Maldives

Getting a job in the Maldives can be tricky. It is not the kind of place where you can just turn up and start job hunting. Generally the resorts take on a mix of local and international staff so you need to approach the resort Human Resources departments. There is a good mix of jobs but a lot of the roles are diving based divemasters, instructors, photographers, etc.

Most resorts are predominately one or two nationalities so finding the resorts that match your language skills helps. After that experience always helps especially for diving instructors as the Maldives are well known for their strong currents and half of the time the currents will take you straight out into the Indian Ocean.

Generally if you get a job with a resort then they will get you a work permit and pay for your flight, food and accommodation. They don't really have much choice-- it's hardly as if you can pop out to the supermarket and pick up a pizza for dinner.

All foreign workers have to have a series of medical tests before you can start work in the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. This includes a blood sample lots of tests including HIV as well as x-ray etc. It is quick and easy but they are very uncommunicative about what they are doing.

diving and snorkelling

Aside from making the water bungalow rock on your honeymoon, the primary activity on the Maldives is scuba diving. The atolls are all coral reefs hundreds of kilometers away from any major landmass, meaning that water clarity is excellent and underwater life is abundant. Manta rays, sharks, even a few wrecks, you name it, you can find it in the Maldives.

While diving is very good by world standards even in the immediate vicinity of Male, visibility and the chance of encountering large pelagics increases as you head to the outer atolls. Many divers opt for liveaboards, which can actually work out much cheaper than paying high resort fees. Currents vary considerably, with generally little inside the atolls but some powerful streams to be found on the sides facing the open sea. Water in the Maldives is warm throughout the year and a 3mm shorty or Lycra diveskin is plenty. Diving is possible throughout the year, but rain, wind and waves are most common during the season of the southwest monsoon June-August. The best time for scuba diving is from January to April, when the sea is calm, the sun is shining and the visibility can reach 30 m. Decompression chambers can be found on Bandos in Kaafu 15 min from Male, Kuredu in Lhaviyani Atoll and at Kuramathi on Alifu.

The one downside to diving in the Maldives is that it's quite expensive by Asian standards. Prices vary considerably from resort to resort, with specialist dive resorts offering better prices, but in general, you'll be looking at around US$50 for a single boat dive with your own gear and closer to US$75 without. Beware of surcharges: you may be charged extra for boat use, guided dives, larger tanks, etc. On the upside, safety standards are usually very high, with well-maintained gear and strict adherence to protocol check dives, maximum depth, computer use, etc being the rule rather than the exception.