Dive Review of Extreme Maldives Watersports/Cocoon Maldives in
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Extreme Maldives Watersports/Cocoon Maldives: "Nice diving in the Maldives", May, 2019, by William T Schaiff, MO, US ( 2 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 10923 has 2 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Cocoon Maldives is not a dive resort but is associated with Extreme Maldives Watersports who operate a dive operation at the resort. We got a great deal on a weeklong stay including air through Emirates Airlines and decided that the diving must be better than Missouri so gave it a try. You fly to the Maldives capital Male, then take a seaplane to the resort. The seaplane strictly enforces the 50 pounds TOTAL weight of luggage/carry-on and we paid about $50 roundtrip each for being overweight since we brought our own gear (minus wetsuits). We thought it was worth the price. Cocoon Maldives is on a small island on a northern Maldivian atoll and accommodates probably around 200 guests. Our deal was all inclusive and meals were buffet of good quality with fairly good variety. We booked a beach villa which was comfortable with good a/c and opened on to a large beach with calm waters protected by a barrier reef. After 4 nights they upgraded us for free to an over-the-water bungalow with a private pool for the last three nights. It was very nice but much hotter in the afternoon being in direct sun. Although it was larger, had a tub and was over the water, we didn’t feel it would be the $450/night extra compared to the beach bungalow if we had to pay it ourselves. The dive operation was very good and our dive master, Thoal, was excellent. He was very attentive and friendly. We greatly enjoyed diving with him. Nitrox is included in the cost as is all rental gear although we brought our own. Fills were consistently at 3100 psi. The crew sets up your gear (I always double checked and except my preferred octo placement everything was perfect). After dives the crew rinses you gear and hangs it to dry. Although there were likely around 200 people at the resort, since most of the people were there to sit in the sun the dive operation was barely used. We arrived too late to book a morning 2-tank dive for the next day so did an afternoon 1-tank dive with my wife and I the only people on the dive. The boat is a very large wooden boat with a covered deck and an amazing amount of space. Entry was by giant stride and exit by a ladder, both over the side. Normally they require an orientation dive in the lagoon (sand, nothing interesting) but since I have rescue certification and my wife advanced, both with over 100 dives, and had dived a month before, they waived that requirement. The next day there were six divers on the morning 2-tank trip. They took two divemasters – one who went with my wife and me, the other with the other 4 divers since they only had open water certification. This allowed us to dive to the 30m max although there really wasn’t any need to go that deep. The next day there were 5 divers so we all dived together with Thoal. The next three days were just my wife and I for two of the days and one day I was the only diver. There was generally little or no current except when diving points around the channels between the open ocean and the atoll lagoon. Even then the current was mild. Visibility ranged from 50-80 feet. The water temperature was 84-85F and we were very comfortable without wetsuits. Thoal was very knowledgeable of the marine life and great at finding small critters such as porcelain crabs in anemones and pipefish. The coral was nice but not particularly colorful and there were some small patches of bleaching. Small/medium size fish life was great with large schools of fish, tons of stingrays (feathertail, whiptail, marbled) and several hawksbill turtles. No pelagics or sharks except for nurse sharks (although there were small blacktip and grey reef sharks swimming along the beach at the resort). Since on several of the dives my wife and I were the only divers we could take our time and fully explore the reef. It was great lying on the sand watching the shrimp gobies guarding their holes while their companion shrimp went in and out excavating sand and pebbles out of the hole. Overall, for not being a dive resort the diving was very good and the dive operation excellent. For the price it was a great way to get to the Maldives for diving and we would definitely go back.
Websites	Extreme Maldives Watersports Cocoon Maldives
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Florida, Bahamas, Curacao, Mayan Riviera, La Paz Mexico, Hawaii, California, French Polynesia
Closest Airport	Male, The Maldives	Getting There	Fly to Male airport then take a seaplane to the resort
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	84-85°F / 29-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	30 meters max depth, 1 hour max.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By peter bernstein in FL, US at May 19, 2019 08:30 EST

How did you get the "great deal" with Emerites?

By report author: William T Schaiff in MO, US at May 19, 2019 12:03 EST

We subscribe to Travelzoo which sends out a list of top 20 deals each week. This deal was listed on their cyber Monday edition. Go to travelzoo.com and you can see all their deals and sign up to receive their weekly top 20. Shermans travel does something similar and I subscribe to it as well.

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Dive Review of Extreme Maldives Watersports/Cocoon Maldives in Maldives

Extreme Maldives Watersports/Cocoon Maldives: "Nice diving in the Maldives", May, 2019,

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Extreme Maldives Watersports/Cocoon Maldives in
Maldives