Sean Chinn reports from The Maldives…

October 22nd of this year saw me return to the Maldives and specifically the Central Atolls itinerary onboard Sachika organised by The Scuba Place. This was my third visit to the Maldives since 2014, with all trips being based on Sachika diving the best of the Central Atolls. As it happens the three times I’ve been have all been in October too, allowing a good comparison of how the diving differs year on year. The trip this year was a postponed group trip from last October due to Covid restrictions. It was also touch and go this year whether it would happen but a late lifting of restrictions meant we could travel to the Maldives again and boy, was I happy this trip went ahead! What a special week of diving in paradise.

The flights ran smoothly but, as expected, getting through immigration at Malé airport was a little longer than usual with all the Covid checks needed before entry. However, it wasn’t anything too stressful and we were soon through and after a couple of hours waiting for the boat to be ready (we arrived early morning) we were soon on Sachika ready to eat, sleep, dive, repeat!!

Reef Manta Rays circle the cleaning station at Lankan Manta Point

Saturday was a day of preparation and relaxation onboard ready for the 6 days of diving we had ahead of us. I was itching to get in the water as it had been a good few months and diving since the pandemic has been very limited for me. I had high hopes for this trip as the last two times had been amazing but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be as good as it was…

It certainly started with a bang, as the first dive of the trip delivered one of the best dives of my life. We stayed close to Malé and dived Lankan Paradise (Manta Point) on the morning of Sunday 24th. Wow, wow, wow!!! Words really can’t describe how good this dive was. I’ve dived the site before but the visibility last time wasn’t great compared to the nice vis we had this time. We saw six devil rays cruising the reef within minutes of dropping in and making our way to the cleaning station before a sight that will live with me forever. Big Ali excitedly pointing towards the cleaning station to reveal at least ten majestic mantas dancing around the cleaning station. The buzz that went through my body was incredible and as we moved slowly towards them a hawksbill turtle gently cruised through the group trying to steal the show.

A diver explores the propeller at Kuda Giri Wreck at around 30-35 metres

The mantas held my attention as our group moved towards the top of the cleaning station area and the next 40 minutes were pure heaven. Mantas were gliding over me one by one and dancing with each other in front of my eyes. A lone anemone with clownfish sat in the middle of the cleaning station as mantas glided over blocking out the light with their huge wingspan. While I was completely engrossed in the action, Big Ali continued to get my attention as two octopus then tried to steal the show crawling through the cleaning station interacting with each other and getting close to us. After a quick time with them, I was soon back to the mantas before I was summoned once again to look at the devil rays that were back and a little closer to us. To see mantas and devil rays close together was incredible as they look so similar but the size difference is incredible.

Maldivian clownfish in anemone home on the reef close to Kuda Giri Wreck

The crazy thing about this dive was that it didn’t end on the cleaning station for my group. As we shallowed up to do our safety stop some of the mantas seemingly followed us and carried on putting on a show. It was incredible as they chased each other spiralling up between us. Showing their ability to come really close but without smacking into us. Such impressive graceful animals, it’s a real pleasure to share the water with them. The only dampener about the whole experience for me personally was the fact I took around 340 photos on the dive and only 40 came out due to an SD card problem where the data didn’t write to the card. Annoying, as I know I was taking some of the best photos I’ve ever taken underwater. A shame, but I will always have the memories of such a wonderful experience and at least some shots to show how magical it was.

A nurse shark swims beneath the light from Alimatha Jetty at the famous night dive site

Soooooo!! That was just the first dive. How can the trip get any better than that? Were we going to be left disappointed from now on? Thankfully the trip continued to be special, with day one also continuing to hit. A fun wreck dive at Kuda Giri Wreck followed by the famous Alimatha Jetty Night Dive. Again, huge numbers of nurse sharks go bump in the night as they don’t mind getting close and even resting on my legs at one point as I was knelt on the sand. A couple of black tip reef sharks provided a different shark view as they passed by, with stingrays and octopus also accompanying the cast of this night time spectacle. The nurse sharks were the stars though and even after the dive they continued to circle the back of Sachika and some of us couldn’t resist getting back in for a snorkel too.

Stayed tuned for part 2 on Monday as there are more amazing encounters and dives to discuss from this epic trip!!

A few of the boat couldn’t resist snorkelling with the nurse sharks that stayed around at the back of Sachika

Sean’s trip was organised by The Scuba Place. For more information and to book call 020 3515 9955, email reservations@thescubaplace.co.uk or visit www.thescubaplace.co.uk.