Vessels
Maldives Siren
The 34-metre SY Maldives Siren is a handcrafted Indonesian phinisi constructed in ironwood and teak and sailing under seven sails. She is purpose-built and designed by Worldwide Dive and Sail especially for divers, with superb facilities for the underwater photographers as well as for the watersport enthusiast or the adventurous sailor. The boat takes up to 18 guests. There are eight large, en-suite, air-conditioned cabins each with its own computer and audio-visual entertainment system complete with 20-inch flat screen, high definition monitor integrated into the yacht’s network server in the saloon. Each cabin has a lavish array of luxury facilities, including hairdryers, towels and individually-controlled lighting and air-conditioning. The boat has three decks; the lower deck has all the cabins, the main deck has the dining area and the dive area, and the upper deck has the lovely sun lounge area.
Delicious international and Asian cuisine is offered, with individual requirements happily catered for. Imagine enjoying a superb meal while looking out across the wide expanse of ocean from the covered outdoor dining area near the stern of the boat on the main deck.
The spacious and modern air-conditioned saloon has a cocktail bar, 42-inch flat-screen TV and a computer supporting the inter-cabin network. There is plenty of space to relax on the comfortable sofas while enjoying a post-diving drink.
The boat offers satellite phone facilities. Other facilities on board include a small boutique shop selling books, tee-shirts, hats and souvenirs. For those in the mood for some serious self-indulgence, why not try the massage service.
The dive area is on the main deck with space for twenty divers and further space for the dive crew. With a maximum of 16 divers on most trips, it means that the area is very spacious and allows for each diver to suit up in comfort. Each diver has his or her own place to store equipment. Divers set up their dive kit once only, at the start of the cruise. For the rest of the trip the crew will prepare your dive kit for you for every dive. Cylinders are filled in situ with air or with Nitrox (which is provided at no additional cost). The dive platform provides easy access to the two dive tenders, one of which is 5.8 metres and the other is 5.2 metres in length. Divers usually enter the water from one of the tender boats and dives are usually ‘go with the flow’ drifts with an easy climb up one of the ladders on return. The tenders are staffed by very experienced crew and they will be there to greet you at the end of the dive. The crew comprises the most experienced, multi-lingual instructors who are available to teach PADI courses from Open Water to Divemaster. They are fully trained to look after your dive and photography gear, either as much or as little as you wish. Thorough dive briefings are given before every dive, and you may elect to dive with the dive crew or with your buddy. There is a fresh water shower on the dive platform and another two showers on the same deck for post-dive rinses. Photographers and videographers have their own large rinse tank with fresh water, which is changed on a regular basis. There is a further rinse tank for computer, mask and dive light rinsing.
Maldives Siren offers a series of 10 nights cruises to the Northern atolls and Hanifaru Bay, as well as cruises taking in the central Maldivian atolls.
