29 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING BOAT:

VIP Cabin & Bath








MAIN Cabin & Bath






LOWER Cabin & Bath




The Rest of the Boat:

[jesterdiver]

Wow!

[Buzo Guero]

Yer killin' me! May have to force this one...

[jesterdiver]

Brother, I'm thinking the same thing! That airfare is a killer though! lol
quote name='Buzo Guero' timestamp='1384743749' post='314010']
Yer killin' me! May have to force this one...
[/quote]

[Buzo Guero]

Damn the torpedoes!

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[Sqbagal]

Yeah, if the airfare doesn't make you pause, the 30+ hours of travel might....

[jesterdiver]

30+ hours, ouch! I'l do it, if the flight wasn't in the thousands! Maybe I can hitch hike there? Tim, maybe I can squeeze into ur luggage?!

[TabeaK]

Airfare deals from Europe are pretty good for that week...damn, I really need to ask my boss to take this week off...

Have you guys checked out Emirates? They often do good deals to this part of the world - from the East Coast at least...

Kamala, I checked out the boat's website - pretty cool. What they didn't talk about was their specific diving rules. The Maldives have pretty stringent regulations anyway (30m depth limit, bottom time 45min...) - and in my experience individual diving places have additional rules...that they take rather seriously... Things like group sizes, special rules for baby divers such as me (i.e. on my last trip: unless you have x (I think at my dive shop it was like 40) dives logged you always need to be buddied with a DM or sometimes even a dive instructor...), certain types of equipment not being allowed...and so on. Do you know what applies to this boat?

Edited by TabeaK, 18 November 2013 - 01:13 PM.

[WreckWench]

Boat Rules: The boat will be liberal with a known group and we are a known group.

Newer Divers: TabeaK if you have 40 dives from EUROPE you should be fine. We do offer a program where you can rent a dive pro to be your buddy and they not only dive with you and take care of you but they also MENTOR you so help you improve your diving. Its $50US a day or $150 for the week.

Airfare: I'll work on air... I'm finding $2400 which sucks but I hope my consolidator can do better. We *may* have an air credit towards airfare but its not final yet.

Payments: If you have traveled with SD before and want to do this trip we'll work out payment terms for you that will be VERY GENEROUS. I can't give the spots back so gotta sell them.

Booking: The booking will be finished this morning. ITS A GO!!!

[TabeaK]

Thanks Kamala!/>

[Buzo Guero]

Will keep one eyeball on this thread...

[Diver Ed]

I just did a real quick search for flight costs. The first thing that came up was a flight on Friday March 14 at 11:20AM out of JFK, getting to MLE Sat March 15 at 2:55pm. The return flight left MLE at 4:20pm on the 23rd. The price was $1166. That price looks very good, and gives people a night in the Maldives to make sure that there are no connections and luggage issues. Hope that helps. I can look at more flight options later today if it would help. Ed

[WreckWench]

FYI...I just checked flights via Emirates and even from Greenville SC the fares are $1400-$1500 which is not horrible. It does involve an overnight in Dubai AND one in Male but that one is required anyway to ensure your bags arrive.

We have a hotel in Male for $120 s/o or $60 d/o for arriving the 15th so you have several chances for bags to arrive if they or you miss a flight.

So air is more reasonable right now with routings via JFK and DFW to Dubai. The lowest fare for me is overnighting in Dubai so 2 days to get there. (I'd leave the 13th and arrive the 15th giving me 1 whole day for bags to arrive by the 16th.) For another $100 or less I can have tighter connections with no layover in Dubai and I get there in one day so could leave the 14th and still have a day in Male.

And you could plan to arrive in Male without the extra day but we recommend the extra day to start getting acclimated to the time chg and allow for a cushion for your bags.

[WreckWench]

I need to fly out of SAV!!! WOW!!!

[Skeeter]

Hello Kamela! can you please take me off the Palua and add me to this trip? I'm pretty sure Lorri will not want to go but, I will check with her. If lorri does not go...do you have a girl looking for a roomie? Hope all is going well for you! Happy thanksgiving to you! skeeter/judy