It seems like 2023 is our year to break out of our regular and comfortable travel experiences. Not only were we able to visit the beautiful Country of Africa (South Africa; Johannesburg, Cape Town, Franschhoek, and Hoedspruit – Thanks Live Life Safaris!) but we ALSO just returned from an amazing Maldives Liveaboard with Mujavaz Scuba & Travel!

We are absolutely Seizing LIFE this year.

I’ll have to do a separate post about Africa as this would take you probably an hour to read if I pushed both in here.

Let’s talk about the Maldives for a hot minute – The first image that I’m betting pops into your head are Over Water Bungalows. You know… the $5000.00/day stay that just drips in the luxury of crystal blue waters and your own pool off your deck over the ocean. Spoiler Alert – you don’t have to fly 16+ hours to get all that (selfless plug – Sandals Resorts has those with direct flights and you get every restaurant, beverage, transfers, butlers, room service, the WHOLE kit & caboodle for the same price or less!) – Did you know you still have to pay for meals in a bunglaow in the Maldives? Also, fun fact – most of the time, the island the resorts are on are OWNED by the Resort!

Buuuuttttt…. This was NOT that trip.

THIS trip, is what is called a Liveaboard. That means we join about 18 other people on a 124 ft luxury yacht. I hope you’re now imagining a Below Deck type of montage.

Because that’s EXACTLY how it felt!

While my husband and I arrived a few days earlier than some of the group – we had 2 nights to enjoy on our host & friend’s home island of Guraidhoo. That meant we arrived at Velana International Airport in the capital island of Male, and planned to catch a ferry for $30pp which should have taken about 30 minutes by boat.

Unfortunately, because our flight arrived at 3:27p and we still had to make our way through immigration, baggage claim, and customs – the last ferry to Guraidhoo departed at 4pm. Luckily Mujey met us at the airport and coordinated an alternate ferry to Maafushi Island for the same price, and because he knows EVERYBODY, had a cousin pick us up in a speedboat to head home for the next 2 nights.

My husband and I absolutely LOVED Guraidhoo. It’s a small island with sandy streets and 2 automobiles…. Ambulances actually. The rest of the vehicles are electric scooters and bikes so there’s really no noise pollution or gas smell. Most people walk everywhere and we got so comfortable walking around we actually ended up doing it barefoot a few times (because of rain puddles).

Since our arrival evening transfers took a bit longer than expected thanks to a boat motor moving a little slower than usual, we headed straight to our hotel and crashed.

A 12 hour flight from JFK-DOHA, a layover, and then a 4 hour flight DOHA-Male is a long day with a 9 hour ahead time difference. Our travel also included a 6 hour drive from Charlotte, NC to Northern Virginia to drop the dog off with my sister, and an evening flight from DCA-JFK to overnight ahead of our jump across the pond. Totaling 4 actual days of travel – and that’s just to get there, we still had to come back after 10 days. That might belong in this trip’s liveaboard “cons” list if we’re comparing it to travel from the East Coast to the Caribbean.

It had been over 12 months since my husband’s last dive (I know, I’m the worst, I haven’t taken him on resort… but in my defense… he used most of his vacation for our honeymoon in May). So we joined the next morning’s dive through the local dive shop on Guraidhoo and met some of our future liveaboard passengers as well!

I did try my full face OceanReef mask on this dive – but I’m still not as comfortable as I’d like to be with it and equalizing, especially not on a deep dive so I swapped to my regular mask and backup for the rest of the dives.

Important things we needed to know ahead of arrival in a new country were the island restrictions, expectations, and rules. Because the Maldives are an Islamic country I wanted to ensure I was respectful of their cultures and traditions which affected what kind of clothing I packed and meant we got used to hearing the call to prayer 5 times a day (our hotel was also right behind the mosque). That also meant I had to do a little shopping as my knees were uncovered in my dresses, and I made sure I wore t-shirts to keep my shoulders covered.

