Maldives. M/Y Duke of York

From $2,815 per person in a twin lower-deck cabin for 7 nights. The price covers accommodation on Duke of York, three meals a day with soft drinks, 18 dives (5 days of 3 dives, 2 bonus dives and a night dive), tanks, weights, nitrox up to 32%, local dive guides, island landings, fishing, kayaking and a Tour Leader Club tour leader. Paid separately: international flights to Male, the $140 service charge, the $84 Green Tax, tips up to $100 and the island barbecue at about $20. Main-deck cabins are +$200, upper-deck cabins +$250.

Fly into Male (Velana International Airport). Direct flights from Moscow take about nine hours; from Europe and the Gulf there are daily connections via Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Istanbul. Arrive on the morning of 18 October — the crew meets you at the airport and a dhoni takes you to the yacht in Hulhumale harbour. Departure is on 25 October after breakfast. You book flights yourself; we help choose them.

Most nationalities receive a free visa on arrival for 30 days; Russian citizens get up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for at least six months and you need a return ticket.

Open Water Diver with confident buoyancy as a minimum. For channel dives in current we recommend Advanced Open Water and 20–30 logged dives: working depth is 20–30 metres and you need to handle a reef hook and deploy a surface marker buoy. The first days are on calmer sites and the guides adapt the daily plan to the group.

A 3–5 mm wetsuit, regulator with octopus, BCD, mask, fins, dive computer, surface marker buoy, reef hook, gloves, certification cards and logbook. Light clothing, a hat, a hoodie for evenings, sunscreen and a personal first-aid kit. Rental gear is available on board for a fee. Alcohol cannot be brought into the Maldives, even from duty-free.

Send a request on this page — a manager gets back to you the same day, matches a cabin and sends the contract under the public offer. A deposit is paid at booking and the balance follows a schedule; deposit terms are confirmed at booking. Payment by card or bank transfer. Refund terms are described at the bottom of the site.

Yes. Solo divers share a twin cabin with a same-sex traveller at no extra cost. A private cabin carries a single supplement of $2,534. The group is limited to nine, so book three to four months ahead.