Maldives Aggressor
This is a one-of-a kind destination in the Indian ocean. We will see huge schools of fish swarming above the coral reefs. The shallowest corals come right up to the surface.
Like jewels in a crown, the atolls of the Maldives will make a stunning backdrop to this exciting tour around the best dive sites the Maldives has to offer. Join Cathy for this exciting trip aboard the beautiful Maldives Aggressor.
Price (USD)
Payable by check; additional 2.5% for payment by credit card
Twin Cabin
$4,450 per person, double occupancy
Private Twin Cabin
$8,900 per person, single occupancy
Deluxe Cabin
$4,650 per person, double occupancy
Private Deluxe Cabin
$9,300 per person, single occupancy
Included
- Transfers are included to/from Male airport to the Maldives Aggressor
- Accommodations aboard the yacht (per person, based on double occupancy)
- Diving, compressed air tanks, weights and weight belts
- All meals and snacks, non alcoholic beverages, and local beer/wine
Not included
- Airfare
- Gratuities
- Travel insurance is always very important for an overseas dive trip and we highly recommend adequate cover – this is a group trip and we do not supply insurance or cover the cost of cancellation
- Diver insurance is mandatory
- Each guest must pay a Port and Ramp Park Fee of $350 USD per person, which includes government bed tax, tourist tax and other fees at the end of the charter when settling your bill and a 12% GST tax on on board purchases These may be paid by Visa, MasterCard, US dollars, or Rufiyaa. There is a 3.5% fee on purchases made onboard when using credit cards. Sorry, no personal checks.
- On the last evening, there may be a complimentary walking tour of Male. Dinner at a waterfront restaurant may be included for $35 per person.
- Nitrox: $150
We strongly recommend arriving a day earlier. Cathy will be staying at the Bandos Resort the night before the trip, a beautiful island resort you are welcome to book with only a 10 minute boat ride from Male Airport.
Schedule and Arrival
The Maldives
The Maldives Islands lie Southwest of India. Scattered across the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the gem-like islands of the Maldives depict the rare vision of a tropical paradise. Palm fringed islands with sparkling white beaches, turquoise lagoons, clear warm waters and coral reefs teeming with abundant varieties of marine flora and fauna, fascinate visitors as it has for thousands of years. The Maldives are a tropical destination for live-aboard scuba diving with a year-round sea breeze.
The ‘Best of the Maldives’ offers a 10-night voyage that includes the areas of: Male Atoll, North Ari Atoll, South Ari Atoll, Vaavu Atoll and Meemu Atoll. The diving includes spectacular channel-drift dives, wrecks, pinnacles and world famous night dives. Guests will embark and disembark from Male. This is a year round itinerary, with October being a prime time for weather and marine life. Guests may dive up to 27 dives on a 10-night itinerary.
The yacht
Port: Male, Maldives
Built and maintained to the specifications of the local regulatory agencies and the regulations of the country of the flag
Length: 135 ft
Beam: 28
Passengers: 22
Crew: 16
The Maldives has been an Aggressor destination since 2009
The Dhoni boat
Much of the diving in the Maldives is drift diving. Due to this, all dives will be made from a beautiful custom built diving Dhoni (60 feet in length) that is very easy to dive from. It has ample space for divers, their equipment, photography equipment, hot water, a full bathroom and 5 compressors.
- 60 feet long
- 28 personal dive stations
- Sundeck
- Toilet, sink and hot water showers after dive
- Fresh water tanks for cameras and equipment
- 2 x large camera tables
- 4 x high pressure compressor
- 1 x low pressure compressor
- 1 x big Nitrox membrane
- 2 x marine engines 260bhp each
- 1 x generator 60kW
- All necessary navigation equipment
Dining
Every day starts with a cooked to order breakfast are complimentary while onboard.
3 wonderfully comfortable and luxurious types of staterooms
Suite stateroom
A comfortable stateroom with a queen bed (for couples only) with a private head and shower and panoramic window. All with individual climate control, monitor with media player and hair dryer.
Deluxe stateroom
Stateroom 8 and 9 have two twin beds with the option to create a king bed. Stateroom 10 and 11 have a queen bed (for couples only) with a private head and shower and picture window. All with individual climate control, monitor with media player and hair dryer.
Twin stateroom
A comfortable stateroom with two twin beds. Private head and shower, porthole windows, individual climate control, monitor with media player and hair dryer.
Relax in the shade on the sun deck, or on cushioned lounges in the sun, or even in a Jacuzzi!
The photo center has a digital video and photo editing computer.