Our host ensured we had a memorable time on his home island and that included a special supper for us and our liveaboard buddies followed by an authentic Maldivian drum and dance performance. It was certainly a core memory created! I also did a little *more* local shopping and picked up a beautiful whale shark pendant, positive manifestation that we might actually see a real one on this trip!

Our liveaboard experience was finally here! Our group packed up and boarded the private boat transfer back to Male to meet the rest of our 19 person group that we’d be living with for the next 10 days. (tack on another $30pp for that transfer)

We were sad to leave our new friends at Manta Divers but excited to see what else the rest of this archipelago of 26 natural atolls had in store for us.

Our “transfer” to the liveaboard was actually the boat we’d be diving off of the rest of our trip. A Dhoney? Dohny? Doney? I never did figure out how to spell it…. About a 200 sq. ft. boat space loaded up with our luggage. The boat included the modern amenities expected for a dive trip and compressors on board (air & nitrox) for easy tank fills along the way.

With all the divers accounted for – we headed out and around the airport into the harbor to meet Carpe Vita and her crew. For this trip, Mujavaz Scuba & Travel had booked space for 14 divers, 2 divers came from the UK and booked on their own, and another 3 came from Germany booking on their own. We all got along well though! With that many people there is sure to be some scuffles – but for the most part I thought we all got along well, language barriers and all.

We were greeted by Captain “Adam”, and the boat crew and then escorted to the main salon lounge for medical questionnaire paperwork, liability waivers, showing our certification cards, and confirming our last logged dive dates. We were also introduced to our dive guide team and had a brief boat orientation to explain what to expect on this trip.

Our schedule for the next 10 days would include:

6am wake up knock on our door

6:30am Dive Briefing in the salon & head to the dive boat

6:45a(ish)-8:30(ish) Morning Dive 1

8:30(ish) Breakfast – indicated by a ringing bell

10:30a Dive Briefing #2 & head to dive boat (bell)

10:45a-12:30p Morning Dive 2

12:45p Lunch bell

3pm Dive Briefing #3 & head to dive boat (bell)

3:15p-5p(ish) Dive #3

7p Dinner Bell

This would be the schedule or variation of such depending on sail time to each of the atolls and dive sites we had planned, We also had 2 night dives for this trip, one was a Manta dive where we knelt on the sea floor just behind the boat, and the other was a night shark dive (again kneeling). You got used to hearing that bell ringing and even now that the trip is over, my ears are still ringing! You could choose to skip dives as well and sleep in or hang out on the boat. But we kept a pretty strict schedule!

This liveaboard included 10 staterooms that could be configured for 1-3 guests per room dependent on the need. Our group had a few single divers which meant they were partnered up as roommates to share a room and bathroom, unless they chose to pay the single supplement for their own room. For this sail, the boat had 19 guests on board with ages ranging from early 30s to late 70s.

My husband and I are spoiled and were booked into one of the VIP suites on the top deck, but that also meant any ocean swells were felt harder by us than the staterooms on the lower levels.

There was a chef on board to create all our buffet meals (differing menus each night), room staff for cleaning & turndown service, and all our dive gear remained on the dive boat the entire time. I really loved the convenience of the crates we had for our dive gear – nothing special, just large plastic milk crates. If you brought your own gear, it was delivered to the dive boat/ if you rented from the liveaboard they would help you get it onto the dive boat. Then you selected your tank and set up your gear one time, this became your “spot” on the dive boat for the rest of the trip. Your BCD remained on that tank for the entirety of the trip, and the rest of your gear (fins, mask, booties, etc.) was in your crate under the bench seating. You could choose to leave your wetsuit hanging on the boat as well! But, you know me and my favorite dive brand suits…. I packed 6 different dive-outfits for this trip. (Hey Spacefish Army ❤ )

Keep in mind – because you’re on a yacht, your dining is all at the same table with the same group of people for the next 10 days. The food I will say, was delicious. We enjoyed everything from fresh pastries, to custom omelets, to juicy tuna steaks, and fresh sashimi… And everything in between! Thankfully we all had the same mindset for meals – nobody kept the same seat, we all kept rotating and connecting with each other.

