Dive Review of Diverland Gan/Equator Village in
Maldives

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Diverland Gan/Equator Village: "Addu Atoll, Maldives Deep South", Mar, 2017, by Mr Brent Woods, ON, CA ( Sr. Contributor 22 reports with 13 Helpful votes). Report 9640 has 3 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Addu Atoll was an add-on to our trip on the Manthiri (see separate report). 11 of our group of 12 went here. Addu is the southernmost of the Maldives atolls. We flew here from Male. The Manthiri booked domestic flights, all inclusive accommodations at Equator Village and a dive package with Diverland Gan for us. We choose Addu because according to Lonely Planet the reefs here escaped the massive bleaching and die-off that hit the rest of the Maldives ~15 years ago. Lonely Planet was wrong. The hotel: Equator village is a small, modestly priced, all-inclusive resort. The resort is clean. The current manager has greatly reduced the areas where smoking is allowed. Other improvements are also being made. Equator village is located on Gan island along with the Addu Atoll airport. A number of other islands in the atoll are accessible by causeway. Equator Village is the only resort in the Maldives that is not isolated on its own small island. This is done to protect the locals from the corrupting influence of Western Tourists not the reverse. All meals are buffet style. They were tasty but not exceptional. The variety is reasonable given the size of the resort. There were few local dishes available at all meals plus the theme western cuisine of the day. I was very surprised to see pork served. The rooms are plain but adequate. The verandahs all have a clothesline or drying rack. The shower in my room seemed to be missing a trap in the drain. Hotel staff are eager to help. Our group was met by a hotel representative at the Male airport to make sure that we had no problems. We were issued a voucher for the domestic flights instead of tickets. There was no problem with this. On the day we left, we were given late checkout without even asking for it. Hotel staff took our passports to the airport and got our boarding passes for us. We did not leave the hotel until 30 minutes before the flight. The dive operation: Diverland Gan has its shop on the hotel property. Its dive boats are slow but covered. The boat crews were friendly and helpful. The dive shop manager is a stereo-typically crusty German. His initial response to any request is no but after a day or two he changes his mind. There are two resident dolphin pods in the Addu Atoll lagoon. A small one of 10 to 15 Bottlenose Dolphins and a large one of about 100 Spinner Dolphins. Both were frequently seen from the dive boat. Sitings of Humphead wrasses and turtles were common. Manta Point always delivered on Mantas. Sharks and eagle rays were occassionally seen. We saw hundreds on large green parrotfish on a dusk dive at Gan Inside. Coral ranged from pristine elkhorn coral for as far you see to vast stretches of nothing but dead coral skeletons. The good sites are: Molukolhu Point, Maakandu Corner, British Loyality, West Bushy Island, Gan Inside, Maakandu Outside, Malaholan Faru and Mudakum. Sites to avoid are Ismehela, Banana Thila and Kottey Outside. The house reef is as close to a muck dive as you get in the Maldives. We were at Equator Village for ten days. A week would have been better. Equator village is good as an add-on to a liveaboard trip but not as a destination on its own.
Websites	Diverland Gan Equator Village
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Ontario, Quebec, Cuba, Roatan, Red Sea, Little Cayman, St. Eustatius, Saba, Bonaire, Jamaica, Pohnpei, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Chuuk, Palau, Yap, Cozumel, Kosrae, Bahamas
Closest Airport	Male	Getting There	Airport on Gan has flights from India and Sri Lanka as well as domestic flights
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-150 Ft/ 3-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Recreational limits
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
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
UW Photo Comments	There are no facilities for camera equipment on dive boats. There is no camera room at resort. There is a dedicated rinse tank for cameras computers and regulators.

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Diverland Gan/Equator Village in Maldives

Diverland Gan/Equator Village: "Addu Atoll, Maldives Deep South", Mar, 2017,

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 Diverland Gan/Equator Village in
Maldives