Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Maldives/South Pinnacles

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Aggressor Fleet: "Best of the Maldives on the Aggressor II", Dec, 2018, by Gregg Backemeyer, FL, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 10805.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This was my third Aggressor boat and the best yet. Although the Paula Aggressor with chef Shay was the best food ever. While the outside needs a scraping and paint (who cares?) the interior was big and very nice. It would seem to have been refurnished on the inside pretty recently. The salon was spacious and was adjoined by the dining area. And adequate A/C in the salon and cabins. The cabins were very nice with side by side beds, a big shower for a boat and a separate water closet with the sink/vanity in between. I will say the mattresses were a bit like concrete but I’m OK with a firm bed. Lots of drawers, a closet with some hangers and ample storage under the bunks for our bags. Hair dryer and robes included (which I don’t use, but hey). I was in a deluxe cabin on the upper deck and it was worth the little extra. Change of linens/towels 1/2 way through the trip was the standard. The food was very good and the chef quite proud of his creations. We had a beach BBQ and party, including volleyball, the 2nd to last night. The food was awesome as was the island and ambience. Eggs to order after the 2nd dive (continental available at daybreak), buffet style, an excellent hot lunch buffet style, and a sit-down dinner. Great soups at lunch and dinner. Snacks occasionally in the afternoon after the last dive. Free beer and wine available for evenings. I’ve had better food on liveaboards but not by much. The last (Saturday) afternoon included a walking tour of Male followed by dinner at a roof top restaurant. No booze. This is a predominantly Muslin country so your alcohol consumption is only beer and wine on the boat. The diving was very good. This is not Indonesia but well worth experiencing. I’ll give you THE TIP right now - THE BEST DIVING IS THE FAR S0UTH PINNACLES IN FEB/MAR. Lots of pelagic activity then but also currents. But our diving was good. They have a large dive Dhoni with is self contained and all diving is conducted from it. The coral, hard and soft, was thick and the tropical fish abundant. The pinnacles were awesome. We snorkeled one location and did have 1 whale shark. 2 night dives and both were good but the last one was pretty cool as it was a manta cleaning station with lots of activity and a wild ending. The other was a pier with lots of nurse sharks and a little manta activity. The 2nd night dive was kind of wild - the boat was anchored a bit aways and there was surface current! It was a crazy scene getting people on the boat. I came by down the port side of the boat where there is no ladder and had to grab hold of the back of the dive/swim platform. Of course there was hot chocolate after. We did 19 dives on the 7 day/night trip. We started and ended in Male. The water temp was a consistent 83 Fahrenheit ALL THE TIME. No thermoclines to speak of. I took my 3mm suit but wore my full suit LavaCore every dive. Don’t forget your reef hook and snorkel. They’ll provide dive lights at no charge. I took my Nautilus radio but didn’t really need it (like I did in Socorro and other places with huge swells). I would suggest you wear 1.5mm gloves every dive. I didn’t wear a beanie at all even though I took it. Pick up at 3:30pm on Sunday at the airport and off the boat at 8:00am the following Sunday. They pick up/drop off right at the airport with the Dhoni. The airport is right at the harbor. The staff was quite good and I always felt safe on the boat and in the water. The DMs were more than capable and knew the dive sites well. The cruise director Tony was friendly and did a good job with the dive briefings. He also created an excellent trip video which was available for $65. Overall I would recommend the Maldives and the Aggressor II as a trip to do! I recommend avoiding the north reefs and sticking to the south itineraries.
Websites	Aggressor Fleet
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	French Polynesia, Mexico, Caribbean, Guadalupe Island, Socorro Island, South Florida, California, ABC Islands, Honduras, Hawaii, Panama, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, BVIs, AVIs, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Solomon Islands, Galapagos Islands, Palau, Indonesia (Raja Ampat), Maldives, et al
Closest Airport	Male	Getting There	I flew MIA through CDG (Paris) to Male, Maldives on Air France. Other than layovers in Paris not too bad.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	83-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	25-100 Ft/ 8-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	All dives were lead by a DM which was OK. Many of the sites had current and we used reef hooks. The DMs were very helpful and safety oriented.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The boat had both 110V and 220V at charging locations. Adequate space for all.

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Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in Maldives/South Pinnacles

Aggressor Fleet: "Best of the Maldives on the Aggressor II", Dec, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aggressor Fleet in
Maldives/South Pinnacles