With all our dive gear remaining on the dive boat, that meant the only thing you needed to carry with you each dive would be your camera equipment, water bottle (reusable, and provided by the boat), and your towel (also provided by the boat). There were also fresh water rinse tanks for cameras and dive computers, along with fresh water shower sprayers (3) to rinse after the dives. The boat and dive team also helped you get between those boats via ladder and handing your stuff back and forth. Thankfully nobody dropped anything into the abyss while crossing over!

For the down time between meals and dives, you were on your own for entertainment. Most of the time for me, that meant reading or napping on the top sundeck if the weather was nice, or clinging to the bed and hoping I wasn’t going to be thrown off of it attempting to nap on the first day of sailing.

We had some rough weather that first 8 hour sail day. A lot of our boatmates really felt the motion of the ocean – and not in the good way. Thankfully we got it out of the way at the beginning of our trip. I had visited my doctor ahead of travel for prescription seasickness medication which helped, plus all the over the counter options and ginger chews…. I read a ton of prep articles for this liveaboard and asked our PADI team for advice of what was a definite need on board. I have control issues!

The amazing thing about a liveaboard is it’s convenience and accessibility to dive sites you may not get from a resort experience.

Because you’re already on a ship in the middle of the ocean, you have the opportunity of visiting sites that are less accessible to resort divers because of the sailing time. Most of our sailing time on the dive boat was 10 minutes or less to the dive site from our liveaboard. That meant more time in the water, less travel time.

This also means you have the opportunity to see different sea life than you might from a resort because not all sea life hangs out on the reef directly next to your resort – especially if the resort island doesn’t have their own “house reef”.

I absolutely loved the way every Dive Briefing was thoroughly detailed of that dive sites plan. You learned the name, the history of the site, what kid of dive it would be (most were drift dives for us – meaning the boat dropped us off in one spot, and picked us up in another), what you could expect to see and where we would start based on the current at the site and maximum depths. You then were told which group was going first (A, B, C) and onto the dive boat you loaded. (Your group was assigned on day 1 and you remained with them the entire time)

I also loved that the dive team on the boat would check the current at each site and give you that information before you were fully suited up – that meant if there was stronger/weaker current, you could choose to adjust your weights and they’d tell you which shoulder to keep to the reef so you were headed the right way. We of course stayed as a group which is how I like to do my dives – I’m still not as confident in reading a compass as I should be – but hey, every day is a school day!

I will say our last dive day we all just had to laugh when the dive guide came up and said “slight to medium current” and when we got down there it was all we could do to kick in one direction to stay in the same spot. We all just ended up making sure our buoyancy was correct and that we didn’t kick any coral as we were pushed the length of the wall. If you wanted to stop – you’d better be sure you had your reef hook ready and had a spot picked out! It was a lot of “look at that! …. there it gooooooooes!”

One of the experiences that took me a minute to wrap my head around was that if one diver was low on air, they’d indicate it to the dive leader (as normal) and the dive leader would pair them with their buddy or take them up to end that divers dive – but the rest of the group would remain on the dive and just be adopted by another group. I guess that’s another plus of the separate dive boat! The captain knows where the divers should end (and he’s watching bubbles) so they can jump to each group for pickups. This happened while my husband was still using a small tank, we upgraded him to a larger tank after day 2 ;). It had been a while since I’d deployed a DSMB so the dive instructor did it for me the first time, and I was able to deploy it the 2nd time. The fact that the dives didn’t end when a diver hit 1000PSI was also a change from my regular resort experiences. Low on air was considered 700PSI for this trip – and we were all on Nitrox. That meant most dives were pushing 1 hour bottom time!

Even though were were on a ship, there were still a few surprises for this trip. The first was that one of the couples (and our new friends) attending with us had planned to partake in a symbolic wedding on one of the islands we stopped on during our beach barbeque! It was beautiful as was the bride!

I was honored to be asked by the Groom to take their phones and document/record the night. It was a huge surprise to the rest of our group on the liveaboard and such an awesome experience to see how the boat team could pull together a beautiful wedding with mostly natural resources. Everything except the tables and chairs it seemed were pulled directly from the island. The team even made the bride a bouquet and flower crown, and they designed a beautiful sand sculpture.

