Visit Date: July 2012

We chose this Helengeli Resort because it offered shore diving. It described 6 access points for shore diving so we thought there would be 6 different sections of the reef we could see. But the 6 access points are cuts through the coral or the sandy point at the end of the island which are all good for snorkeling. The only good dive entry was from the dock and that was almost 5km from the dive shop. It's a nice walk without dive gear but a very long walk with equipment including a tank. 3 of the other entries were somewhat closer but required a long walks/swim through the coral cut. Also the currents can be strong and variable. One day we did entry 6 to the dock and it took only 20 min. Another time, the same dive took 52 minutes. The shore diving was both more difficult and less interesting than we expected.

The Dive operator is Ocean Pro. It is a German run operation and as would be expected, is very professional. But it is the most expensive diving we have ever done. The 6 day "Unlimited" diving package is US$474. But that doesn't include any boat dives. 2 boat dives in a day cost an additional US$25 PLUS a $2 "service charge," probably for taking your equipment and tanks to the boat and back. We have been to over 80 different dive resorts and when shore diving is available, it is complimentary on the days you do boat diving. Ocean Pro charges $40-50 PER extra shore dive even if you are doing both boat dives that day. Also the boat schedule and meal schedule makes it extremely difficult to add shore dives if you do both the morning and afternoon 1 Tank boat dives. On the days we did both dives we had time for only one additional afternoon dive or a rushed, early night dive before dinner.

The boat dives are worth the extra cost, relatively speaking. They can be up to 75 minutes, they are drift dives so you don't have to fight the current as much and they are to better sites than the house reef. There are 35 dive sites in their book although some are just different parts of the same reef. Although there was different topography, the marine life was pretty much the same. There were a lot more and larger fish than the reefs closer to Male which we did the following week. Unfortunately, in 16 dives, we did not see a single Manta even though this was prime Manta season. After traveling halfway around the globe, this was a major disappointment. Another major dissatisfaction is there was no drinking water on the boat. As with the resort, drinking water is available for purchase at US$4.20 plus tax and service for a 1.5l bottle. We have never been on a dive boat that did not have plenty of water (and often juice) and encouraged you to drink a lot as that is the best known prevention for DCS. Also instead of a refreshing piece of watermelon of orange, they offered a piece of dry coconut after the dive. The crew probably drinks the coconut water.