As a master scuba diver, I have always felt that the oceans have more to explore. The richness of marine life and corals and their diversity in form, colour and species have baffled me for a long time. For an Indian, there are limited places to scuba dive in the country besides the Andamans and Lakshadweep, where the waters are clear. The Maldives, an island destination bustling with marine life and corals, is a two-hour journey from Mumbai. I joined Orca Dive Club, a Mumbai-based dive organisation operating globally, for a weeklong liveaboard in the Maldives. I was brimming with excitement about my upcoming adventure.
A liveaboard is an experience where divers live on a boat together for one week and do three to four dives every day. Practising living together for a week gives the opportunity to scuba divers to interact with one another, share scuba diving experiences and plan future dive trips. For my liveaboard, I was onboard Top Class Cruising’s Sachika. Here is a day-by-day account of how my scuba diving trip panned out.
Day one
A turtle rests on a reef
I flew from Mumbai to Male on a direct flight. At the airport, I was greeted by Aiko from the Sachika team who led me towards the vessel. Since it was our first day aboard, we had no dives planned. We got comfortable in our rooms and spent a lot of time talking to each other about the fish and marine life we had spotted on our previous diving trips. My excitement for the next day soared when Martina, our boat leader, mentioned a possible trip to Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its incredible manta ray gatherings.
Day two
Coral up close
We began our day with a check dive at Kurumba House reef to get reacquainted with the scuba diving gear. I was diving after almost a year, and this check dive helped me get comfortable underwater once more. After the dive, we got the best news ever! Martina informed us that over a 100 giant manta rays had been spotted at Hanifaru Bay by the rangers, and that we would be going to snorkel with the mantas there. The manta dive was exhilarating and I had never seen so many of them together at once. Some of us cried after the snorkelling experience with the mantas, since it made us realise how truly beautiful the world is and how much we need to preserve it. For our last dive, we went to Khiadhoo Jetty and did a night dive, where we saw bustling fluorescent coral and pencil fish.
Day three
Fluorescent coral
Day three was a power-packed day where we dived in Dhonfanu Thila, Dhonfanu Gaa and Udhadhoo, all dive sites in the Baa Atoll of the Maldives, where mantas and stingrays feed on phytoplanktons in the ocean in huge numbers. We saw a few stingrays, lionfish, corals, octopuses and fusiliers on our dives here. The mantas were feeding in another area that day and we missed seeing them. I was not disappointed in the least because I felt like I was where I belonged, in the ocean amidst a multitude of silence where I felt like I was meditating. In the evenings that followed our dives, we spent time bonding with each other and played games like mafia, Uno and Monopoly Deal.
Day four
Fellow divers
On day four, we dived at Yellow Wall, Khiadhoofaru Thila and Duravandhoo Thila, all located in Baa Atoll. The best part of being on a liveaboard is that it moves around places and can take you to the best dive spots within a week. My favourite dive of the day was at Yellow Wall, since it had an expansive coral wall inside where lobsters were hiding in small holes. In the evening, we went to an isolated sandbank during sunset and walked around the whole circumference of the island. Watching the waves crash on the beach looked peaceful. Some land time felt good as we had been living on a boat for four days. The Sachika crew organised a surprise barbecue evening for us on the sandbank. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be on a sandbank, almost like living in the movie Cast Away for a few hours, enjoying a meal with new friends, surrounded by great conversations and loads of wine.
Day five
The author saw a huge variety of marine life on her dives
Day five brought with it four dives — three in the day and one at night. We dived at Rasdhoo, Hafza and Maaya Thila in the day, followed by a night dive again at Maaya Thila. All the dives were in the Rasdhoo Atoll of the Maldives, which is famous for shark spotting. On our first two dives, we saw a few sharks, corals, pencil fish and giant barracudas, unlike any I had ever seen before. We saw three sharks up close at Maaya Thila. There was also a slight current on this dive, so we had to hook onto some corals. Right when we were exiting our dive, a turtle came by and swam along us, giving us some gentle company. During our night dive, we were expecting to see sharks and jackfish hunting. We also saw a moray eel out hunting for food. All the fish were active and on the prowl for food. Being amidst all the action felt thrilling. It was a sight to witness, something one can only see underwater and never simply while snorkelling from the surface. This dive reminded me why I love scuba diving so much.
Day six
Close encounter with a shark
Day six was our last dive day since we needed to keep a gap of 24 hours between the last dive and a plane journey. On day six, we dove at the fish tank, Bathala Thila and Hulhumale Wall, where we witnessed sharks and stingrays in huge numbers. It was exhilarating to see 25 stingrays swimming together at once. In my three years of diving, I had never seen something like this before. Since everyone on our liveaboard was broken into smaller groups for diving, I was told the other group spotted a tiger shark and a hammerhead. I was really sad that I was not a part of that dive group. However, I made my peace with the image of 25 stingrays I witnessed since that’s a rarity in the diving world. This was our last diving day since we had our flight back to India the next day.
