Soul of the Maldives
In this article, without lyrics, it will be difficult to manage, because it will be a relatively new product for the Russian market - cruises in the Maldives .Of course, domestic divers have known for 10 years that the best holiday in the Maldives is on board the yacht, but here to the rest of the tourists this thought began to reach gradually $ $ .Dive safaris in the Maldives proved to be such a brilliant opportunity to spend an interesting time and see the beauty of the archipelago that maskoplavateli and simple "beach men", it seems, in the near future will begin to press divers on their own boats! Why - we will discuss with you in this article .I'll say right away that it's not ten-storey liners at all, but relatively small cozy yachts for 16-22 places that bring the romance of a yacht trip to a small company on a trip and at the same time preserve the advantages of ease of booking: a fixed daily price includes all standard set of services .And no additional payments - as in the hotel .
Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma 4 * +, 7n. - from 155 900 rubles / person
The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi 5 *, 7n. - from 176 900 rubles per person + Free nights!
Velassaru Maldives 5 *, 7n. - from 175 900 rubles / person
From the regions of the Russian Federation with a flight to / Flydubai - hurry to book!
The best 5 * hotels. Exclusive SPA-centers. VIP service.
Vacation with children. Wedding travel.
Direct flight business class Aeroflot. Calculation of the on-line tour.
Sodis - 25 years of impeccable work.
The cruise essence is
What is the difference between a safari (or a cruise) from a holiday in a Maldivian hotel? The two main points are .The first is the opportunity to really discover the entire beauty of the archipelago, and not just one island 500 to 300 meters, where on the third day you know every palm and every pebble on the beach .Just imagine: a deck chair on the sun deck at the jacuzzi, or a comfortable armchair in the shade, a favorite cocktail in his hand, a sea breeze runs through the skin, and passing by, bewitching colors, the Maldives are small and bigger, with and without hotels - emerald hats palm trees framed by snow-white beaches and sparkling sunlit glint of turquoise lagoons, like precious stones scattered from the awkward movement of God's right - $ .
The second advantage: in the program of a week-long cruise, there is a whole range of additional services without additional payments, allowing you to dive deeper into the color of Maldives and make the holiday more vivid and memorable: visiting inhabited islands, night barbecue on the uninhabited island in the style of Robinson Crusoe, night fishing, sashimi, excursion to Male on the day of departure, not to mention diving or snorkeling over different reefs .And you know what else? On cruises it is not necessary to book a single! When booking half of the double is guaranteed accommodation with a tourist of the same sex, and if there is no accommodation, then the tourist and will live alone without any additional payment! And this is not all pluses .But let's order .
Myths about safari
We will discuss immediately those mythological horrors that seem to almost every potential cruiser participant.
Myth one: seasickness
Firstly, not all mankind suffers from sea sickness. Of course, a sea cruise is not the best idea for those who are very prone to this scourge, but all the rest, as a rule, perfectly tolerate sea walks. In addition, yachts in the Maldives move inside the archipelago (between atolls) and even inside atolls (between islands), which leaves them reliably protected from serious ocean waves and possible pitching. Doubting can be reserved for drugs from motion sickness like "Aviamor" or "Drama".
Myth Two: there is boring
Maldives dive safari is available all the possible entertainment that only is in Maldives hotels! And even a little more, given the daily changing picture before your eyes and the opportunity to visit a variety of islands. In addition, the established daily routine helps even the most lazy tourists to tear themselves away from the chaise longue and get more vivid impressions from their holidays.
Myth Three: It's Expensive
The cost of a dive safari will be for a traveler below the cost of rest with diving in a Maldivian hotel of a similar category. For a regular holidaymaker, it will be about the same. All the additional pros and cons will be discussed below.
Hotel in the ocean
What is a modern yacht? Typically, this "four-storey" vessel length of 30-39 meters - it's about 11-14 floors of a conventional panel house, so that you can easily imagine yourself $ $.On the lower "floor" the cabins are located .In each there is always an air conditioner with individual control, a bedside table and a locker for storing things, beds and a bathroom, a porthole or even a full window .There are cabins with one double bed, with two single beds or one double and one single bed, which makes it possible to use this cabin both for a couple in love and for two men (not lovers, at least not in each other) or to place there a family with a child .In old versions, a single bed can be placed above the double bed (similar to a bed in a train), but on modern yachts this arrangement is no longer met - all the beds are on the floor .In the bathroom is always available sink, toilet and shower with hot water .Depending on the yacht in the cabins can be a TV and DVD player, minibar, telephone, stereo system, safe, full bathroom and even a massage shower, sauna and whirlpool .
