MV Eagle Ray Maldives
Dive Boat MV Eagle Ray Maldives
The dive boat MV Eagle Ray is a old Boat. And it is not a fancy boat at all. At first when I came on board I was disapointed. Everything looks worn out, just old. But everything functions !
And above all, it is the cheapest dive safari moneywise in the Maldives I have had.
But after the dive trip with the MV Eagle Ray I must say : Wow !
We sailed the traditional and in my opinion the best itinary in the Maldives, the south ari and south male atolls.
The trips start in the harbour of Male and ends in the Harbor of Male again.
After landing at Male Airport in no time one is already on the dive boat and is wearing vacation clothing....
The boat crew was outstanding, very helpful, always there when needed, and extremely friendly. They were people from the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Everybody was able to communicate in english, some better some not so much. But they all always tried and gave us the feeling that we are able to speak to them.
In the Maldives you usually dive from a Doni which is a smaller boat that can hold up to 20 divers and drives on its own behind or ahead of the main dive boat. All the equippment stays on the doni and gets refilled there. Becouse of that, on the main boat you can never hear the loud compressors that refill your tanks.
I strongly suggest to use only dive boats which have this system in the Maldives. It is just much more comfortible.
The cook was a young guy from sri lanka who cooked the best meals every I have had on a dive boat. Even the western cuisine he prepared was always outstanding. The variety of foods presented every day was to me a pleasant surprise. I do like to eat healthy and good food.
The 2 maldivian dive guides couldnt have been any better. Both of them were very knowledgable about the dive sites, the marine live and most of all, the safety of the divers was their main concern at all times. They especially gave the underwater photographers the space they needed underwater.
The main dive guide always discussed with the captain which dive places were best to sail to according weather and tide conditions. And best of all , the dive guides continuously briefed us whenever possible guest on these informations. Therefore we always knew what is going on and what is going to happen.
The dive sites on the south ari and south male atolls are the best I have seen in the maldives.
Plenty of large schools of fish, incredible night dives at Alimata and Maya Thila. Lots of Sharks on many of the dive sites.
And not to forget the whalesharks.
It was realy good diving !
A friend of mine was just in 2013 on the Eagle Ray and she confirmed my experience to 100%.
Even though the Maldives offer lots of very nice dive boats with lots of space and quite some luxury I might go back to the Eagle Ray and certainly strongly suggest to everyone to use this boat, especially if someones budget has some limits.
The diving on a much more expensive boat will not get any better anyway.
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