CENTRAL A
Day 1: Meet a crew member at Male airport for the transfer to the Maldives Siren and set sail for Rasfari in North Male. Day 2: At Rasfari Reef and Rasdhoo you can enjoy reef shark encounters and investigate the inlets and ridges before exploring the wrecks off Kuramathi House Reef. Finish the day with two dives at Rashdoo Madivaru where Manta Ray sightings are a distinct possibility! Day 3: An 0500 start could well be rewarded with Scalloped Hammerhead shark sightings in this ‘blue water’ dive before heading to North Ari Atoll. At Maaya Thila, you can circumnavigate the reef looking for Dogtooth Tuna and White-tip Reef Sharks. Shark Point as the name suggests is also a good bet form encountering our toothy friends! Day 4: Ari Atoll is home to Fesdu wreck which lies between 24 and 29 metres. Corals are well established. At Maalhoss, you can explore the caves and the sheltered environment means soft coral growth has taken hold on the ceilings. The third dive of the day at Himendhoo Dhekunu Kandu is a drift dive where you can expect schooling barracuda and several reef sharks. Fish Head makes a pleasant dusk dive especially when the sharks are out! Day 5: Another dive on Fish Head before Panettone where fascinating topography and the chance for Manta Rays make this a popular site. The remainder of the day will be spent scouting for Whale Sharks so keep your fins on and your mask and snorkel ready! Day 6: At Kudarah Thila you’ll be amazed at how fishy Maldivian diving can be! You’ll spend the day at Faafu Atoll with the ‘big fish’ before diving the outside of the atoll at Filitheyo into the deep channels. The last dive of the day is at Filitheyo House reef. Day 7: At North and South Nilandhe Atoll are numerous caves and inlets where sharks love to snooze. This exciting day of channel diving continues at Fushi Kandu and Velavaru Thila. Day 8: More current diving at Thaa Atoll this morning before further channel dives on current swept walls teeming with pelagic life. Day 9: Olhugiri Atoll offers a variety of habitats to explore. Sandy slopes, walls and channels offer excellent fish filled dives. Watch out for the big Napoleon Wrasse! Rainbow Runners, schooling bannerfish, fusiliers and trevally all make a home at Guraidhoo Corner. Day 10: Hammerheads are an early morning possibility as well as Bottlenose Dolphins and Blue Whales! Finish on a fishy high at Vadinolhu Kandu. Day 11: Disembark Maldives Siren at Male.
CENTRAL B
Day 1: At Kadhdhoo airport on Laamu Atoll, meet a crew member and transfer to Maldives Siren. Day 2: 4 dives at Laamu will include Maabaidhoo, a pleasant check dive, and Maabaidhoo Kandu on the other side of the atoll where pelagics roam. At Fushi more channel diving makes shark hunting very easy! Finish the day on the sheltered side of Fushi. Day 3: Observe reef sharks, tuna and Naopleon wrasse at Vadinolhu before stepping up a notch to the busy passes filled with schooling fusiliers, rainbow runner, jacks and snapper. Day 4: Olhugiri Atoll offers a variety of habitats to explore. Sandy slopes, walls and channels offer excellent fish filled dives. Watch out for the big Napoleon Wrasse! Rainbow Runners, schooling bannerfish, fusiliers and trevally all make a home at Guraidhoo Corner. Day 5: At Vaanee Kandu this wide channel attracts strong currents and an early morning dive should yield the best possible conditions for shark sightings. The remainder of the day is less demanding as you explore the caves and outcrops that attract eagle rays and some smaller critters. Day 6: At North and South Nilandhe Atoll are numerous caves and inlets where sharks love to snooze. Day 7: A morning searching for Whale Sharks before hitting Panettone where fascinating topography and the chance for Manta Rays make this a popular site. Day 8: An early morning dive on Fish Head should yield reef sharks. At Maalhoss, you can explore the caves and the sheltered environment means soft coral growth has taken hold on the ceilings. Day 9: Halaveli Wreck is an artificial reef sitting between 20-30m. Spot moray eels in the superstructure and schools of jacks overhead. Further dives will be on open channels so take your reef hook! Day 10: An 0500 start could well be rewarded with Scalloped Hammerhead shark sightings in this ‘blue water’ dive. Finish the trip by investigating the inlets, ridges and wrecks off Kuramathi House Reef. Day 11: Disembark Maldives Siren and head to Male airport.
