Romantic Pelagics Maldives Liveaboard
Special last minute discount! 40% off! Only $1785 US!! When we think of Valentines week in the Maldives, instantly we picture tiny paradise islands with palm fringed sparkling white beaches strewn across turquoise lagoons and clear warm waters. Coral reefs teeming with beautifully colored fish and reef mantas dancing about. Romance in the air. Maybe even a candlelight dinner on one of these beautiful beaches. But what if I told you that the Maldives holds a secret. An incredible place known by locals for having the best diving in these beautiful atolls – if not some of the best in the world. A unique area hidden far south of the massive tourist resorts in the northern & central atolls. An area where sightings of some of the oceans mightiest pelagics are common place – tiger sharks, thresher sharks, giant oceanic mantas, whale sharks, and more. An area so unique you can only reach it by liveaboard during a special few weeks each year when the conditions are just right. Welcome to the southern hemisphere of the Maldives.
Join Team Ninja February 16-23, 2020 as we ditch the roses and heart shaped boxes of chocolate for an alternative to Valentines exploring the Southern Hemisphere of the Maldives on this very special trip. Bring your lover or come fall in love with all the beautiful & romantic pelagics that call this area home. Your ninja match makers are ready to set you up on one of the best dates of your life with lots of sharks and mantas that are single and ready to mingle!
This is a limited offer trip with only 22 spaces 2 spaces available. We recommend that you act fast as this trip will sell out quick. Scroll down for more details on the trip, then register online now to secure your space. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] or +1-973-619-9007 with any questions or to reserve your space today.
The Ship
For this extraordinary experience we have chartered the Maldives Aggressor II. She is a gorgeous dive yacht and one of the newest additions to the Aggressor fleet, making her first trip in January 2019. The Maldives Aggressor II has been built and powered for comfort, safety and stability. She has a beautiful modern design standing at 42 meters (135 ft) long, and comfortably holding 22 divers as well as a crew of 16. Yes, that is correct. There is almost 1 crew member for every guest onboard. We recently were able to experience it first hand, and these ninjas are incredible (read about it here). Her salon and dining area is one of the largest we’ve ever seen with tons of space to stretch out & relax between dives or enjoy meals. There are big comfy sofas, computer workstations (Mac & PC), multiple flat screen TVs, WiFi access, and even an egg making station during breakfast where one of the chefs personally prepares your eggs to order. She has multiple outdoor areas to relax as you take in the sun & sea breeze with chaise lounges and deck chairs, as well as a 6 person hot tub. The state rooms are some of the nicest we’ve seen with tons of space, side-by-side hotel style bed layouts, ample storage, individual climate control, a TV monitor with media player, as well as private ensuite bathrooms. The rooms come in multiple varieties with either a queen bed or 2 single beds that can also be put together to create a king. Towards the bow she offers a large suite for couples with big panoramic windows, a sofa, and tons of room to make the trip extra special.
But this is the Maldives, we don’t dive from the yacht, we set up our gear once on the dhoni and dive from there all week. If you’re not familiar with diving from a dhoni, think of it as a dive skiff on steroids. The Maldives Aggressor II dhoni though, is unlike anything in the entire area. Not only is she the only steel dhoni in the Maldives, she is massive. We are talking 18 meters (60 ft) long with space to comfortably accommodate more divers than the yacht actually carries, hot showers, a large camera table, spacious dive stations with storage for all your extra bits, huge sundeck with lounge chairs, big freshwater rinse tanks for camera gear, 4 compressors, and the list goes on and on. These 2 ships are impressive and rank among some of the best ships we’ve ever been on.
The Itinerary
This is Dive Ninjas, so you know this isn’t going to be your run of the mill Maldives trip. Our special itinerary starts south of the equator and visits the southernmost atolls to get you the best chances for seeing big stuff. We’ll be spending time exploring Laamu, Huvadhoo, Addu, and the infamous Fuvamullah atolls. Expect lots of pelagic fauna, schools of reef sharks, whale sharks, oceanic mantas, tiger sharks and hammerheads. Plus leopard sharks, nurse sharks, reef mantas, turtles, big barracudas, tunas, eagle rays and napoleons. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a chance we might spot thresher sharks and maybe even Mola Mola.