On the second "floor" of the yacht, on the main deck, there is a space for outdoor recreation (at the bow or stern), a kitchen and a wardroom. The wardroom is the main salon of the yacht, where there is a restaurant, a bar and a seating area with sofas and a large LCD TV. Perhaps - also with a library, board games, karaoke, game consoles, internet access, disco equipment.
On the third "yacht floor", the upper deck, as a rule, there are elevated categories of cabins ("deluxes" or "suites"), a spa, a solar deck. The entire fourth "floor" is given to the solar deck, part of which can be protected from the hot rays of the tropical sun. There is usually a jacuzzi. Still on board the yacht can be a sauna and a shop.
Meals on the yacht - Swedish table .Of course, the number of dishes to choose from will be smaller than in the restaurant of the five-star hotel (although it is always sufficient), but you can always ask the cook to cook something specific or just to express wishes on the menu .It even happens that our divers teach local chefs to cook scrambled eggs and borsch, tired of fresh seafood or giving in to nostalgia for their own kitchen .On board there is always a huge branch of bananas, gradually ripening during the cruise, there are biscuits, light snacks and round-the-clock access to tea, coffee and drinking water: this is an integral part of the full board on the yacht..Alcohol is offered for an additional fee, but it often costs less on yachts than in hotels and, in addition, the practice of buying bottles and even pre-ordering the right brands of alcohol in the right amount of $ ±.
By the way, each boat is always followed by two accompanying boats: a small dinghy boat, on which the crew calls into the villages for fresh fish or planting tourists on islands and beaches, and a large boat "doni", where all the diving equipment that lives delivers divers and maskers to the reef and with which it is also convenient to fish .Most of the modern Doni have their own solar deck, shower and toilet, so it serves as a very convenient base for snorkeling over the reefs, while divers make their dives .
The cruise program is
The cruise starts right from the meeting at the airport: guests are met with a sign with the name of the yacht, taken to the boat-donji and in 25 minutes they are already mooring to their floating house for the next week .Settlement, yacht development, check diving for divers, bathing for everyone else, dinner - and during the day the cruise director (usually a yacht dive guide) will hold a briefing, welcoming guests on board and introducing them to the cruise schedule and the course of life on the yacht .By the way, the very accommodation on board already brings a lot of pleasant emotions .On the one hand, at your disposal - all 4 floors of the yacht (except perhaps the cabins of other passengers) .Every day begins with an early cup of tea or coffee and an early morning dive for divers..Around 8:30 a full breakfast is served .During the day, divers are waiting for 2-3 dives ,and all the rest - a full range of entertainment in Maldivian: bathing and sunbathing ,snorkelling ,visiting beaches and islands ,Jacuzzi enjoyment with nature views ,spa treatments ,visiting sauna or sauna ,kayaking (which is often directly on the yacht and is free for guests) ,surfing ,Jet Skiing ,bananas ,water skiing (all motor sports ,as in hotels - for an additional fee) ,beach sports ,Fishing (including gambling sports for large fish) ,sailing catamarans ,game consoles ,training diving for an international certificate and all ,what does the soul want?Any entertainment, even if they are not on the yacht itself, are easily organized from the nearest hotel !In the evening - watching movies, karaoke or disco, dinner and evening rest in any hotel (for an additional fee), enjoying the passionate Maldivian sunsets and the boundless night sky.!Oh no, you have not seen the real starry sky, even if they were in all planetariums of the Earth! Ask the staff to turn off the lights on the upper decks and look around: the bottomless darkness of the night ocean supports the endless dome of the starry sky !Satellites, falling stars, the gentle flow of the Milky Way - the mystery of this sky can be observed for hours !Yes, some yachts have a telescope!
Maldives cruises are very popular among photographers due to frequent changes in the situation and the possibility of filming on uninhabited islands, and if you depart on the dons from the yacht, you will get beautiful pictures of an elegant beauty against the background of the Maldivian sky and islands - the frames worthy of saying with pride: there was! ". By the way, one of the yachts is accompanied by a "personal" uninhabited island and even a gym on board. This is a top-class yacht, of course.
