The Maldives.

An oceanic dreamscape that’s even more beautiful in person, if you can believe that.

The islands are the main draw for tourists, but they make up only a tiny fraction of the country.

99% of the Maldives is water.

Naturally, liveaboard diving is the best way to explore the archipelago and reach its most famous dive sites.

Blue Force One

There’s a ton of liveaboards in the Maldives, but Blue Force has earned a reputation as one of the finest.

The company’s flagship vessel: Blue Force One.

We only send our divers to the best of the best, so we hopped aboard Blue Force One to see whether or not the liveaboard — and the Maldives — lives up to its reputation.

We’ll get your questions about the Maldives answered, with a little help from the guys who dive it every day.

Answering Your Questions

Mariano | Cruise Director

Mariano left a lucrative job in engineering to pursue a career in diving. “I was in bad shape and bad mental health,” he says. “My first time diving I was like, ‘oh, nobody can reach me here! This is amazing.'”

Brian | Instructor & Guide

Brian started his career as a marine biologist. He spent most of his time doing presentations, coral planting, and marine talks, which is why he started working as a dive professional. “I was missing out on a lot of things just being land-based,” he says.

Dinner and drinks on a secluded island, courtesy of Blue Force.

“The standards we have are super, super high. Blue Force is not a liveaboard company — it’s an experience company. It’s a diving operation, but it’s also a hotel, restaurant, and bar. We are not rigid on anything. If the client needs something and we can do it, we will do it.”

A few of the crew members who keep Blue Force sailing smoothly.

“I think it’s the safest boat I’ve ever been on. Very recently, the boat did a big upgrade on its safety — in equipment and also in training. All the dive guides are DAN [Divers Alert Network] instructors, and all the crew members are trained to use emergency oxygen, AED, all of that.”

The Dhony

When it’s time to go diving, you’ll step aboard a smaller dhony vessel that’ll take you to the dive site. It’s faster and more efficient than diving directly off the yacht. The tanks are stored and refilled on the dhony so you won’t hear the noisy air compressors while you’re relaxing on the sun deck.

Blue Force takes pride in ocean-friendly diving.

“We set a good example. We make sure divers are very aware of where they’ll be diving and how to dive it before jumping into the water.

“We see a lot of bad stuff happen. From people completely destroying corals, laying down on the reef, to people holding whale sharks and grabbing nurse sharks. We make sure that will not happen in our operation.”

Can Non-Divers Enjoy Blue Force One?

Not every liveaboard offers a fun experience for non-divers, but you can bring your favorite landlubbers aboard Blue Force One. It’s a luxury cruise as much as a diving operation.

Anyone on board can enjoy beautiful scenery of the islands, sip a cocktail on the sun deck, and do activities like island exploration, kayaking, and snorkeling. For travelers, there’s no better way to experience the Maldives than by doing a sailing voyage like this.

Snorkeling with manta rays off the stern of Blue Force One.

“We have a lot of people who come and they’re not divers. It’s a way to enjoy and see the Maldives. We can take them kayaking, walking around the islands, and snorkeling. Sometimes we have kids and families! They have a blast.”

Our very own Teresa encounters a manta ray.

What is Maldives Famous For?

Big fish encounters.

The open ocean penetrates the Maldives on all sides. Pelagic animals, like manta rays and larger species of shark, ride the Indian Ocean currents that are pressure-blasted through the channels between the islands.

The whale shark we stumbled upon — photographed by our on-board photographer Amed.

Drift diving is the name of the game.

When you dive the channels, you’ll hook into the reef and watch a parade of mantas, eagle rays, sharks, and schooling fish ride the current.

Silvertip sharks swim in a channel.

Are Manta Rays Common in Maldives?

You could argue that manta rays are the main attraction in the Maldives.

Maldives is one of the few places on Earth where you can do a manta ray feeding dive, a night dive where you’ll watch the rays swoop in — often just inches above your head — as they feast on clouds of plankton.

In the daytime, Blue Force can bring you to a manta ray cleaning station where the rays come to get manicured by a small army of cleaner fish. Mantas (and spotted eagle rays) also make guest appearances at the coral reefs. There’s a huge and healthy population in these waters.

Does the Maldives Have Nice Coral Reefs?

Yup.

