Introducing Uncle Scott

12/4/23
Jumped onto the dive boat this morning with dive master Koobe and his crew of three great Maldivian watermen, and was thrilled to learn I was the only guest on the trip! Pretty amazing to have an entire boat and crew taking care of just you for a two tank dive. The Indian Ocean waters surrounding the Maldive atolls and islands are renowned in the scuba community for unique marine life, and today’s experience more than lived up to my elevated expectations. Our first dive site was an undersea pinnacle rising from about 100 meters deep to just 5 meters below the surface. The dive plan was to spiral down from the top of the pinnacle to a max depth of 20 meters, and in the pre-dive briefing Koobe made a point of noting that this spot was frequently visited by some of the larger animals in the area.

Visibility was stellar (easily 50 meters), and within five minutes of descending below the surface we were met by three spotted eagle rays swimming above us. A gentle current drifted us over a deep cut in the side of the sea mount, and we were rewarded with two 4 foot long Napoleon Wrasses fearlessly swimming to within 10 feet of us. Numerous Giant Trevally as well as Bluefin Trevally were patrolling the pinnacle, two species I had originally planned to try and fish for during our trip. Seeing them up close on their turf immediately changed my view - why waste time fishing for them?

Dozens if not hundreds of species of fish so brightly colored they looked fake swarmed the dive site, no doubt beneficiaries of the biosphere reserve that protects them from fishing. Truly an amazing experience!

Dive #2 was outstanding as well. We stayed shallower in an area referred to as “Turtle Heaven” due to the presence of algae and sea grass that attracts the sea turtles. As soon as we got to the bottom a huge green sea turtle was taking a nap next to a coral head. We saw more greens as well as Hawksbill Turtles, but the coolest part of the dive were the two octopus we saw hunting on the reef in about 30 feet of water. So awesome to watch them change colors to camouflage themselves from predators and prey. Among other sightings was a bright yellow, black and white nudibranch, a tiny sea slug about 4 inches long. Super cool!

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12/5/23

The nature scene at Milladihoo continues to surprise and impress. As we had dinner last night on a stationary boat (at the excellent Ba'Thali at Milaidhoo) ]off the beach in about 3 feet of water, our waiter pointed out the family of resident nurse sharks that live under the boat and come out into the lights at night.

Four or five of them were hanging out on the bottom right near our table, and we were told we could snorkel there during the day to see them up close and personal. TBD if we actually do this. I’ve always heard nurse sharks are basically harmless, but sure would be a bummer to get bit!

This afternoon as we walked back from the boat dock we were buzzed “Top Gun Maverick” style by the biggest bat I’ve ever seen in my life. Four foot wingspan not more than five feet overhead. A quick google search informed us that these Indian Fruit Bats are also known as Flying Foxes and are very common in the Maldives. Michelle convinced me we needed an “Uncle Scott” nature video on these megabats, and it only took ten minutes of walking through some trees to figure out these furry critters are all over the place.

Interesting Christmas ornaments for the upcoming “festive season”, as the resort employees call December.