It was also my husband’s birthday during this trip, and there is no way I’ll be able to top this year’s experience. Not only was he treated to TWO happy birthday songs (once on the morning dive, and again at dinner), but an amazing Birthday Cake created by the on board chef AND a night MANTA dive! I seriously encourage you to click that link to watch the YouTube video – it was an INCREDIBLE experience with these majestic, enormous creatures. Luckily this was the SECOND time I got to see them as we also did a Manta Snorkel in the Marine Sanctuary one day but my husband decided that because he sinks like a rock – he wouldn’t have much fun struggling to snorkel at the same time.

The team seriously goes above and beyond to make every divers experience one for the memory books. My husband LOVES to fish, and he was able to get some fishing in with the Captain one morning (he skipped a dive), and another bout of Maldivian style fishing off the back of the boat – until the Dolphin showed up!

We logged 27 dives over 10 days along with that separate Manta Snorkel experience and opportunities to jump off the back of the liveaboard to snorkel with the Whale Sharks, Manta Rays, and Nurse Sharks that joined us some evenings.

For our return back to Male – we had a late night/early morning flight – however you look at it. Our sail ended around 8am on October 14th, but our flight didn’t take off until 1am October 15th, so we had almost a whole day to fill in Male.

We were able to get into a guest house hotel in Male near the airport with 3 of the other divers for the day – meaning we could store our luggage in a locked room and have access to a shower!

Our amazing host friends did not stop the experience when the boat trip ended – they escorted us all around the capital city to see the President’s Marina, beautiful parks, Mosque’s, the oldest cemetery, the fish market & farmers market, and a man-made beach!

We also were treated to some of the best home made gelato I’ve ever tasted, at the Seagull Cafe. This happens to be a favorite spot of our hosts – so we all enjoyed some delicious food and sweets.

This was lunch for us – I also had a side of sweet potato fries to share with the table. WE ARE ADULTS!

It was an incredible trip and we made the long trek back home safely. We are eternally grateful to our friends at Mujavaz Scuba & Travel for pushing us to come on this trip with them – we can’t wait to travel with them again!

Packing List with Amazon Affiliate Links for easy shopping! (I may receive a commission from these items)

• swimsuits
• cover ups – sarongs from the local shops
• Dive wear; rash guards, wetsuit, etc.
• dive gear; full gear BCD, Regs, Fins, Mask, Dive Computer, Snorkel, DSMB, Reef Hook, Cert Cards, Dive Insurance
• Dry Bag
• Underwater Camera Equipment (optional)
• Medications: motion sickness/sea sickness, ear drops, nasal spray, prescriptions, first aid kit, etc.
• Dive Tools: Save a Dive Kit, wrench/screwdriver, Mask Defog
• Towels (the boat did have towels for dives that you used all day & replaced towels in your bathroom – it was nice to have separate quick-dry towels for relaxing on the sundeck or late night snorkels.
• Bathroom Amenities: Reef Safe Shampoo, Conditioner, Leave in Conditioner, Body Wash, Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Reef Safe Sunscreen
• Clothesline (these were a GODSEND in our room for hanging swimwear and towels)
• Hydration packets (One of the leading causes of DCS is dehydration!)
• 1 pair shoes for travel – no shoes allowed on liveaboard (I love Hey Dude’s and these from Etsy!
• Chargers
• Wetsuit Conditioner (safe for booties) This one, or This one – depending on if you’re checking a bag

First Aid Kit

• Azo (UTI)
• Monistat (UTI)
• zzzQuil (thought we’d use it on the plane)
• Cortisone
• Neosporin
• Immodium
• Goody’s (used REGULARLY in this house)
• Alka-seltzer PLUS
• bonine (motion sickness)
• Emetrol (motion sickness)
• sinex nasal spray
• Dramamine Nausea Ginger Chews
• Ace Bandages
• Tattoo Waterproof Bandages (these stay on better than the small Band-Aids, and can be cut to size!)