We did deliberate whether to try the whale shark excursion. It's a bit expensive at $370 AUD pp but we figured that we may never get another chance so decided to book it. Tim did say he would be in a bad mood if we didn't see one. I wasn't looking forward to that!
Breakfast was so good at Vilu that we went there again, and then we had to be at the Scuba centre for the debriefing at 8
.30am. We received some information about the worlds biggest fish - that they eat plankton mainly, are quite timid, are the biggest fish in the sea etc. Of importance, there are absolutely no guarantees that you will see one.
We were told that if we do see one, we may need to swim strongly to keep up to it before it slips away. Anyway, off we went full of hope!
2 hours passed as the boat searched in vain for this elusive creature of the sea. As an aside, the scenery was beautiful, we saw other islands and turtles and dolphins. The water was crystal clear and you could easily see the bottom of the sea. Eventually, we were told that we were unlucky and would we prefer to just do a snorkel or search for another 30 minutes? We said keep searching. And so did another family of 5 who were on their 3rd trip to see the whale shark. Now...that makes our trip look cheap!
As Tim was beginning to look cranky, there was a shout from the spotter - "get your masks on" and within a minute we were in the water, and I found myself on top of a whale shark! Wow! It was amazing
. And then it started to swim away so Tim and I (and about 50 other people behind us from a combo of 4 boats) chased it before it eventually went too deep to see.
It was quite the adventure with all that swimming and chasing and thrashing around of those 50 people. But, I was very pleased to have seen one after all that. It was about 3-4 metres in length so only a juvenile. It had some noticeable scars which our guide said was from a recent injury from boat propellers and that experience has made it particularly scared of boats and swimmers.
It was then time for lunch so we ate at Rangali Bar (it's pretty chilled out there and quire possibly the cheapest place to eat here) followed by a swim at the Quiet Zone. It's really nice there with comfy lounges, an awesome pool and a waiter who brings iced water and cool towels over regularly. I really don't want to go home! Plus I hear its cold there!
Tim then had an orientation dive at the house reef in preparation for his scuba dive tomorrow morning
.
Back to Vilu for a free hour of cocktails and canapés. And then the Quiet Zone for half price drinks. They have a movie night on the beach and by now we are pretty comfy so think we will just stay here and watch the movie.
We spoke to the GM and Director today. They said that the resort is at 100% full from tomorrow - there is only 1 spare villa today. Amazing for wet season. I had hoped that we would get a little bit of sun at least, but there has been no rain at all. They do think that this will last until Tuesday.
Last September was apparently the worst, and they think it will be the same this year, with all other months being ok. So...Kylie if you are reading this...hopefully November will be good!!
Whale Sharks in the Maldives!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Maldives, Maldives
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