Un piccolo pesce pagliaccio nella sua attinia
Siamo appassionati di sub e la settimana ha superato le nostre aspettative
Abbiamo fatto 20 immersioni e visitato 4 atolli (Atollo di Male Nord e Sud, Atollo di Ari e Atollo di Felidhe o Vaavu). Le immersioni sono state a dir poco fantastiche. Ad ogni immersione c'era qualcosa che non avevamo mai visto prima. Entrambi abbiamo registrato oltre 1.000 immersioni e non ne abbiamo mai abbastanza del piacere per gli occhi. Dai pesci più grandi (squali grigi, pinna bianca e pinna nera) agli organismi piu’ piccoli (ghiozzi, bavose e tutti i tipi di forme giovani), non ci siamo mai annoiati con tutto quello che c'era da vedere. Alcune novità per noi sono state il pesce pietra, gli anemoni delle Maldive, il pesce ago e il pesce foglia. Naturalmente c'erano anche molte nuove specie nelle famiglie di pesci che non avevamo mai visto prima (farfalla, castagnola, pesce palla, ecc.), quindi dopo ogni immersione abbiamo trascorso molto tempo sul libro di identificazione dei pesci. Le murene erano abbondanti ad ogni immersione, molte nuotavano liberamente, altre stavano nelle loro tane. Abbiamo fatto snorkeing e ci siamo immersi con le mante, abbiamo nuotato con gli squali balena, ci siamo divertiti con i delfini dalla prua della barca e abbiamo guardato un marlin che saltava liberamente. C’era così tanto da vedere che è difficile scrivere una recensione breve.
Yasir ci ha guidato sopra le barriere coralline
Il nostro Dive Master, Yasir, ci ha mostrato i nascondigli di molte delle specie meno comuni e ci ha guidato abilmente nei siti di immersione... sicuramente non saremmo stati in grado di farlo da soli.
Kathy e il nostro Divemaster, Yasir
L’equipaggio del Dhoni Stella 2 e’ stato fantastico
Lo steward (Niyaz) ha anticipato ogni nostra esigenza e ha gentilmente fornito il servizio con cura e un genuino desiderio di soddisfare i suoi ospiti. Ci ha servito i pasti, ha preparato il letto delle nostre cabine e ci ha aiutato a prepararci per l'immersione. Che persona meravigliosa. Ci mancherà! Barey, il Capitano, ha navigato abilmente tra le numerose barriere coralline delle acque maldiviane ed ha ancorato in acque protette per assicurarci un sonno tranquillo, Areef, lo Chef, si è rivelato fantastico (per lo più cucina maldiviana e italiana) con molto pesce fresco che l'equipaggio ha catturato lungo l’itinerario. Il cibo era delizioso!!! Il mango e la papaya più dolci che abbiamo mai assaggiato (prodotti locali delle Maldive) e molta frutta fresca, verdura, e pesce preparati con spezie e cura straordinarie... curry maldiviano, pane e nan appena fatti, pasticcini, ecc. Non vedevamo l'ora per assaporare i pasti ben presentati e di buon gusto.
Non dimenticheremo mai l’incredibile magia della nostra crociera Maldiviana!
In sintesi, è stato un viaggio magico e lo consiglieremo vivamente ai nostri amici. Volevamo festeggiare la nostra pensione in grande stile e l'equipaggio del Dhoni e il loro coordinatore, Max Molteni, si sono comportati in modo eccellente! Grazie! È possibile vedere le foto del viaggio qui. E questi sono i nostri video subacquei parte 1 and parte 2.
John & Kathy
Many thanks for the great 10 days on board the Stella! Mallah, you are a very good leader and divemaster, picked great dive sites, and kept a watchful eye on our safety. Kudey, you are an outstanding captain navigating through high winds and the best fishing sites. Suranga, we enjoyed all the meals you have prepared for us! We are very impressed that you can do so much variety and we loved the traditional Maldivian flavors. Shobuj, thanks for everything you did. Until we meet again, all the best, John and Kathy.
