Have you always wanted to swim between mantas and whale sharks or photograph nurse sharks? Then don't hesitate and board a luxury liveaboard in the Maldives during the summer months! Why in the summer? In August and September, the manta rays, whale sharks and nurse sharks are most active and so the chance of an encounter is greatest. The plankton swept into the shallow lagoons by the currents are followed in great numbers by mantas and whale sharks foraging for food.

One of the best ways to have a lot of fun diving is on a great liveaboard. You enjoy the excellent service on board and make at least three dives a day to the most beautiful places in the Maldives! In the summer months of 2018, Diving World offers several liveaboard trips to the Maldives with the super-deluxe Emperor Serenity. For a great price you can dive for majestic mantas and spectacular whale sharks! Of course you can also visit Diving World the rest of the year for beautiful liveaboard trips.

The liveaboard routes in the Maldives are never fixed. Every day, the captain and dive guides jointly decide which dive sites will be visited and which route will follow. Possible diving areas in the Maldives are: Rasdhoo Atoll (pelagic fish), North Ari Atoll (grey reef sharks and multiple manta cleaning stations), South Malé Atoll (grey reef sharks, eagle rays, other pelagic fish and a wreck), North Malé Atoll (beautiful pinnacles) and Vaavu Atoll (Night dive with nurse sharks).

One of the highlights during a liveaboard around the Maldives is the so-called cleaning stations of the mantas. For a well-deserved spa treatment, the photogenic rays swim to one of the bustling stations to be washed by the many cleaner wrasses. If you are in the right place, the beautiful mantas with their white bellies will gracefully sweep over you.

The Maldives is also the right place for the gigantic whale sharks. Since the Maldivian population of this largest fish in the world does not migrate, chances are you will spot one or more. The place for whale sharks is the dive spot Maamigili. Before the creatures go in search of food in the deep, the whale sharks warm up in the shallows. More than 370 whale sharks have now been recorded in the area!

Around Vaavu Atoll you have the best chance of encountering a nurse shark. Often it is not just one shark, but large schools swim past. A really spectacular night dive around this site. With a flashlight in your hand and a bit of luck, one nurse shark after another swims by. From the sandy bottom shine your light upwards and spot 4, 5 or maybe even 7 nurse sharks! Between all the sharks there is just enough space for the rays to pass.

In collaboration with Diving World and Emperor Divers put DIVING Magazine to the test last October. You can read their “Manta Madness” experience during the liveaboard around the Maldives here!