The Southern Hemisphere atolls consist of mainly channel dives in strong currents. So because of this we recommend guests be at least Advanced Open Water (or other agency equivalent) with 50+ dives under their belt for the best experience. Being comfortable diving in currents is definitely a bonus. Novice divers can still enjoy some of the less challenging sites but for the full experience you’ll want to be at these recommendations or more experienced. Negative entries might be used at some dive sites and a reef hook is mandatory (available onboard, if you need one). With that being said, the cruise director will thoroughly brief every dive site and the ships 4 guides will be in the water to make sure everyone is safe and having a great time. If you are unsure or have any questions, please feel free to give us a shout and one of our highly qualified ninja instructor staff will gladly chat through it with you.
What’s The Cost?
Special last minute 40% discount! Only $1785 USD! 2 Spaces available!
The Maldives Aggressor II offers 3 different room options. A standard stateroom is $2,975 USD (2 last minute spots!) , a deluxe stateroom is $3,115 USD (SOLD OUT), and the suite is $3,745 USD (SOLD OUT) All prices are per person and on shared double occupancy basis. If you are traveling solo, no problem! We will match you with another solo ninja guest of the same gender. Or if you prefer your own private room a single supplement upgrade is also available for an additional fee.
What’s Included
The trip price includes all diving & activities, tanks, weights, presentations throughout the week, transfers from the local airport to / from the ship, 7 nights accommodation on a shared double stateroom basis, 4 delicious meals per day including an elegant meal at dinner with tableside service plus snacks, fresh juices, soft drinks, tea, coffee, local beer & wine*, fresh towels in your stateroom as needed, as well as fresh towels on the dhoni for drying off between dives.
What’s Not Included
The price does not include flights, port & park fee of $290 USD (includes GREEN tax & other taxes), unlimited Nitrox upgrade ($100 per person – optional, but highly recommended), rental equipment, Crew Gratuity (10%-15% of trip price is customary but is at your discretion), or credit card processing fees. These extras and fees can be paid in advance or on the ship.
*A note on alcohol in the Maldives – Guests are not permitted to bring alcohol into the country from other places. This includes duty free purchases. When arriving at the airport your bags will go through a security checkpoint and any alcohol found will be confiscated.
Flights & Pre-Trip Activities Information
This trip departs and returns from different airports to allow us the best use of our time diving this amazing area. Both airports are serviced daily with domestic flights from Male International airport. We embark from Gan International Airport (GAN) and disembark from Gaafu Alifu Atoll – Kooddoo Airport (GKK). We recommend arriving in Male a day early to give you some time to relax and a little padding in case of any travel delays. Easy flights to Male can be found from many international airports in the US, Canada, and Europe as well as many other areas. From the US and Europe flights are very affordable and usually include a layover in Dubai, Doha, or east Asia. Some airlines to check out are Emirates (our personal favorite), Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific, but there are numerous others.
And of course, in proper Dive Ninja style we have something very special to add to your trip to the Indian Ocean. Aggressor has recently opened an awesome safari lodge in Sri Lanka that offers amazing 5 & 7 day add-on packages to trips in the Maldives. We will be holding a Sri Lanka surface interval before The Maldives. Click here for the full info. We recently spent 5 days here and it was incredible! Elephants, monkeys, ancient temples, and so much more. Check out our recent article by ninja guest, Sze Wei, on her firsthand experience at the Aggressor Safari Lodge here. Interested in adding this to your Maldives expedition? Give us a shout and we can set it up for you. The package can be added on before or after the trip, but we recommend adding it before as the flights tend to be a little cheaper.
Watch: Welcome to the Maldives
By Aggressor Liveaboards
Expedition Quick Facts:
Ship: Maldives Aggressor II
Board: February 16, 2020 at 3.30pm
Disembark: February 23, 2020 at 8.30am
Duration: 8 Days, 7 nights
Dive Days: 6 days, +/- 20 dives
Embark: Gan International Airport (GAN) Maldives
Disembark: Gaafu Alifu Atoll – Kooddoo Airport (GKK)
Trip Cost: $2975.00 – $3745.00 USD
Min Deposit to Reserve: 20%
Watch: Fuvamulah Tiger Sharks
By Scuba TV