Stella 1 / February, 2020Daryl & Steve
Hello Max, we have finally settled in back home in California and have a minute or two to let you know we are still sharing our amazing Stella Yacht adventure with all our friends. Your yacht and crew, were exceptional. The food could not have been better. All three meals each day were different and delicious. The attitude and positive energy from each crew member aboard your boat made every day wonderful. The beautiful islands and unbelievable water speak for themselves. We argue there may not be better islands to vacation to. I must tell you, our dive master Maullim was the best and most exceptional person we met in over 60 days of travel. He is incredibly special and we hope to see him again. We wish you all very good luck this next season and forever.
Stella 1 / May, 2019Renee
Max, we had a fabulous time aboard Stella. Thanks for giving us extra time on the last day so we could squeeze in an early morning channel dive. Despite the variable weather, we were able to do one dive a day, a night snorkel among nurse sharks, had all the time we wanted on a lovely sandbank and three good nights' sleeps. Hats off to your dedicated, very professional and fun loving crew who are so skillful in assessing the weather, high winds, currents, dive conditions and our capabilities to make this a super fun and safe journey. Stella is a beauty! The cabins are spacious, comfortable and the en-suites impeccably cleaned. A tissue box in the bedroom would have been appreciated. Fay commented about the lack of storage in the dining room, but I rather like the simple esthetics of the dining area with no clutter. Three nights gave us a sweet sampling but really too short. We want to come back for 10-14 days! Now I know why you have so many repeaters. Thanks and have a great year ahead!
Stella 1 / December, 2017Edouard & Ramlha
We can really say that it was the trip of our life. Having been to Maldives 5 times, it was by far our best experience. One aspect we truly enjoyed was the exchanges we had with the crew, we really felt they were our friends at the end of the trip and were sad to leave them ! Nasru was perfect in his leading role, always finding solutions to our problems, patient with my wife while diving and choosing easy spots for her, she gained a lot of confidence in diving and that to me is equally valuable as what we've seen. He was also very knowledgeable about all the sites we have seen (2 local islands plus Male), the history of Maldives and very friendly. Malla was also very kind, funny guy also interesting to speak with, giving a great service on board. Aju and captain, the men from the sea, were perfect in their roles too. Among others, Super nice experience to do octopus and night fishing with them, lots of fun. As for chef Kumar, maybe not as outspoken but as kind as the rest of the crew. His food was delicious (special mention to the flan we asked for it 3 times during the trip!) and he was always checking to see if everything was ok. The boat is perfect for two, enough space in the bedroom, sundeck and dining/living area. The itinerary itself was well balanced between all activities we like and we were blessed with the weather, what more can we ask? We will definitely try to be back the soonest and I may send you some customers as I have a couple of friends who were waiting for my feedback before eventually contacting you and they will definitely have a great feedback. Finally a word for Max: perfect trip manager from A to Z, always friendly, very responsive and knowledgeable. Regarding the suggestions there are not so many but: my wife was suggesting to have a kind of menu onboard.The whole week we drank instant powder coffee until my wife told Malla that they should have proper coffee and that's the only time Malla told us he could also do excellent cappucino...which was indeed excellent but we would never thought of. He told us it was on the website but same here we don't go to the website before ordering :-). For the food it would help sometimes too, because the chef was asking "what do you want to eat today?" and it was hard to answer not knowing exactly what was on board. A few games for rainy days would be great too (Uno, monopoly...you name it). I think that's all I have to say, thanks a lot for eveything.
Stella 2 / May, 2017Lori & Bill
Hello Max, I wanted to express our sincere appreciation for a wonderful experience aboard Stella 1. We cannot say enough about the wonderful crew. Bill really enjoyed diving with Nasru, as he was so knowledgable and helpful with diving tips and guidance. Kuday is nothing short of amazing as he runs around like crazy, multi-tasking, all the while with a gentle smile and asking what more he could do for us. Dhodtey very confidently took us through some very rough seas and kept us safe. Saranga made us beautiful meals but fell sick the last day. I hope he is feeling better. Credit to Nasru, and his amazing chicken curry, we did not starve! We enjoyed ourselves so much we would like to come back next year. We will definitely spread the word about the wonderful time we had aboard Stella 1. Thank you so much to you and your wonderful crew!
Stella 1 / May, 2017