MV Orion Liveaboard Trip, October 5-12 2009
As part of our service as travel agents, we always travel on each of the liveaboards that we promote on Maldives Dive Travel to ensure that the service advertised matches up to the service provided on board. In October, I had the chance to sample a holiday on the MV Orion.
MV Orion Liveaboard
View of MV Orion from Diving Dhoni
MV Orion Liveaboard Information
The MV Orion is a brand new liveaboard boat that was constructed in 2009 and only recently began offering scuba diving holidays in the Maldives. There are 11 guest cabins altogether, including two extra-luxurious suites. All of the rooms are fantastic and are equipped with all the comforts and conveniences you could hope to imagine.
MV Orion Cabin
MV Orion Crew Information
There are 14 crew members working on MV Orion, including a Thai chef named Rath and the spa-operator, Titi, who also helped with serving meals on board. Titi does amazing massages out on the deck, which is perfect between dives or on a long journey. She has the strongest fingers you will ever find in the world, and a 90-minute massage will take you to heaven and back, all for only USD $60. Of the crew members, four are licensed captains, who can all operate this super-cruiser, and there are two dive guides, Alex and Hassan. Between them, Alex and Hassan have around 10,000 dives in the Maldives alone, and are both qualified PADI-instructors. Alex’s mother was also on board throughout the cruise. She is working on the boat as part of the crew training process and to ensure good guest relations. She is from the UK and has lived all over the world and her stories added a lot of character to the MV Orion experience.
MV Orion Main Jacuzzi
Private Jacuzzi on MV Orion Liveaboard
MV Orion Guests
Maximum capacity on the MV Orion is 20 guests; during our cruise there were just 16 guests, including people from the USA, China, Holland, Austria, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and UK. The guests were a variety of people, from scuba divers enjoying the diving in the Maldives to underwater videographers, journalists and travel writers.
MV Orion Itinerary Information
On the first day aboard the MV Orion, there was no diving. Instead we spent the day getting comfortable on board and getting to know the other guests. On the first evening, once all the guests had arrived on the boat, we were given a briefing about everything: scuba diving safety, boat rules, diving rules, meal times, emergency practices and security features of the MV Orion. During the briefing we were also introduced to the MV Orion Crew.
Divers get ready for underwater adventure on MV Orion
Scuba divers in the Maldives get ready for their next dive from the Orion
View of the MV Orion from the Diving Dhoni
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 6, 2009.
Our first dive was at Paradise Manta Point in the North Male Atoll. It was a nice introductory dive because the current was gentle, but the visibility was unfortunately not that great. However, we saw a stingray, sea turtle and napoleon wrasse. We also met up with a huge manta ray that led us over to the cleaning station at this dive site and we were able hang out with it for a while. After this dive, we began the trip to the Baa Atoll, ready to go to Hanifaru. This is a long trip – around eight hours – but it is a good time to relax on the ship and take in the scenery of the Maldives. By the time we arrive at Hanifaru it was dark, so we didn’t do any more diving that day.
Diving with Manta Ray at Hanifaru
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 7, 2009.
Having arrived at Hanifaru last night, we only had to take a small trip from the MV Orion in the comfortable dive Dhoni to the dive site. While travelling there, we saw a baby turtle on the surface, which was trapped in a plastic bag. Luckily, we were able to take her on board, free her from the plastic and return this sweet animal to the Indian Ocean. Diving at Hanifaru (also known as Hani Faru), we were able to see many manta rays. This dive site was recently featured by National Geographic in a piece called “Feeding Frenzy”, as it is a well-known site where sometimes you can see hundreds of manta rays and many whale sharks all gathered around this site, feeding like crazy. It was well worth the long trip out here, that’s for sure. We also dived at Don Fanuh Thila and Darawandu Kandu, where we saw some grey reef sharks, oriental sweetlips, humphead wrasse, jackfish and tuna. It was quite a day’s scuba diving.
Removing Baby Turtle from Plastic Bag
Divers save the baby turtle and return to the ocean!
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 8, 2009.
After our day at Hanifaru in the Baa Atoll, the MV Orion travelled by night to Rasdhoo Atoll. At 6 a.m., we took our first Rashsoo Atoll dive at the Rasdhoo Kandu dive site, where we saw a number of reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, napoleon wrasse, barracuda and trevallies. We also saw a group of 12 hammerhead sharks and right at the end of the dive, we came across a group of manta rays. This was one of the most action-packed dives of the whole trip. Later on, after travelling to the Ari Atoll, MV Orion stopped at Gangehi Beru Faru in the Ari Atoll. We spent a while looking for whale sharks on the surface, but unfortunately, we were unlucky in our quest. After spending a little longer looking for whale sharks, since this area is renowned for whale shark encounters, we moved on to our next dive site, Gangehi Kandu, which provided us with an excellent long drift dive thanks to the strong incoming current. At Gangehi Kandu, we came across several grey reef sharks, a stingray, and a zebra shark, which is sometimes known as a leopard shark. This day was a busy diving day, as we actually made four dives, the last of which was the always-sensational Maaya Thila night dive, during which we saw sharks hunting, moray eels out and about, swimming away from their usual hiding places and several barracudas feeding. Maaya Thila is well-known in the Maldives as one of the best night diving sites, and today’s experience was did not disappoint.
Underwater Photographers on the MV Orion
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 9, 2009.
Taking advantage of still being at Maaya Thila, we dived once again here this morning. Maaya Thila is a totally different experience by day than it is by night and, although you see some of the same creatures, their behavior differs enormously from day to night. We saw grey reef sharks again today, but they were not hunting this time. We also saw some moray eels, but they were hidden in their crevices again, as you would expect during a daytime dive. Later in the day, we went over to Fish Head dive site, where we saw some more grey reef sharks, some napoleon wrasse, some sea turtles and a school of giant trevallies. Owing to the popularity the night before, the guests on board MV Orion all asked to do another night dive at Maaya Thila, which we did. I have to say, that after all my diving around the world, the Maaya Thila night dive is certainly one of my favourite dives and is also one of the more consistent dive sites. While nothing is guaranteed underwater, chances of having a great dive at Maaya Thila are always high.
Grey Reef Sharks at Maaya Thila
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 10, 2009.
Our first dive today was at Makaru Thila in the North Ari Atoll. It was a nice quiet dive with a few grey reef shark sightings, some white tip reef sharks and other large, pelagic species, including a huge school of tuna. We then traveled back across the channel to the South Male Atoll and dived at anchored in front of a secluded, uninhabited island, which would play host to our beach barbecue later that evening. Before that, we traveled by Dhoni to Guraidhoo South, also known as Guraidhoo Corner, where we had one of the toughest dives of the trip, because of the strong incoming currents. Even though it was tough, we saw many big fish, an eagle ray and some more grey reef sharks. Later that evening, we enjoyed an amazing beach barbecue on the island – this is a great place for the beach barbecue because the cove is sheltered, making it a great place to anchor for the night. The food served at the barbecue was excellent and we had a great time hanging out with the other divers and guests.
Scuba Diving with Manta Rays in the Maldives
MV Orion Scuba Diving, October 11, 2009.
Today, MV Orion began to head back to Male, but we stopped for a dive at Kuda Giri. This was very popular with all the photographers who were delighted with all the underwater subjects: At Kuda Giri, there is a wreck covered with corals and sponges and a nice Giri next to it, with some fantastic caves you can swim through. We completed our diving for the week at Paradise Manta Point, the same place we had begun, where we saw a massive group of dancing manta rays at the cleaning station.
For more information about my trip on MV Orion, please feel free to contact me, Gundi, through the Contact Us section of Maldives Dive Travel.
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