Tommy & Rhonda's Travels

The Maldives is Paradise!

MALDIVES | Monday, 19 November 2007 | Views [258]

Another beautiful day and we are excited to go scuba diving. We wake up and get ready and head to the dive center. They have crossiants and coffee, etc for us before the dive and our guide briefs us on the dive site and what to expect. We are going to Marigii South (sp?). Sounds fine to us and we head out on the boat along with Glen from Australia and there are some other Americans…Brad, Mary and Marylin from Idaho. They are like expert divers so we drop them off and then head to our spot. We did see some cool fish and stuff but overall we were a little disappointed with the dive. I guess we expected more and the visibility in the water wasn’t that great. The Maldives has incredible currents which will stir up the bottom and hurt the visibility. We get back on board with some fresh fruit and Glen and I head up to the top of the boat to enjoy the view up there. We chat a little about work, etc and get to know each other a little bit. I learned his wife was 6 mos pregnant and he was in real estate. We make it back to the resort in time for breakfast. We briefly meet Glen’s wife, Linda and then sit down for the always incredible breakfast. We did also sign up for the afternoon dive but said we would do it only if it was to Manta Point (dive site). We had heard great things about it and wanted to experience it if we were going to cough up another $170 (the cost of 2 dives). Rhonda wasn’t feeling great so we decide to go back to the villa and hang out and let her get a little nap in hopes she feels better and in hopes that we will be going to Manta Point later on that day. I play around on the computer and catch up on email and sports and stuff and she relaxes and gets a nap in. A little before 2pm it is time to head back to the dive center and find out where we are going. When we get there Rhonda checks the site and its Manta Point! Sweet…we are both very excited. On the dive it is just us and one other guy. A few minutes later after chatting with him we find out it is Jean-Christophe, the big cheese of the resort. He tells us the Mantas are usually better in the morning so that tempers our excitement a little bit. Our guide had also told us that November is the end of the Manta season at this spot so it will be hit or miss. After the guide checks the current, its into the water we go! Now the deal is, we cruise along until we get to these big rocks and then if the Mantas aren’t there, we wait for them there and hope they come. About 2 mins after we decend, our guide points out 2 small rays about 25 feet away. We were both hoping it would be more than that. Within 5 mins of starting our dive we are at the rock and the Mantas are there! We are talking HUGE MANTA RAYS. We can’t believe it. We were told before we just hang on to a rock and watch and they will swim around. If we mess with them, they will go away. Also, the current is very, very strong so its important to hold on or you will get taken away by the current. Not a dangerous current but it will mess up your dive. After about 5 mins of watching I am still in shock. Rhonda and I are snapping pics on the throwaway underwater camera and can’t believe this is going on. At the peak, there are 7 big ol manata rays for our enjoyment. Sometimes they come literally within a foot of our head. It is the most unbelievable thing I have ever imagined. I keep looking at my watch and air to see how long we had been there and how much longer it might last. When we arrived at the site, there were no other divers. Within 10 mins, there were about 30 other divers. All in awe of the Mantas. It got even better. Out of nowhere comes a huge sea turtle swimming thru. He decides to swim behind me and then swim by me literally within inches of my head. I was in total shock! It was soooooooo cool! In all, we spent 45 minutes holding onto a rock for dear life (at times the current is really, really strong and it will pull your whole body in a direction) and watching these Manta Rays just fly through the water. It was definitely the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I kept thinking, “now this is why I got certified to scuba dive!”