NORTHERN A
Day 1: Meet a crew member at Male airport and transfer to Maldives Siren where you will embark for Rasfari in North Male. Day 2: Explore the inlets and ridges of Rasfari Reef. Over breakfast you will cross to North Ari atoll. Dive the busy reefs of Kuramathi and look for Manta Rays at Rasdhoo. Day 3: It is worth getting up early today for a blue water dive in search of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks. Further dives at Thodoo and Doru Corner should yield excellent pelagic sightings. Day 4: Marvel at the pink corals of Goidhoo Island and mingle with a multitude of fish at Kudadhoo Corner before snorkeling in Hanifaru Bay where you will almost certainly encounter Manta Rays and Whale Sharks. Day 5: Today the whole day will be sepnt snorkeling in Hanifaru Bay. Day 6: In Baa atoll your first dive will be at Aidhoo where on the inside of the reef smaller fish life and corals can be found, and on the outside, larger schooling fish come and ride the currents. Things step up even more with a dive off Kamadhoo where strong currents attract plenty of pelagic action. Day 7: Today you can enjoy some wreck diving in Lhaviyani atoll. Skipjack II was the mother ship for the Felivaru fish factory before it was scuttled in 1985 and since then has been developing as a delightful artificial reef. The final dive of the day will take in the caverns and swim-throughs at Kuredhdhoo where photographers will delight at the angles and light formations created. Day 8: Have a strong breakfast before you embark on a dive at Kuredu Express where fast flowing water runs through a channel introducing you to sharks, rays, schools of trevally and barracuda. Diving at Komandoo Reef is still in its exploratory stages but you can enjoy some uncharted dives here this afternoon. Day 9: Dives in Shaviyani atoll combine all that is popular about Maldivian diving; sharks, rays, plenty of fish, soft corals and turtles! Day 10: Your final dives will be among the batfish, reef sharks and coral gardens of Shaviyani atoll. Day 10: After breakfast disembark Maldives Siren in Hanimaadhoo for your return flight to Male.
NORTHERN B
Day 1: Arrive Hanimaadhoo airport where a crew member will greet you and board Maldives Siren for 10 nights. Day 2: 4 dives at Shaviyani Atoll where jacks, barracuda silver-tip sharks, eagle rays and marble rays all congregate. Day 3: A sheltered spot, Eriydhoo Wall is covered in yellow soft corals and makes a pleasant start to the day. The second dive of the day is at Komandoo Reef before progressing to Lhaviyani Atoll. Day 4: At Kuredu Express, fearless divers jump into a fast moving channel of water. Large schools of fish and a plethora of reef sharks join you for the ride. At Shipyard you can enjoy two dives on the Skipjack II and a small Japanese fishing vessel, both of which are now home to a multitude of reef fish. Day 5: At Baa Atoll the channels and sloping walls will keep you busy all morning before diving on the inside of the lagoons and relaxing as you admire the coral walls and seafans at Milaidhoo reef. Day 6: This may be the best reason to join this itinerary! At Hanifaru Huraa, a small bay catches the plankton blooms that occur from May to November. Hungry Manta Rays are attracted to this area no bigger than a soccer field and can number in the hundreds! On some days, Whale Sharks join in the picnic too! Day 7: After a morning spend with the Manta Rays, you will head to Dhigali Haa, a great place for sharks, Bluefin Tuna, fusiliers, barracuda and batfish. Day 8: Explore the pink reefs of Goidhoo Atoll where Nurse Sharks and White-tip reef Sharks will keep you company. Spend the rest of the day on the walls ad in the channels as you notch up the pelagic tally for the trip. Day 9: At Rasdhoo Atoll an early start at Madivaru Kandu may warrant sightings of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks. At Kuramathi House Reef you can explore the wrecks of a diving dhoni and a cargo ship. Fish life has really taken hold here and a further dive here at night will warrant some good macro opportunities! Day 10: Rise early again to try for the hammerheads before investigating the fascinating topography at Rasfari Reef. Day 11: Disembark Maldives Siren in Male.
