Condition of Maldives Coral

[bqualls 0]

I've always wanted to dive the Maldives and I'm seeing some good prices for LOBs, but I've read some pretty alarming things about the condition of the coral ---supposedly lots of bleaching in the past year. Can anyone shed light?

[Beyondthesurface 0]

I was there in September and all I noticed was you could tell when the dive site was near a resort as the coral was destroyed! Other than that it was an amazing trip and I highly recommend it.

[NWDiver 43]

We went last year. The top of some reefs the damage is obvious but some of the plate hard corals are making a comeback. Once you drop over the sides there are some very nice and colorful coral growth. We enjoyed it but from Seattle it is a very long way to go. There is gallery at our site, might help give you an idea. But a LOB is the way to go in the Maldives (IMHO). Video http://vimeo.com/24573934

[Damo 4]

Was there in Jun 2011- didnt see any bleaching evidence

:-)

[bqualls 0]

Thanks to all for the information. REALLY nice images--special thanks to both of you. Looks like a wonderful place for a holiday. Still haven't made a final decision on whether to go back to Indonesia or a first Maldives trip. Maldives aggressor has deep discounts on some trips and I'm also looking at Sachika.

[gsdivers 0]

We returned from the Maldives 1 week ago and the coral looked fine, except for areas close to dive resorts as reported earlier in this thread. There was a lot of life on the reef and we had a great time taking photos and movies. The visibility was not very good at all during our entire trip, so although we feel it was a great over all experience, it's difficult for me to justify spending the money to go to the Maldives when you can see the same in Indonesia and the Philippines for much less.