First off, I'm home. My whirlwind adventure is complete. That's why the updates have fallen off. However, I still owe you some so here we go! So, since I'm now home and can access a few more things... here are some cool underwater photos from Day 1:
If you look closely at the next photo, you can make out the silhouette of a shark!
Your favorite blogger right after seeing the shark!
Well, my second and final day started just like the first. Although a little tougher getting up as I had a pretty fun time at the Diva "disco night" and introduced some of my new Maldivian friends to the vocal stylings of Flo Rida and Taio Cruz! Don't worry, they reciprocated with a great song too. Great time at the Musik bar at the diva!
Anyway, our first dive was at a site called for day 2 was called Sun Beru. It was a great site that had a lot to offer including my very first manta ray underwater. It was a smaller manta, but impressive nonetheless. Here's a good representation of what I saw:
They can get pretty big so it was cool even just seeing a smaller one. For the most part the first dive site had a lot of what I had come to see already. Unfortunately, no whale sharks.
On the way to our second site, Guruwa Corner, we ran into a couple of ships and snorkelers. The crew realized what was happening immediately: A whale shark had been spotted! We quickly threw on our fins, masks and snorkels and jumped right in. There I was, finally, seeing my first whale shark. It was a "baby" so it was only 10-15 feet long! One of my fellow divers had a great underwater video camera so I hope to see more soon. Well, those buggers can move quite fast and before you know it, the shark has descended beyond our view. Wow. I was literally 10 feet away on the surface. Sweet. We all got in the boat and started on towards our next site. As I stated previously, they are there but it is definitely quite random to run into one. So I felt very privileged, on my last day of diving, to see one. As I mentioned, the diver with the camera, well it just so happened he had been there for over a week and that was his first sighting. I was pretty lucky. But the luck didn't stop there.
Yes, once again we see a familiar site. Boats and snorkelers in the water! ANOTHER WHALE SHARK! Same story... quick grab our snorkel gear and into the water. This time, I jump in and the shark is coming right my way. So I just tread water, keep my eyes on the prize, and literally float there as it swam right below me. Here's the best picture I could find to give you my experience:
Just imagine it was a little farther underwater and there you have it. I will definitely try to post some of the videos if and when I get them from my fellow diving buddy. Whew. 2 whale sharks my last day. Can you believe it?
Well, needless to say my 2nd dive at Guruwa Corner was definitely great and we saw a lot, but it was tough coming down off of the high I had with the whale sharks. That said my final dive of my Maldives experience was another one for the record books. A shallower dive, the marine life around the site was phenomenal. The site, named Bodu Giri, was very close to the resort. It was attached to the "house reef" where they would take snorkelers every day. It was great. Thousands of fish and great sunlight provided excellent visibility. Several run-ins with larger turtles provided even more excitement! Finally, as we are ending the dive I see one more cool species: the Eagle Ray. Here's a picture:
Definitely can tell an Eagle Ray by the very distinct "snout" they have. Wow. What a day to have for my last and final diving day in the Maldives. So much more to tell but I think I've overstepped common blog post lengths! If you're still interested, I have a few more posts planned including my final day at the Diva Maldives with some great pictures and my brief but memorable night in Paris. Stay tuned!
~ Rich
Well, my second and final day started just like the first. Although a little tougher getting up as I had a pretty fun time at the Diva "disco night" and introduced some of my new Maldivian friends to the vocal stylings of Flo Rida and Taio Cruz! Don't worry, they reciprocated with a great song too. Great time at the Musik bar at the diva!
Anyway, our first dive was at a site called for day 2 was called Sun Beru. It was a great site that had a lot to offer including my very first manta ray underwater. It was a smaller manta, but impressive nonetheless. Here's a good representation of what I saw:
On the way to our second site, Guruwa Corner, we ran into a couple of ships and snorkelers. The crew realized what was happening immediately: A whale shark had been spotted! We quickly threw on our fins, masks and snorkels and jumped right in. There I was, finally, seeing my first whale shark. It was a "baby" so it was only 10-15 feet long! One of my fellow divers had a great underwater video camera so I hope to see more soon. Well, those buggers can move quite fast and before you know it, the shark has descended beyond our view. Wow. I was literally 10 feet away on the surface. Sweet. We all got in the boat and started on towards our next site. As I stated previously, they are there but it is definitely quite random to run into one. So I felt very privileged, on my last day of diving, to see one. As I mentioned, the diver with the camera, well it just so happened he had been there for over a week and that was his first sighting. I was pretty lucky. But the luck didn't stop there.
Yes, once again we see a familiar site. Boats and snorkelers in the water! ANOTHER WHALE SHARK! Same story... quick grab our snorkel gear and into the water. This time, I jump in and the shark is coming right my way. So I just tread water, keep my eyes on the prize, and literally float there as it swam right below me. Here's the best picture I could find to give you my experience:
Well, needless to say my 2nd dive at Guruwa Corner was definitely great and we saw a lot, but it was tough coming down off of the high I had with the whale sharks. That said my final dive of my Maldives experience was another one for the record books. A shallower dive, the marine life around the site was phenomenal. The site, named Bodu Giri, was very close to the resort. It was attached to the "house reef" where they would take snorkelers every day. It was great. Thousands of fish and great sunlight provided excellent visibility. Several run-ins with larger turtles provided even more excitement! Finally, as we are ending the dive I see one more cool species: the Eagle Ray. Here's a picture:
~ Rich
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