SOUTHERN
Day 1: Meet a crew member at Kaadedhdhoo in South Huvadhoo atoll and transfer to Maldives Siren. Day 2: The first day at Huvadhoo Atoll will mesmerize! Here several reefs and thilas create channels packed with fish and reef sharks. Even Tiger Sharks have been spotted here! Day 3: Today begins with a visit to one of the Maldives shark hotspots of Maarehaa Kandu before a dive on Nemo Thila, which is of course filled with anemonefish! Day 4: Begin the day seeking sharks, schooling tuna as well as eagle rays in the channel between Kodey Island and Dhiyadhoo before further explorations of Huvadhoo Atoll and a final dive of the day at a shallow protected reef at Nilandhoo Giri. Day 5: Another day of pelagic delights as you explore Nilandhoo Kandu as well as both ends of Kuredhdhoo island where channels and walls yield clouds of colourful reef fish. Spend the evening inside the atoll on the pleasant Mattidhoo Reef. Day 6: As you travel up the north-eastern side of Huvadhoo atoll, more channel diving awaits at Kooddoo Corner (which is almost always quite a current fuelled thrill!) and Vilingili Kandu. A night dive at Vilingili Reef should yield many small critters. Day 7: Start early with a blue water dive on the look out for reef sharks before more channel diving surrounded by bannerfish and triggerfish. Day 8: Today is a calmer affair as time on the sheltered reefs is spent at Kolamaa Fushi Corner and Mauddoo Kandu. Here long walls and ridges are home to hard corals and plenty of reef fish. Day 9: A day of two halves which begins in the channel at Fulangi Kandu on the look out for numerous reef sharks and hammerhead sharks. The afternoon is spent at Devvamaagala Reef, a shallow and beautiful thila. Day 10: Two reef dives enable you to wind down gently after all the action packed channel dives! Spend the afternoon drying and packing your gear. Day 11: Disembark at Kaadedhdhoo for your flight back to Male.
CENTRAL & SOUTHERN A
Day 1: Arrive Male and meet a crew member to transfer to Maldives Siren to head out to Gulhi in South Male atoll. Day 2: Perform your check dive at Kuda Giri wreck in the home to trevally and fusiliers. The mast yields frogfish to those who look closely. Te rest of the day quickly gears you up to the pace of the trip as you begin diving on the current swept corners at Kandooma and Guaridhoo where rainbow runner, tuna and barracuda all hang out. Day 3: At Felidhoo atoll you can explore a cave at about 30 metres where Grey Reef sharks lurk. This afternoon yields the opportunity to do one of the most exciting dives in the Felidhoo on reefs, overhangs, caves and channels on a current that brings the sharks out to party! This is followed by one of the most photogenic dives in the region at Fotteyo Reef where the protected nature of the wall means photographic opportunities abound. Day 4: An early morning blue water dive in search of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks before an afternoon spent on Rakeedhoo Kandu where terraces of yellow and blue soft corals create a stunning backdrop to a delightful dive. Day 5: Currents can be strong at Mulaku Kandu but that brings in the Grey Reef Sharks both here and at Gaahuraa Kandu. Then it’s off to Muli Corner famed for being a Hawksbill Turtle breeding area. Day 6: The varied topography at Thaa Atoll menas that you get a slice of everything today! Shrimps, gobies and goatfish abound on the sandbanks at Olhugiri Kandu. The corner of the reef yields lionfish, sweetlips and grouoer before the channel introduces you to Napoleon Wrasse and great schools of snapper. Afternoon dives at Dhiffishi Kandu are good for drifting through clouds of pelagics. Days 7, 8 & 9: A full two and a half days of channel diving outside Thaa and Laamu Atolls and North Huvadhoo Atoll before the afternoon of day nine is spent at Devvamaagala Reef. Day 10: Two reef dives enable you to wind down gently after all the action packed channel dives! Spend the afternoon drying and packing your gear. Day 11: Disembark at Kaadedhdhoo for your flight back to Male.
CENTRAL & SOUTHERN B
This cruise simply reverses Central & Southern A. It is a good idea that on the day you arrive in Male you have a night at a local hotel before making the flight to Kaadedhdhoo the next day to join Maldives Siren.
Price from about $3432. Includes: 10 nights cruise on Maldives Siren on a twin/share basis with full board, including non-alcoholic and local alcoholic beverages; 9 days of diving (up to 3 or 4 dives per day, including up to 5 night dives) plus 2 dives on the last day, air or nitrox fills; dive gear (12 litre tanks, weight belts & weights, BCD, regulator, wetsuits - 3mm shorty only, mask, fins); escorted shore excursions where appropriate; airport transfers. A port fees and bed tax of €80 (subject to change) is payable on board. Single Occupancy Supplement: 80% of the cruise cost (but you can avoid paying the supplement if you are willing to share a cabin).