There can be few places as easy and pleasant to dive
as the Maldives. For a start, there is really no need to wear a wetsuit. The temperature is that of a warm bath all year round. Down at twenty metres in a channel current watching mantas feed during the rainy monsoon months is as cool as it gets. And if you shiver it’s more from excitement than heat loss.
As for ease, most dives are drift dives. That is to say, a gentle current picks you up as you descend and propels you forward without effort along the reef. The dive instructor will jump off the boat first to check the direction and strength of the current. If suitable, you will follow, and a sense of flying often comes over you, a wave of euphoria that makes you feel almost a part of the watery world around you. Welcome to some of the best diving in the world.
The Maldives has the winning combination of speedy access to a high density of fish, varied reef and coral forms, and the reassuring standards of the dive schools.
What you need to know
Every resort has a dive base and the standard is high across the board. Beginners couldn’t be in better hands, nor in a better location to start learning. And with so many teeming sites, varied in their formations, the pros are in their element too. My top 7 diving resorts recommends starting points for all abilities.
A note for the absolute rookie – diving refers here to scuba diving, which is swimming underwater with breathing gas apparatus. The other, simpler way to see the fish is through snorkelling – swimming on the surface with a mask and breathing tube.
Anyone can learn to dive in the Maldives. You can take your PADI course at your resort dive base but even if that is too much commitment there are simpler options. Most resorts run ‘Explore’ diving and bubble dives: after a brief lesson on what to do in the swimming pool or lagoon, you can get straight into a real scuba dive. The difference with these quicker options is that you are not qualified to go deeper than around three metres, or perhaps twelve with a little more training. This is still deep enough to encounter the incredible reefs, and a great place to start, especially for children.
Adrian Neville lived in the Maldives and writes the definitive guide book: "Resorts of Maldives", now in its fifth edition. Having tirelessly reviewed every single resort, he is now continually asked ‘which is the best Maldives Hotel for my