This is my 2nd trip to the Maldives doing the central atolls itinerary and the diving blew my mind this time (I just did Raja 2 months before this trip). The soft coral gardens were so colorful with reds, oranges, yellows and blue colors. There were also dives with table coral gardens stretching as far as the eye can see.
For marine life, we saw lots of sharks (blacktip, whitetip, grey reef, guitarfish, nurse, tiger), mantas, whaleshark, massive rays, dogtooth tuna, big schools of blue-striped snappers, bannerfish and red toothed triggerfish. There were lots of batfish, sweetlips, soldierfish, giant travellys, morays, and anemonefish.
The water was a very comfortable 82-85F and no one complained about feeling cold.
The Maldives covers a big area and you can cover a larger area with more varied dives from a liveaboard versus resort based. Liveaboard diving here is also very affordable and most of them are very nice. If you have not done a liveaboard before, the Maldives is the perfect place to do your first.

The Seahorse is a traditional phinisi style boat and is a solid 4 star dive liveaboard. The cabins are not large but spacious enough for 2 people. There are plenty of common areas to spread out like the galley, dive deck, and sun deck. All the outdoor common areas have shade so guests can be out there all day, rain or shine. The dedicated camera room has space for about 8 large rigs and plenty of charging stations.

The dive deck is large, and there are two showers on the dive deck, and an outdoor bathroom so you don't need to go to your cabin when wet. The diving is done from large steel boats and you only have to bring your mask with you. The crew loads all your dive gear on the boat for you. Photographers have individual cooler bags for their cameras so they are not banging against each other on the ride out to the dive site.

The crew and service was one of the best things about the Seahorse, and one of the best of any liveaboard I have been on. Fresh towels are provided on the dive deck after every dive, and dedicated camera towels are also changed after every dive. The cabin towels are swapped out every 2 days, and bedsheets are changed every 3 days. There is a masseuse on board, and the kitchen was staffed with a head chef, a sous chef and a pastry chef!

The best muck diving in the world! I only did 2 days of diving here, 8 dive total, but i've seen pygmy seahorse, pygmy cuttlefish, pygmy squid, mimic octopus, coconut octopus, longarm octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, blue ring octopus, ambon scorpionfish, giant frogfish, painted frogfish, hairy frogfish, pipefish, pipehorse, mandarinfishm the endemic banggai cardinalfish, so many nudibranchs, and a lot more that I don't recall.
The port town of Bitung is the 3rd largest port in Indonesia, and the waters around Lembeh can have a lot of trash, but don't let that stop you from diving here and seeing all the critters.
It is also very easy to combine a trip to Lembeh with a trip to Manado about 90 minutes by car where you can dive the Bunaken National Park.

What a great affordable boutique dive resort in Puerto Galera! The rooms are basic but spacious. I was in a poolview room but next time I will stay in the villa which looks amazing. The dive operation is very good and the food menu is extensive. Best part is the owners are always on site, including their kids and dog Bubbles. It has an awesome family vibe and the owners make you feel like part of the family. They are also very flexible and will do everything they can to make your stay memorable. The resort is located right on the beach and away from the yucky part of town. The views are incredible! You can dive 4-5 times a day and the diver to guide ratios are small. Hot water is very HOT, and the wifi is so good I could stream live games.