigeration for left-overs! Fruits and vegetables were so plentiful, it was amazing! The other Mohamed took care of our cabins…fresh bedding, fresh towels and laundry were his responsibilities. The cabins are very comfortable and have great storage as well.
This is one of the most comfortable boats we’ve ever been on. Because all diving is done from the dhoni, there’s never any compressor noises on the “big” boat. The dhoni pulls away from the big boat to recharge tanks. And since all traveling in the Maldives takes place during daylight hours, all nights are spent inside the atolls in extremely calm waters so no rocking & rolling in the beds either! The salon is spacious with couches and loveseats to curl up on with a book or space to work on photos. The large dining tables make up the other half of the salon and all meals are served family-style. Behind the salon is the very large, well-equipped camera room with lots of shelves for camera bits & pieces and plenty of charging stations. No one feels cramped in there either. The kitchen is tucked in next to the camera room….it’s amazing the food that comes out of that small space!
The upper deck consists of the bridge and a covered deck with comfortable cushioned chairs and a sundeck with padded lounges. Today our sundeck looked like a garage sale up there with all the gear strung along the rails to dry!
We can’t thank this fabulous crew enough for the best dive spots, every attempt to get us on the dive sites precisely and time the currents and patterns this unique diving destination demands. Unfortunately, even though we saw whale sharks and manta as promised, we all would have loved to have even longer and more frequent encounters, but lots of dives were logged and this is the “fishiest” place on the planet, bar none! So long, Manthiri, until next time!
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