I am so excited! Checking off one of my dive destinations wish list! I have heard wonderful things about scuba diving in the Maldives. Now I get to experience it! I especially feel I need to go before the islands sink into the Indian Ocean due to global warming.
The Maldives comprises of 26 natural atolls consisting of dual island chains and over a thousand islands. Less than 300 of the islands are inhabited. It is located to the southeast of the southern tip of India and covers a land area of no less than 298 km2. All the islands are surrounded by crystal clear lagoons of blue hues and protected by a reef that inhabits an abundance of underwater life. It is a diver’s dream with the presence of whale sharks, manta rays, eagle rays, reef sharks, hammerhead sharks, and moray eels. Some unique dives sites they are at the Thila and Kandu. A Thila is an underwater island and Kandu are the diving spots around the border of the atoll. The Thila that are within a Kandu are usually the diving spots with the strongest currents but also the most diverse sea life. The Kandu are the places where when the tides changes, the water flows in and out of the atoll. Those are the best places to do drift dives and where you can see large pelagic fish.
I have been preparing as I usually do for a dive trip: checking my dive camera, dive watch/computer, packing my dive logs, fins and booties, wetsuit, snorkel and mask, diving hat and sweatshirt for the boat ride, and reef-safe sunscreen. I use blue lizard sunscreen. I like that the bottle turns blue when it is in the harmful UV rays to remind you to put some protection on. It goes on smoothly, not greasy or rough like other reef-safe sunscreens.
I have been reading about tips on money in the Maldives. My hotel wants me to pay in cash. They said the island does not have any ATMs. I am not sure how much places will take credit cards either, but credit card payment fee may be applied to the total value of your bill and can be up to 5% extra. I read that “The banks in the Maldives are very particular about the condition of bank notes and will refuse deposits of old style US$, even though still an active currency, damaged notes, badly creased, well-worn, or defaced notes will also be rejected.” I have a money belt to slip in my pants and a neck wallet. I do not plan to spend much more than what is included in my hotel, except extra dives. I do not want to pick up souvenirs.
I will be staying at the South Ari Dive Hotel on Dhangethi of the Alif Dhaal Atoll. It includes all meals and two dives a day. I might want to do some Nitrox enriched dives or some night dives, but I will wait until I get there to see what I want to do. I need to see the depths and ask around to see if the night dives are worth the extra money. I hope to dive in the morning and read a book on the beach in the afternoon. I really, really, truly hope to see whale sharks, but I do not think this is high season for them. Maybe I will try to find some plankton scented candles to light on the beach to attract them.
So I have a 12 hour flight to Doha, Qatar. Then little less than five hour flight to Maldives. Packed melatonin, downloaded last season of Man in the High Castle, and have a book ready for the flights! See ya in paradise!
I am a NICU nurse based in the United States and a world traveler when not working. I used to work "travel nurse" contracts, which meant working in a different hospitals around the country for 8 to 13 week contracts. In between those contracts, I tried to explore new countries. I have been based in the same location for the last five years while I pursued my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree, which I finally achieved in May 2019. Now my feet and backpack are itching to become nomadic again and return to adventuring the world.
My first passport was obtained in 2004. At the time, I was a nurse for only a few years and felt I could not afford travel. I had a lot of debt from being a irresponsible twenty-something that put a lot of charges on credit card. I kept thinking "I will wait until my debts are paid off and then I will travel." I already experienced some foreign voyages with the Navy in the late 1990s and got to see some of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Those exploits gave me a taste for new lands.
Then in 2004, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was given 6 months to live and the doctors predicted right; he died 6 months after the diagnose. I spent those 6 months getting to know more about my dad than I ever knew in my whole life. (He was not a sociable or lovable father.) As the only nurse in the family, it was my job to go to all his appointments. I sat with him in the hospital when he recovered from surgeries. I had to empty his drainage system in my sister's home after he had a lung removed. This gave us time to get to know each other. And I will always remember the discussion we had when he told me he worked his whole life just to retire comfortably and now he will not get that chance. He realized he missed out on a lot of opportunities. He told me not to wait for the things I wanted; not to wait until I was old to relax. He told me if I wanted to travel, I should go get a passport and go somewhere. Debts will always be there but chances won't.
The next week, I applied for my passport. My first trip was to London and Paris. I stayed with people I met online to save money. It was the beginning of my lessons in traveling on a budget. I bought my dad some mints in London to try to encourage him to quit smoking. (He never did quit but just hid it from me.) He died a month after my trip.
I met guy on that trip to London, who I began communicating with daily via instant messenger. Few months later, he came to visit me. We began a relationship and it began many trips to London for me. I was able to find flights for $400 back then. He and I visited Ireland for my 30th birthday and spent a Valentines weekend in Paris. Our relationship did not last, but my wanderlust did.
A year later, I got my first travel nurse contract. Without having to pay rent (the company gave me free housing) nor utilities, I was able to start paying off my debts. I received money after my dad died that I used to buy a Saturn Vue without a loan. This small SUV helped me get from assignment to assignment. Not having a car payment was a great help to paying off debts and saving money. I extended my 1st travel nurse contract and after 6 months, I was able to afford a two week vacation to Egypt. I added in a layover in Germany. Then back to the US for another contract that lasted 9 months, then I went to New Zealand and Australia for two months. For 9 years, I worked a two to six months in a few states and then went overseas for a few weeks to months. I parked my Vue at my mom's for most of the trips and kept my stuff stored in her attic.
In 2014, I decided I wanted to settle down. I was tired of living out of bags and I missed some of the things I kept in my mom's attic. I bought a lot of souvenirs while I traveled that went right up to her attic. I wanted a home to display all my "treasures". I also wanted to go back to school to get my BSN. (In the USA, registered nurses need to have at least a diploma in nursing or associates in nursing degree, but it is getting harder to be hired without a BSN.) I found a job that reimbursed me for most of my RN-BSN program. Now I feel ready to use this degree to find a job overseas or to secure more contracts in the USA.
So please enjoy my stories of my travels. Please comment. And don't wait to enjoy life!
Hi Kerri,
Nice introduction – safe travels.
The hotel is correct Dhangethi does not have an ATM, for locals there will be a local store that acts as Bank if Maldives ‘broker’ but unless you have a BML card it’s not of value for tourists.
It’s unusual for guesthouses not to have credit/debit card POS facilities to be honest, especially if it’s also a dive base also, so we gave them a call to check and they can accept payment by credit/debit card. In fact we can’t think of a registered property that we have been to recently where cards are not accepted.
Certainly in small local cafes and some convenience stores card payment may not be accepted but this is less and less than 10 years ago.
Have a great trip and if you have time whilst in the capital join us on a Male City Walking tour 🙂
Best Wishes
Kerri Kat's Adventures and Travels 
Hi Kerri,
Nice introduction – safe travels.
The hotel is correct Dhangethi does not have an ATM, for locals there will be a local store that acts as Bank if Maldives ‘broker’ but unless you have a BML card it’s not of value for tourists.
It’s unusual for guesthouses not to have credit/debit card POS facilities to be honest, especially if it’s also a dive base also, so we gave them a call to check and they can accept payment by credit/debit card. In fact we can’t think of a registered property that we have been to recently where cards are not accepted.
Certainly in small local cafes and some convenience stores card payment may not be accepted but this is less and less than 10 years ago.
Have a great trip and if you have time whilst in the capital join us on a Male City Walking tour 🙂
Best Wishes