Our annual December trip to the Maldives has, over the past five years, become a cherished and beloved tradition. The timing is no accident: December is the most comfortable month, when tourist numbers drop noticeably and the islands grow quiet and peaceful. Fewer boats are out on the water, which means fewer divers at the dive sites — most travellers are still making plans for their New Year holidays in January. As for us, we prefer to head off in search of sun and warmth before the festivities, so we can recharge and arrive home ready to celebrate.
The main advantage of a December trip to the Maldives — beyond the smaller crowds — is the ability to book flights at the last minute without breaking the bank, since airfares remain consistently low throughout the month. You can often end up with an entire row of seats to yourself and arrive at your destination in perfect comfort. And, just as importantly, this is high season in the Maldives. You can dive here year-round, but in winter the combination of water temperature, air temperature, and the sheer abundance of marine life reaches its peak. In short, it's an excellent time to travel!
Our vessel this time was the beloved Conte Max, which we charter exclusively for our group. This approach gives us complete flexibility in planning the itinerary: we choose dive sites based on weather conditions, always trying to avoid the crowds of other boats and divers. She's not a large yacht, but an incredibly cosy one, with wonderful Italian cuisine and even a small massage room on board. As is our custom, we run two back-to-back safaris: some guests join us for one week, others stay for both, which ultimately lets everyone save money without any compromise on service quality or comfort.
Among the more unusual underwater encounters this time was a guitarfish. These extraordinary creatures — whose body shape seems to blend a shark and a ray into one — look like visitors from another world. In the Indian Ocean they are not uncommon, yet every encounter with a guitarfish feels like something special. It is captivating to watch one glide slowly and unhurriedly over the sandy bottom, as though carefully taking stock of its surroundings. Our guests agreed it was one of the most striking and memorable moments underwater during the entire trip.
Mantas were not especially numerous this trip, but going to the Maldives and missing them entirely is simply not possible. The crew knows every manta point along our route inside out. We spotted them several times gliding directly overhead in formation, drawing gasps of wonder even from seasoned divers. The mantas seemed to play with us in the water and even came to join us on the night dives.
Beyond the mantas, the Maldives delivered, as always, enormous schools of fish. We also spotted moray eels, hermit crabs, scorpionfish, and octopuses actively exploring the seabed in the beams of our torches.
Among the larger marine creatures we encountered turtles, eagle rays, and several species of shark: grey reef sharks and whitetip reef sharks.
A few divers even managed to lie on the bottom alongside a nurse shark and snap a souvenir photo. The whale shark, however, did not make an appearance this time — though that's no reason to be downcast. If anything, it's one more reason to come back to the Maldives!
Experience has shown that December trips to the Maldives are not only a wonderful opportunity to do the diving you love, but also the perfect way to recharge your batteries. You return home full of energy and inspiration, ready to ring in the New Year with friends and family — and some guests are already planning their next adventure before the holiday decorations have even come down.
All photos from our December 2024 trip to the Maldives can be found here.
Friends! We have many more exciting journeys in the pipeline — join us, we'd love to take you to the ends of the earth! The current schedule of upcoming trips can always be found here.