The Maldives
There are three distinctly different types of scuba diving at the Maldives: inside the atolls, outside the atolls and inside the channels or passes, which is where the currents are strongest and you’ll find the greatest congregation of fish life. Most intriguing are the cleaning stations, found around every corner and under every ledge. Groupers, Snappers, Surgeonfish, Eels, Parrotfish, even Giant Napoleon Wrasse park casually in corners, oblivious to all, (including cameras) while armies of wrasse, shrimp and other assorted cleaners pick at debris in their open gills and cavernous mouths.
There are two distinct monsoon seasons. The northeast monsoon is from December to April and offers fair weather with significant currents. The southeast monsoon is from May to October with more wind and less current. The Maldives liveaboard scuba diving itineraries have been designed to offer the best diving according to the different seasons which is why there are so many different itineraries.
The big attraction in the Maldives for scuba diving are the schools of fish that patrol the reefs in colorful packs: Humpback and Black and White Snappers, Trevally, Jacks, Barracuda, Batfish, Unicornfish, Yellowback Fusiliers and Harlequin Sweetlips almost comical in design. The reef’s larger inhabitants, including sharks, rays and occasionally even Whale Sharks, are often seen cruising in the blue. Manta Rays can be seen year round with the best time for feeding station encounters from May – November. Whale Sharks are also seen year round with the most encounters in April, May, October and November.
There are several daily flights to and from the Malé International Airport prior to embarking or post disembarking depending on which itinerary you choose from. For more information, see itineraries listed above.
Getting there
The Maldives lie 370 miles southwest of Sri Lanka scattered across the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The Male (MLE) International Airport is located on Hulhule Island. Many major airlines fly into Malé (MLE): Singapore, Emirates, Sri Lankan, Delta and Qatar Airways. There are many connecting flights from the US, the UK and Europe.
Recommended Hotels in Malé or nearby: * Bandos Island Resort – beautiful beach resort that is a short boat ride from the Malé International Airport. * Kurumba Island Resort – a private island resort located 10 minutes by speedboat from the Malé Airport. Offers multiple spas, 8 restaurants, swimming pool and beautiful setting. * The Newtown Inn – Offers a great option for a day room while waiting for your outbound flight. Has a delicious Indian Restaurant, Bombay Darbar as well as roof terrace, located 10 minutes from the Malé International Airport. * Sala Boutique Hotel – Is a quaint boutique hotel beautifully decorated in a Thai theme. Located 10 minutes from the Malé International Airport. Email the Aggressor Travel Department for rates: info@aggressortravel.com
Visitors must have a current passport, adequate funds to support themselves, and a return airline ticket. US citizens are required to have a passport valid for 6 months from date of entry. It is your responsibility to ensure you have the proper visa for travel to and from the Maldives. Since regulations vary by country, contact your consulate or embassy of your country for the requirement.
Guests will be met at Malé airport by a crew member of the Maldives Aggressor II wearing an Aggressor polo shirt and hat at 3:30 pm and then transferred by water taxi (complimentary) to the yacht at 4 pm.
All guests must be onboard by 5 pm on all itineraries so the yacht can depart for its first night anchorage with the first dive the following morning.
Malé International Airport: If your trip embarks from Malé and you arrive early in the morning, you are encouraged to either get a day room at one of the local hotels or wait at the Coffee Club located just outside the arrivals hall, where the staff will greet you at 4pm and transfer you by water taxi to the yacht. The Maldives Aggressor II anchors in the Hulhumale Lagoon, which is a 15-minute boat ride from the airport.
On the last day disembarkation is at 8 am.
Sample dive sites
Male Atoll
Lankan Beyru (Manta Point)
The main attraction of the site are manta rays coming to the cleaning station during the southwest monsoon. The dive site is relatively easy to access, with small currents and is very often considered as a good dive to start the week. The cleaning station itself is a large coral block covered with anemones and full of fish life. It is also very common to come across white-tip reef sharks, turtles and napoleons.
Rasfari Corner
Large and shallow plateaus (10 – 20 ft) on the west side of the atoll, right next to the wide lagoon of Rasfari. It is covered with hard corals and hosts a cleaning station during the northeast monsoon. The most common way to do the dive here is to start on top of the reef, which is protected from the currents and after spending some time with the mantas continue the dive towards the wall that drops down to about 75 feet. The wall is nicely covered with hard corals, rich with fish life and popular with turtles.
North Ari Atoll
Maaya Thila
The thila (a pinnacle) is about 240 ft wide in diameter and is considered one of the best night dives in the Maldives. Top reef at 15 feet makes it easy to access even with current. The up-current side is always very active and busy with fusiliers and snappers. Big jack fish, white-tip reef sharks, stingrays and moray eels can be spotted easily. Some overhangs around the thila provide shelter for turtles. Even though it has a reputation for a night dive it is also quite popular during the day. A few separated coral blocks south of the thila create a tunnel and are full of beautiful coral bushes. With the right current this is a place to spot grey reef sharks as well.
