In December 2004 Eve and I returned to MV Atoll Explorer for another two week holiday. The holiday started in style. After an overnight flight and more than 24 hours without sleep, Eve and I needed to keep awake and what better way than to forget the unpacking and to go diving? Saeed and Jacky had arranged for us to join a dive at Manta Point organised by the Kurumba Eurodivers Dive Centre, now run by our good friend Mohamed “Sindi” Seeneen. There were no Mantas present but we did see two Whitetip Reef Sharks, a Turtle, a Napoleon Wrasse, a Titan Triggerfish, a Giant Moray Eel and a Lobster. What a start to the holiday!

The next morning we got up at 5.15 a.m. for our first early morning dive and we still hadn’t done the checkout dive! Our third dive was the checkout dive and I missed the highlight – poor Saeed being hit in the face by a divers fin! By now MV Atoll Explorer had begun its regular weekly voyage, which as this was the seventh time we had undertaken it, had become very familiar as our three previous trips aboard had all been two weeks holidays repeating the same route twice.
 
I was fortunate to have a new dive buddy, Alan Sime, to accompany me whenever Eve was taking a break from diving. But regrettably after a few days the weather turned unpleasant and I came down with a cold. I even had to stop diving for 36 hours! But of course the fish life was good as ever with Grey Reef Sharks, Whitetip Reef Sharks, Turtles, Eagle Rays, Napoleon Wrasse, Stingrays, Giant Moray Eels, Batfish, and Titan Triggerfish and the magical Maaya Thila and Mushimasmigli (Fish Head) dive sites.

Our second week aboard took us to totally new dive sites as MV Atoll Explorer had introduced a second route to alternate with the original route. This took us to Kanduma Thila and Guraidhoo in South Male Atoll and Fotteyo in Felidhe Atoll. Kanduma Thila is one of the most exciting dives in South Male Atoll and boasts great underwater scenery as well as the prospect of prolific fish life and a strong current. Too strong. We had to say goodbye to some large Golden Pilot Jacks, abort the dive and move to the nearby Guraidhoo dive site. There we saw three large Grey Reef Sharks and a big Napoleon Wrasse. Shortly after getting back on board the Dhoani we saw a school of Dolphins on the surface and several of us jumped back into the water. Unfortunately we could not get near any of the dolphins and in the meanwhile the dhoani ladder became dislodged by a large swell and fell overboard to the seabed some 30 to 70 metres below. Abdullah accepted responsibility. In anticipation of Captain Fulhu’s wrath, a noose was tied around Abdullah’s neck – see my “Abdu Condemmed Man” photograph. A GPS reading was taken of the approximate location of the lost ladder and we began our journey back to MV Atoll Explorer to break the news to the Captain. In the afternoon we returned to Guraidhoo hoping to recover the lost dhoani ladder. Saeed, Zaheer, Shinaz and I drew a blank with an initial brief underwater search so we surfaced, an anchor was dropped onto the last-known GPS location and we went down the line and drifted in the current searching for the anchor. Unfortunately the visibility and light had deteriorated since the morning and the hunt proved fruitless. Instead of returning to MV Atoll Explorer in triumph we were forced to visit a nearby island to buy a second-hand ladder.

Many divers regard Fotteyo as the best dive site in the Maldives. Potentially it is a photographer’s paradise. Eve and I were fortunate enough to do two consecutive dives there, my dives 972 and 973, the second of which was an early morning dive on my 51st birthday. A sheer drop-off, a very strong current on the first dive, excellent coral and topography. All that was missing were pelagics. As you can see from the “Birthday Boy” photo, to celebrate my birthday after the dive I was covered in eggs and flour, this allegedly being a local custom. Just as in our first week I was fortunate to have a ready-made dive buddy replacement whenever Eve was not diving. Adam Sherrif had to put up with me and no doubt was happy for Eve to take over again.

All too soon our two-week holiday was over. Captain Fulhu and his crew, which included Abdulla, Abdullah, Fuad, Najah, Rahman, Shinaz, Shujau, Zaheer and Zak as well as Saeed and Jacky, had spoilt us once again.