Once a week, as we said above, the participants of the trip are waiting for a visit to the inhabited island: acquaintance with the life of local residents and the purchase of souvenirs, night fishing on a long line with hooks, on which it is so easy to catch fish even to absolutely unsophisticated fishermen, gentle translucent slices of sashimi, Served to guests after the cook masterfully splits a huge freshly caught tuna .By the way, a farewell dinner on the last evening of the cruise depending on the yacht can be even with live music .Also, once a week the team tries to provide guests with a meeting with a whale shark: as a rule, it goes without scuba gear, just with a mask and with a tube - so this event is available to all participants of the cruise .
A special holiday is a night barbecue on an uninhabited island. The team draws up the beach in the spirit of the "last hero": with torches, candles, arches of palm leaves and a giant sand symbol of the Maldives safari - a whale shark. In the program: a dinner of grilled dishes, walks on an uninhabited island under the stars and the moon, perhaps - a national drum-show bodu-beru in the performance of the ship's crew, and, of course, very happy and not sober by the end of the holiday yacht passengers. The
Standard cruise covers 3 atolls: North Male, South Male and Ari. There are seasonal variations, which are always known in advance - the teams of yachts know perfectly which islands are best to go to at the appropriate time of the year. But it is almost impossible to prepare a program "by days" in advance: the exact route is adjusted by the cruise director and the captain of the yacht on the move, depending on the weather and the wishes of the guests.
Diving
Of course, the Maldives - this is diving! Pins of pelagic fish, coral gardens of incredible proportions, sharks, manti and turtles attract divers from all over the planet. For example, on several "manta points" these huge and graceful fish come to regular "maintenance" - cleaning. By the way, they are very friendly and curious: it's worth hiding - and now the ramp is already floating above your head, almost touching your shoulder with the tip of your incredible "wing."
Maldives, due to their location in the open ocean, are rich in packs of ocean fish .This truly dizzying and bright spectacle can be seen on one of my favorite dive sites that are on the list of the best sites in the world - Fish Head .The dive begins with a reef plateau, where the current and strives to tear you from the reef, and the tips of your fingers are white with effort, trying to hold on to shallow ledges in the stones and corals and trying not to hit the black rays of long needles of sea urchins..But there, behind the precipice, flocks of fish of all colors and sizes are maneuvering in the stream of currents .A flock of small fish gleams brightly in silver, a pack of small fish swims slowly and a few tuna sweep through the bullet, snatching out its prey from the shoal .A little to the right a few yellow fish rise, appear, and suddenly disappear fancy fish flutes, and from the depths of the great and leisurely fish napoleon-$ .And all this is poured, lives, interacts with the speed of a lively trail .And you are dumbfounded, wide-open eyes and hiding, contrary to the rules of safe diving, breathing, snatching out new and new episodes of the incredibly rich boiling ocean life .
But the guide is calling down - and the stupefaction is .We break away from the reef and fall along the wall to a small depth of .Under the reef, its inhabitants and small sharks are engaged in their ordinary affairs .Past a flock of fish, and we fall into a real live whirlwind: a flock of small fish moves diagonally down and up, in different directions, enveloping divers dazzling silver .After passing around the reef, we return to the top of the plateau, and the whole group, mesmerized and still, continues to follow the three-dimensional "screen": even underwater photographers freeze with cameras at the ready ...
It's worth noting that strong currents that bring delightful flocks of fish and feed corals can be a challenge for beginner divers - be sure to keep this in mind when preparing for a dive safari.
By the way, an excellent idea will be to complete a weekly cruise for 2-3 days at the hotel .However, then, perhaps, lying on the snow-white sand of the beach, you will be seen with envious eyes passing by graceful yachts .And there, gliding along the glistening gold of the surface of the Indian Ocean, enjoying the sea wind and sipping cocktails, passengers will see an emerald island hotel framed by a snow-white beach, a blue lagoon and the figures of holidaymakers who occupied the sunbeds .And then you will definitely give yourself a promise to return to the Maldives, aboard the yacht, to the endless ocean, to the orange and crimson sunsets, to the sunny beauty of the unique islands - and to the silent night triumph of the universe, when it seems, you can hear the throats of those fallen into the sea stars .
Veronica Birman, CEO of the company "Exotic Time"
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