Fish Head
One of the major attractions of the atoll, cannot be missed. Due to its exposure to the currents it offers rich presence of fauna and flora. Big schools of jacks and fusiliers on the up-current side as well as difficult to count amount of blue striped snappers hiding from strong currents inside the overhangs all around the thila are the highlights of the place. It is also popular with grey reef sharks, schools of barracudas and dogtooth tunas in the blue as well as turtles and moray eels on the top reef. With strong currents negative entry is recommended and current hooks should be ready to use.
Bathalaamaagaa Kanthila
Long coral ridge in the middle of a channel, extended from the outer reef and sloping gradually down to 25 meters and deeper offering good conditions for observing grey reef sharks, white-tip reef sharks, eagle rays and napoleons as well as schools of jacks and fusiliers. The dive site is active during both incoming and outgoing currents but might be more challenging during outgoing currents of northeast monsoon. Negative entry required and divers are recommended to hide below the depth of the top reef to to protect from the current. Current hooks strongly recommended.
South Ari Atoll
Moofushi Kandu (Manta Point)
Drift dive with a chance to see manta rays hovering over the cleaning stations at a depth of around 40-75 feet. If mantas are spotted it is recommended to use current hooks and stay around the cleaning station for a longer time. The dive site is quite popular during the northeast monsoon. Whitetip reef sharks are common visitors around the deeper part of the cleaning station with blue striped snappers and fusiliers being permanen-t residents.
Kudarah Thila
The thila is a part of the Marine Protected Area and is often considered the most beautiful site of the atoll with exceptional diving conditions. Overhangs rich in sea fans and the top reef nicely covered with healthy soft corals are the highlights. It is also known for big schools of blue striped and midnight snappers, fusiliers and jacks. It is worth it to have a dive light and look inside small caves where often you will find large grouper hiding.
Kudhimaa Wreck
The Kudhimaa Wreck is a 150 feet long cargo ship lying on a sandy bottom at around 90 feet. It was sunk in 1998 and already offers beautiful coral growth and a large variety of species living on it. Nurse sharks, batfish, stone fish, lion fish and moray eels are permanent residents and can be spotted around the wreck. There are a few entrances allowing to penetrate the cargo hall as well as the wheelhouse. The site is nicely protected from the current.
Maamigili Beyru (Whaleshark search)
Located on the southern tip of Ari atoll within the Marine Protected Area of South Ari atoll. Shallow and very easy dive which might turn into a very exciting one as it is known as the best location in the Maldives for spotting Whale Sharks. Whale Sharks can be seen cruising along the reef all year round. Once spotted from the surface, divers enter the water, go down and start swimming along with them.
Vaavu Atoll
Miyaru Kandu
One of the channel dives that you don’t want to miss. With strong incoming current the list of possible encounters is impressive. Mainly grey reef sharks but also white-tip reef sharks, eagle rays, napoleons and tunas are quite common and with the visibility reaching 120 feet during the northeast monsoon it can be the highlight of the trip.
Alimatha House Reef
This is considered one of the best night dives in the Maldives. Every night there is a show performed by a big number of nurse sharks, stingrays and massive jacks. Definitely not to be missed.
Reservation information
Checks
Payable to Cathy Church Photo Center
Mail to
Cathy Church Photo Center
Sunset House
390 South Church Street
Grand Cayman, KY1-1106 Cayman Islands
Credit Card
345-949-7415 Cayman number
607-330-3504 U.S. direct with credit card information
There is a 2.5% credit card surcharge for all portions paid for with credit card. We accept all major credit cards including American Express.
Payments (USD)
Initial deposit $1,500 per person
2nd deposit 50% by March 1, 2022
Final deposit by October 1, 2022
Cancellation Policy (USD)
FOR ORIGINAL BOOKINGS PAID IN FULL BEFORE POSTPONEMENT
Cancellation before October 20, 2020 – $1,500
From October 21 to February 22, 2021 – 50% deposit forfeited
From February 23, 2021 to October 29, 2021 – 80% deposit forfeited
After October 30, 2021 – 100% forfeited
FOR NEW BOOKINGS MADE 18TH MAY, 2022
Cancellation before October 1, 2022 – $1,500
From October 2, 2022 to March 1st, 2022 – 50% deposit forfeited
From March 2nd, 2022 to October 1, 2022 – 80% deposit forfeited
After October 2, 2022 – 100% forfeited
PLEASE NOTE CREDIT CARD FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE
Dive insurance is mandatory and we strongly recommend adequate travel insurance. This is a group booking with group cancellation terms. We are not insurance agents and can not cover the cost of cancellations.
