So, from having a bit of a nose-around of good dive locations, i decided the Maldives, Galapagos Islands and Thailand are all absolutely brilliant for diving, especially if you haven't been doing it that long! I'll be blogging about the Galapagos Islands and Thailand in my next two posts, my previous post explores the Red Sea.
I've tried to summarise the main points of what I've found out about these locations, so this post isn't majorly in depth, however, if you want to find out more then there are plenty websites out there that can help you :)
The Maldives:
The Maldives are a chain of ~1,200 islands located in the Indian Ocean just South-West of the Indian sub-continent. The nation is well known for its abundant marine life and sandy beaches and so to many it is known as a tropical paradise.
The flight time to the Maldives from the UK is about 10.5 hours, not as short a flight as to the Red Sea, but still much shorter than a flight to Fiji! The islands themselves are known as a world class diving destination and so you will certainly not be disappointed by what they have to offer.
With an average water temperature of 24-28 degrees Celcius, you will not need anything more than a 'shorty' wetsuit at the lower end and perhaps just a swim suit at the higher end depending on your preferences.
The diversity of the diving available in the Maldives is one of the main features that make it such a popular diving destination, in fact, new dive sites are being discovered all the time and there's nothing quite like a practically untouched reef.
Some of the most spectacular marine life includes game fish, many types of shark, manta rays and even the biggest fish in the world - the whale shark!
Here are a few amazing photos of just a handful of dive sites:
As well as sheltered reefs ideal for new divers, there are also some incredible drift dive locations for more experienced divers that are absolutely packed with wildlife, there are also many live aboard boat options for more confident divers.
I've tried to summarise the main points of what I've found out about these locations, so this post isn't majorly in depth, however, if you want to find out more then there are plenty websites out there that can help you :)
The Maldives:
The Maldives are a chain of ~1,200 islands located in the Indian Ocean just South-West of the Indian sub-continent. The nation is well known for its abundant marine life and sandy beaches and so to many it is known as a tropical paradise.
The location of the Maldive Islands (on the left) from Google Earth.
With an average water temperature of 24-28 degrees Celcius, you will not need anything more than a 'shorty' wetsuit at the lower end and perhaps just a swim suit at the higher end depending on your preferences.
The diversity of the diving available in the Maldives is one of the main features that make it such a popular diving destination, in fact, new dive sites are being discovered all the time and there's nothing quite like a practically untouched reef.
Some of the most spectacular marine life includes game fish, many types of shark, manta rays and even the biggest fish in the world - the whale shark!
Here are a few amazing photos of just a handful of dive sites:
Oh look, there's that legendary lionfish again, I love these little guys!
Original picture source.
The amazing whale shark, what I'd give for the chance to swim wth one of these guys!
Original picture source.
The breathtaking manta ray, these guys can grow to HUGE sizes wild and captive.
Original picture source.
Anemone fish, there's a different kind of Nemo for nearly every dive location in existence!
Original picture source.
The characteristic Maldivian fish.
Original picture source.
Typical soft coral and marine life.
Original picture source.
The legendary green sea turtle.
Original picture source.
As well as sheltered reefs ideal for new divers, there are also some incredible drift dive locations for more experienced divers that are absolutely packed with wildlife, there are also many live aboard boat options for more confident divers.
The Maldives are certainly a must see for any diver travelling to Asia, 10.5 hours is much closer than you would think!
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the rights to any of the images used in this blog post, links to the original image sources have been given where necessary.
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