“The Maldives doesn’t allow commercial fishing — only pole fishing. The regulation is as good as it gets. They understand that a lot of their money comes from the animals, so they’re trying to protect them. They’re making more and more areas protected.”

A moray eel resting in the coral.

Thilas (pronounced “tee-luhs”) are underwater pinnacles that contain the most vibrant coral reefs in the Maldives.

The thilas are covered in beautiful coral gardens that host octopuses, eels, sea turtles, reef sharks, and dense populations of fish.

“The pinnacles are the most abundant dive sites we do during the week,” says Brian. “Diversity of life, you know?”

Diving a thila in the Maldives.

Can You Dive with Sharks in the Maldives?

You’ll love the Maldives if you’re looking for shark action. Sharks are a common sighting here.

Blue Force curates a few shark dives during the trip — sometimes with bait and sometimes without. But the sharks pop up in all sorts of different places, especially at the channels and thilas.

A shark dive with a school of friendly nurse sharks. A shark brushes against the sand to scrape off parasites.

“You’ve been here this week with us. How many sharks have we seen? The whitetip. The blacktip. The grays. Nurse sharks. Silvertips. We have seen hammerheads. We have seen a tiger. We have seen a whale shark.”

A school of snappers sheltering in a wreck.

Can Beginners Dive in the Maldives?

Yes, you can dive in the Maldives if you’re a beginner. But this destination is better-suited for more experienced divers. At Scuba Travel Ventures, we don’t consider the Maldives a beginner-friendly destination.

There are beautiful shallow reefs for beginners to explore, but divers come to the Maldives for the deeper dive sites and the drift diving, which can be overwhelming for very green divers.

Keep in mind that Blue Force requires all divers to dive Nitrox.

Drift diving in the Maldives with reef hooks.

“I wouldn’t call the Maldives that beginner-friendly. We do have a recommendation for having at least 50 logged dives before coming.

“My suggestion is people that are newly certified, maybe try to dive locally in the US or Caribbean. Get your basic skills stronger there. Then do this long journey and explore the Maldives. I think you’ll be not so overwhelmed with what you can get here sometimes.”

However, Blue Force can still accommodate divers of all levels.

“That’s the good thing about Blue Force — the amount of dive guides we have. We can accommodate diving for beginners and for advanced, even if it’s the same dive site.

“For example, Maaya Thila has the cleaning station at 100 feet, but there’s an amazing reef on top of that. So you can send one group deep, and one group can stay shallower. Or sometimes people don’t like the current, so they can hide on the side of the thila where there’s no current.”

Is Every Voyage the Same?

Nope.

Your voyage will probably be different than ours. Blue Force makes a concerted effort to seek out exciting new dive sites. The underwater landscape of the Maldives has not been entirely charted and there are beautiful habitats still hiding beneath the water.

In fact, National Geographic recently enlisted the sister vessel — Blue Force Three — for a monthlong expedition to analyze reefs that were rarely seen or visited.

“They were diving in the craziest places,” says Mariano. “And they gave us some very, very nice dive spots.”

A school of glass fish “dancing” to escape the clutches of hunting tuna.

“We are constantly checking new places. Tips… hearing what people say. We have a lot of repeat customers because of how we try to keep it different.”

“At night we get together with the local dive guides and the captains. We talk about the weather, we talk about the experience level of the group. We talk about navigation, all the things that go into the planning of the route.”

Why Do a Liveaboard in the Maldives?

There’s a whole lot of magic in the Maldives: shark migrations, manta ray cleaning stations, beautiful wrecks, and sun-kissed coral reefs, to name a few.

But you can’t find them all in one place.

These experiences are scattered far and wide across many different islands and atolls.

If you want to experience the country’s famous water bungalows, then it’s best to do most of your diving on a liveaboard followed by a couple nights at a resort.

“If you only stay at a resort, then you’re not really seeing Maldives. There’s a lot of dive spots around the country and they’re far from each other.

“But also, land-based accommodation and diving can be quite expensive. The prices are sometimes higher on land than on the boat. And the boat is a very comfortable experience.”

“So many dive sites. So many different atolls. You’re missing a lot just being land-based.”

An octopus tries to blend in with the coral.

Adventure Awaits!

The Maldives is one of the world’s most complete dive destinations. A single liveaboard runs the gamut of underwater experiences, with coral reefs, drift diving, wreck diving, critter diving, shark diving, and pelagic encounters.