It’s the bohemian, free-spirited island life that one gets a whiff of, the moment one steps out of the Male airport. We took an adventurous 60-minute speedboat ride to the quaint Maafushi Island. Since this was a pure dive trip, after a quick change, we headed to the Dive Centre at walking distance for gear sizing. The group was diving with Bengaluru-based Nitish Chengappa (who worked in a tea estate) and his brother Nikhil Chinapa, (popular VJ and RJ) of Fleetfoot Adventures. Diving is a passion for both the brothers, who started out by taking groups of friends. The brothers believe that diving attracts like minded people — free spirited and carefree who become thick friends, and also helps families create a special bond discovering the underwater world together. A trip to Maldives is easy to plan as the flight (direct two-hour flight from Bengaluru to Male) tickets cost around Rs 17,000 and is hassle free as you don’t need a visa.
‘Fin’tastic & fabulous fish: All set to have a whale of a time, early next morning with a spring in our steps for two rounds of diving — the first half with a breather (surface interval) of an hour in between, the dive sites of DM Giri and Kudi Giri were ‘fin’tastic and filled with fabulous marine life. We couldn’t have asked for a better Sunday — swimming in the sea with a school of fish, soaking in the gorgeous sunset. The group also strolled around the island in the evening, spotted a group of women playing bashi, a traditional women’s sport in Maldives. These sporty and zesty Maldivian girls were practicing for their bashi ball tournament.
Manta musings: Mighty, mammoth, majestic and mysterious, these Manta Rays are a sight for sore eyes. Our group was lucky to have spotted them on Day Two of our dives at the Manta Point dive sight in Maafushi, Maldives. Sheer awe and amazement at this gorgeous giant oceanic manta rays, on day three, our dive site was Guraidhoo, 10 minutes by boat from Cocoa Island in Kaafu Atoll, south of Male. Aquatic life is the best here and we spotted manta rays, sharks and turtles, also spotted cute Kashmiri snappers, moray eels, lion fish, squirrel fish and soft corals lining the colourful chamber dwellings, Oriental sweetlips, caves and a ship wreck.
Doting on dolphins: If you grew up loving Flipper, then you will know exactly how we felt on sighting these dolphins gliding their way seamlessly through the ocean. These dolphins are truly lovable and social, living in groups and we saw them doing their theatrics in large pods. Breathtaking indeed! The dive divas dove at Kandooma Thila on Day Three, a great dive site in South Male Atoll and we spotted eagle rays, whitetip sharks, turtles and grey reef sharks. Our faces shone with joy after swimming with the turtles. Our next dive spot was Maafushi caves and here we spotted large sized moray eels, acropora, nosey coral, leopard shark, bluefin jack, butterfly fishes and hawk fish. We returned to the island and exchanged fun stories (dive discourse). Since there needs to be 24 hours surface time before we fly out, some of us decided to mix with the locals in the utopian island of Maafushi. Some were crooning soulful songs by the beach.
Water babies can try other aquatic activities like snorkeling ($ 25), fly boarding ($75), jet ski ($25), banana boat, kayaking and fun tubing ($10-15), windsurfing etc. You can even grab a rod and reel and try your hand at some fishing. A dive costs $40 for certified divers and night dives cost around $170. There are many restaurants for lipsmacking seafood and a meal costs $15 per person. We spent our final evening in bonhomie and celebration at the Boat. Liquor is not permitted here, but those who want to have a drink can do so by going to the safari boats which are anchored a few minutes away from the island and that’s what we did on our last night out. There is nothing as exhilarating as an island sojourn and as we boarded our flights back home, we wished our Maldivian experience lasted longer.
