FIVE divers from the Cardigan Sub Aqua Club had ‘not the faintest idea’ when they flew to the Maldives on February 25 that the Iran war could threaten their ability to return to the UK.

The original party was eight divers but three of them had booked direct flights back to the UK, leaving behind the five who had booked flights with a stop in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

With the commencement of Operation Epic Fury just three days later on Saturday, February 28, the airspace above Doha was closed and effectively remains closed. Despite Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian saying they would not fire missiles at their neighbours, they continue to do so.

From Omadhoo, a very small island in the Maldives, trip organiser Nigel Jones explained: “We were due to fly back on Saturday [March 7] and we knew by then that the air space above Doha was closed, so we knew we wouldn’t be able to fly home on Saturday.”

The ‘Maldives Independent’ reported that the Middle East war is leaving Maldives exposed on every front, with surging oil prices and flight cancellations colliding with a US$ 500 million debt deadline. In February, the Maldives welcomed 8,800 tourists a day on average. Suddenly, thousands of tourists were left stranded.

Tourism Minister Thoriq Ibrahim said the government is facilitating departures, coordinating with airlines, and providing accommodation, water and internet services at the airport.

“Tourists are seated quite comfortably inside the terminal. In addition to that, MACL is now providing blankets and other items on the floor so that tourists can get some sleep,” he told the ‘Maldives Independent.’ “We are also looking at arranging additional comforts for families. We plan to open and clean the former Island Aviation lounge and make it available for families to stay in.”

Mercifully, the party of Cardigan divers didn’t have to have to travel to the airport only to discover there were no flights.

“No, no, we’re not that isolated,” Nigel explained. “We picked up that things were happening, and we didn’t catch the ferry from where we’re staying to the airport.

“There’s an airport in Maldives called Malé, and then we would fly from there to Doha. But there was no point going across because we knew that Doha was closed.

“We had the same thing when we went to Australia last year that we had a stop off in Doha, so anyone coming from that neck of the woods is probably stopping off in the Middle East somewhere - and they’re stuck as well.”

Stoically, Nigel described his own reaction to the news that they were stranded as “slightly aggravated,” when he described the divers’ predicament last Tuesday.

“Well, obviously, it’s understandable but, not a lot we can do about it unfortunately. So we are here until we can get back out again.

“We’ve rebooked twice and both times had them cancelled subsequently. On our third rebooking attempt is to fly out on Thursday evening [March 12].

“I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do if we get cancelled again, for the third time. I think some people are going to look at flying back via Turkey, incurring an air fare of over £1,000. Whether they’ll get it back, I doubt.”

“There are supposed to be some relief flights going on but we haven’t heard of anything.”

With the cancellation of the March 12 flight it became even more important that the divers were able to make the most of their imposed extended stay in the Maldives.

“Yeah, basically we’re diving every day until such time as we have a definite flight and then we can’t dive for 24 hours before that flight.

“It’s been a bit different from diving in Cardigan Bay, that’s for sure: Warm weather and the seas are absolutely beautifully clear. The seas contain a fantastic variety of wildlife of different descriptions - from tiny little shrimps to whale sharks.

“It’s one of the best sites in the world to go diving. The only issue that we have here is that they have quite strong currents on occasion so it can be a bit of a problem. We had some yesterday at a place we go to see sharks and tuna.

“Mind you, we get currents when we go diving in Cardigan Bay so it’s not something we’ve not encountered before.”

“Ironically, the tuna we get around Ceredigion are the Atlantic Blue tuna which are about the biggest tuna in the world. There’s getting to be more and more tuna around Ceredigion - wonderful, but these are much smaller, the ones we have here.

“We’ve seen a few dolphins as well, plus numerous other things.”

Asking what it was like in Tenby and learning about the predominantly drab weather, which matched reports from his wife in Ceredigion, Nigel said: “It’s 28 or 30 degrees here, constant sunshine.”

The group, all part of Cardigan Sub Aqua Club, had originally come to the island on a diving holiday arranged through Omadhoo-based Ari Atol Dive Centre who provided the group with great daily dives that included dives with Manta rays, turtles, a variety of sharks culminating with a brief encounter with a whale shark.

In addition to arranging the initial accommodation and dive package, Ari Atol have supported the group with sorting out the additional accommodation and helping to rearrange travel for those who have managed to get back to the UK.

“They have looked after us from day one,” said Nigel, “and still do despite our slight overrun.”

Nevertheless, with an extended stay of indeterminate length comes extra expense and a great deal of worry.

“Personally, it’s not such an issue but for those who are still working for a living, it’s not ideal. One of our party also has caring responsibilities with a child.

