7 independent reviews for Maldives whale shark conservation snorkeling cruise

Dear John, Thank you for taking the time to place your review, great to hear you enjoyed your week on board Felicity with your guide UB and the crew. Absolutely agree with your point regarding being honest about your confidence in the water. Only by having a full knowledge of everyone's abilities can our guides then take any additional steps to maintain everyone's safety in the water. As you will have discovered, we always have a guide at the front and the back of the group as well as a support vessel alongside in the event that anyone get's tired or into difficulty, help is on hand and the opportunity to get out of the water available. Your vacation as with all the tours we offer, has a positive benefit on local communities the environment and conservation, below are just a few examples that relate specifically to the Discovery Cruise: With the exception of myself, all of our team are Maldivian and we only partner and support local Maldivian businesses. Therefore, you can be assured your vacation $ remains in the Maldives and allows locals the opportunity to benefit directly from tourism. You will have received a Green Fins Responsible snorkeling briefing to ensure that in the water everyone follows practices to protect the reef systems. Through education in the the form of presentations by our guides, we hope to create guest awareness on the issues the Maldives faces such as waste management, plastic recycling and the protection of sea-grass. Felicity was one of the very first safari boats to remove the use of individual plastic water bottles and offer water to guests in the form of a cooler, reducing the level of plastic waste considerably over the course of one year. The guides completed a beach clean at the sandbank you visited during your cruise and we as a team regularly support clean up events. We launched #STRAWWARMV in 2018 to encourage our partners to ditch the straw which was very successful and you will recall you were provided with metal straws. I hope the above reassures you that your vacation had a greater impact than you may think. Again, thank you for your comments which I will also share with UB and the crew. We look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards Ruth

Dear Ann, Delighted that you and your family enjoyed your cruise with us. From the photographs that your husband sent I see that his fishing skills kept you in good supply of fresh fish throughout the week! As a business we are proud that with the exception of myself all our team of guides are local and that we partner with only local operators ensuring it is local people and business who benefit financially. Whilst I am a local island girl at heart myself, cruising is definitely one of the best ways to explore the Maldives and cover a large area in a short period of time and it certainly sounds as though you experienced the best our island paradise has to offer. We look forward to welcoming you back in the future. Kind Regards. Ruth.