Asia Pacific Superyachts Maldives is proud to share great news for tourist vessels visiting the fabulous Indian Ocean yacht charter destination – Maldives. As stated by the agency’s Mohamed Hameed: “After two years of convincing work by our team, we finally can share the rule change for tourist vessels.”
Photo courtesy Dusit-Thani-Maldives
Hameed reports, “The changing of the past rule, which provided for a 90 day stay of a tourist vessel allowed in the Maldives is now officially changed to the new rule, providing for a 180 day stay for the boat. If the boat is registered in IMO the stay can be extended up to 270 days in total.”
According to the immigration law, notes the APS agent, “Crews should fly to another country within 90days for an extension and on return they will get an additional 30 days free of charge and 60 days with extension – same as first time. This can be repeated.”
Hameed says this is very good news and will be welcomed by many owners and captains. It gives the agent more responsibility as well as the agent must be accountable by this rule change made by the Ministry of Tourism. Mohamed Hameed, a multi-generation native of the Maldives, says he and his team at APS Maldives are proud to share their Maldives home and happy to see one of the best and most fascinating travel destinations in the world fast emerging as a world favorite for superyacht cruising.
The Maldives groups of 19 atolls in entirely natural formation, with only a small number inhabited, make up the chain of islands waiting to be discovered by visiting vessels. The flat islands are formed from coral layers with the highest point rarely being more than 6 feet above sea level.
Located in the Indian Ocean 670 km south-west of Sri Lanka and covering an area of 700 km, they are protected from monsoon devastation by barrier reefs and rarely suffer from major storms. The archipelago’s miniscule coral islets of deep blue seas offer fantastic cruising adventures and the waterways provide the best and most natural of transport. Overhead the weather generally offers picture perfect sunlit days, breezy nights, balmy mornings and iridescent sunsets.
Long stretches of world-famous sugar-white beaches provide sanctuary to countless sea birds while extensive coral reefs host a seemingly endless variety of exotic fish and marine life. The islands are a way station in the annual migration of whale sharks and manta rays. Throughout the Maldives whale sharks are found patrolling very close to the surface which makes the islands a famed and ideal destination for snorkelers in any season. Speaking of which, the Maldives is pleasantly warm year-round, varying from 27 to 32 degrees Celsius.
With a superyacht as home base the Maldives reveals all of the above and much more. Now vessels can count on a longer stay to soak in the many memorable experiences of the Maldives, a unique sea destination unlike any place on earth.