“From my perspective, because I managed the trip, I’ve had to arrange taxis and things at the other end to get us back to our cars that are in Heathrow Airport - because the flights we were offered were to Gatwick - but I’ve had to cancel all those; cancel the ferries.

“It’s not ideal as well because of incurring hotel costs and food costs that we hadn’t bargained for - as we had bought a package, as it was.

“We’ve not heard anything from the Foreign Commonwealth Office. We contacted them as soon as they put out that thing about registering the fact that you’re stuck. They’ve just sent out two or three stock emails that don’t really say anything. No support at all. Useless.”

Limited flights started to go out and into Doha by the middle of last week, giving some hope of return to normality. In the meantime, the five divers have had four tickets cancelled within days of travelling, and their latest flight tickets have been booked for March 18.

Nigel told us on Thursday that after hours of searching, two of the team who desperately need to return to work, Vincent Hadley and Adrian Boielle, found flights that day (March 12) from Maldives to London via Bacu using Azerbaijan Airlines.

Adrian is from Carmarthen whilst Vincent lives near to Aberystwyth. They are flying back at their own expense and Nigel estimated the whole trip to be over 30 hours.

As for the remaining three, Ronnie White is from Aberporth, Barry Tattershall from Llandysul and the organiser of the trip, Nigel Jones, is from Bryngwyn near Newcastle Emlyn. They all remain stranded in Omadhoo awaiting their rearranged flights home.

“Things are far from easy this end,” Nigel added in his most recent update. “I just had calls purporting to be from Qatar Airways offering refunds etc., but it transpired after over an hour’s call that it was a scam looking to take money from me.”

He signed off to dine on burger, chips and beer - non alcoholic of course as Maldives is an Islamic country - and at the time of going to press it’s still uncertain as to whether the three divers will be able to fly home on March 18.

A similar ordeal has ended for eight people from Gwynedd who faced “an arduous journey home from Mumbai” when their flight was cancelled amid conflict in the Middle East.

The party of three adults and five vulnerable youngsters returned on March 7, four days later than planned.

They feel lucky and grateful to be home, and their thoughts lie with people in areas caught up in the conflict.

Thanking people who sent supportive messages after the ‘Cambrian News’ featured their plight on March 3 - the day the group had been due to return home - they are also grateful to Dwyfor Meirionnyddd MP Liz Saville Roberts, who raised the issue with the Prime Minister.

Youngsters on the trip with Gwynedd charity GISDA “face an arduous journey home from Mumbai”, the MP told Keir Starmer in the Houses of Parliament.

Sian Tomos, chief executive of GISDA, was part of the trip to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

“We should have flown home from Mumbai to Manchester on March 3, but a friend sent a message about the conflict,” she said.

“We didn’t hear anything from our airline, IndiGo, but I look online and could see our flight had been cancelled.”

The group had to book four flights on their own, “eventually leaving Mumbai on Thursday morning, flying to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from there to Johannesburg, then Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and from there to Heathrow.

“We still haven’t been able to speak to the airline but we had to risk purchasing flights for eight of us, not knowing where we stood with them and our insurance, but it was our priority to make sure we got everyone home safe.”

With an extra day in Mumbai Sian said the group “tried to make the most of it, even though everyone was a bit tired”.

“We went to bed on Wednesday and got up at 2am to catch the first of four flights home.

“We stayed one night in Johannesburg as our flight from there to Ethiopia was the next morning, and then we flew to Heathrow. We got the tube to Euston, the train to Bangor, and a taxi to Caernarfon.

“We are all extremely tired but everything went smoothly.

“We feel extremely grateful we were in a safe zone and not in the Middle East.

“The next headache is figuring out the expenditure and if we can claim anything back.

“Our GISDA board members and colleagues have been extremely supportive and just wanted us back safe, and Liz raised the issue in Parliament. People have been really good, trying their best to help us.

“The initial trip was funded by the Welsh Government programme, Taith, a fantastic scheme that offers people the chance to travel all over the world.

“They’ve been really supportive too and may be able to help more if needs be.

“So our bad situation was actually not that bad.

“The youngsters, apart from one, had never been abroad, and I’m sure after overcoming their tiredness they’ll look back and really appreciate the trip they’ve had.

“They’ve seen so many places and done amazing things in India. We just feel lucky to be back home safe and well.”

Sian also wants to thank the youngsters themselves.

“I was dreading telling them our flight had been cancelled, but everyone was great and we had a group hug.

“The staff members who came with me were brilliant too.”

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) guidance issued last week, which advises against all travel to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, also urges British holidaymakers planning trips to popular hotspots such as Cyprus, Turkey, the Maldives and Sri Lanka to exercise vigilance, warning: “Even countries not directly involved in the conflict are experiencing travel disruptions.”

Travellers are advised to monitor airline updates, check insurance cover, and register with the FCDO before travelling.