Our latest adventure was a SCUBA trip to the Maldives.  Karen stayed home "on vacation" from the two boys, while Nick and Dave flew halfway around the world for nine days of diving.  Click here for technical details on the underwater camera.

Photos by Dave and Nick Rossum

There are more Maldives pictures on the next page.

We flew from Monterey via LAX to Singapore, and from there to Male, the capital of the Maldives, where we were met by the staff from our dive boat (right), the Koi Mala.  We stayed overnight in a hotel, and boarded the eight passenger boat the next morning.  For the first five days, Nick and I were the only divers.

In the Maldives, a local boat, called a dhoni (far right), takes you from the live-aboard to the dive site.  It's quite convenient, with your gear always ready.  It also creates more jobs for the locals.

 

The divers (left to right):

Dave: "Let's go diving!"

Nick: "Beam me up, Scotty."

Azi - our Maldivian divemaster, translator and chauffer.

Keith - Our American divemaster, expert on local fauna, and authority on local customs.

 

 

On our first dive, we encountered a large Napoleon Wrasse (near right), who was very friendly with divers.  Keith and Azi told us local divers fed him eggs (in the shell), and if you simply put your hand in your BC pocket, he'd come over to beg for food.

The Maldives are well known for the sheer quantity of fish life.  Frequently we were surrounded for minutes by schools of fish, like the blue-striped snappers at the far right.

  

There are lots of colorful invertebrates on the Maldive reefs.  Above a small starfish sits among green sponges.

 

The flatworm above proves that neon lipstick was actually invented in the Maldives.

 

This is a close-up of the skin of a starfish.

 

This cleaner shrimp has the job of removing bits of food from the gills and skin of larger fish.

A close-up of a sea cucumber's skin.

The business end of a Christmas Tree worm.  It feeds by filtering tiny plankton from the sea water.

  

 The Republic of Maldive is an Islamic country.  It is illegal to enter the country carrying any alcohol, pork, or Christian religious icons.  Our visit coincided with the month of Ramadan, when the people fast from sunrise to sunset.

But our Maldivian chef fixed us three delicious meals a day (though he couldn't taste test them).  And on Christmas eve, the entire crew amazed us by covering the boat with palm fronds and strings of lights.  Our chef cooked us the Christmas feast at right, including fish, beef, chicken, pizza, four kinds of salads, three kinds of breads, and an imported panitone with ice cream for desert.

  

The Maldives are known for the tremendous variety and quantity of fish life.  Above, a vermilion rock cod is being cleaned by the tiny blue-streak cleaner wrasse.

This spotfin lionfish may be beautiful, but if you're poked by one of its venomous spines, you'll be hurting.

We frequently spotted the Oriental Sweetlips.

This scorpionfish also has deadly spines, and it's camoflaged so well you sometimes don't see it until you're practically on top of it.

One of the most colorful of the Maldives fishes is this Regal Angelfish.

An orange spotted pygmy goby sits among soft corals.

An Indian Damselfish.

A juvenile parrotfish.

And a full grown Ember Parrotfish.

There are more Maldives pictures on the next page.  Or you can return to the Rossum home page.