Maldives Dive Sites
Dive site name : North Male Atoll
North Male Atoll is considered to be the tourism center of the Maldives, with over 40 top end resorts it provides luxury accommodation and tourism facilities. Much of the diving in the Maldives is done around North male Atoll due to the proximity to dive sites and the abundance of coral and marine life.
North Male diving is characterised by reefs, caves and drop offs. The atoll sees plenty of fish action and is generally a good area for large pelagics, with sharks and mantas at the front of the queue. A shipping route through one of the channels in North Male has also left a few wrecks for future generations to enjoy as colourful and thriving artificial reefs.
On top of this, Male has the busiest shipping lanes in the Maldives and therefore many wrecks for us and future divers to explore, especially in the channel between Gaafaru and Kaashidhoo. Male is the place where most divers will dive, on very pretty dive sites but those for even more remoteness and solitude, they can visit the outer atolls and reefs on liveaboards.
Lion's Head - With an international reputation for encounters with gray reef sharks, this is a popular dive site. Even with the new banning law on the feeding of sharks in the area, the chances of seeing these impressive predators patrolling the site is vast. The reef is a steep wall drops to great depths, home of a large number of invertebrates such as octopus and lobsters. The crystal clear waters of the channel give us the opportunity to see pelagic fish while in the top of the reef there's a great place to see turtles.
Banana Reef - located on the southeastern side of the atoll this banana shaped reef offers a more relaxing dive down to a sandy slope at 30 meters. Plenty of overhangs, caves and crevaces along the reef playing home to a multitude of marine inhabitants including morays, stonefish and lobsters. Napoleon and humphead wrasse also live around the reef which makes a nice drift dive.
Old Shark Point - The dive starts with a great rock formation at the corner of Thilafushi, an artificially reclaimed island. A great place to observe pelagic fish swimming in the blue water, move along the the wall which follows the rock to view beautiful overhangs covered with corals and crustacions. The great depth of the Vaadhoo Channel, which drops off to almost 500 metres contains mainly pelagic fish. The reef top, home to some turtles, is also an excellent spot for snorkellers.
Kani Corner - Fantastic drift dive along Kanifinolhu Island with caves, drop offs, slopes, all with beautiful hard and soft coral. Very exciting landscape. Abundant marine life with pelagic like tuna and sometimes eagle rays, manta rays, sharks and even sail fish are spotted.
Helengeli's House Reef - The house reef of Helengeli is a great dive site in the Maldives. It offers six entry and exit points with corresponding tank service. Due to its location in a channel close to the outside reef, the enormous number and big variety of fish and coral life, it is a fantastic alternative and addition to the boat dives and excursions. There have been divers situated on Helengeli Resort who spend their whole holidays at this brilliant house reef.
There are many other dive sites around North Male Atoll including Wattaru Kandu, The Aquarium, Sunlight Thila, Vilingili Corner, The Steps, Kuda Haa, Lankan Reef, Maagiri Caves, Mayaa Thila and Rasfari.
Dive site name : South Male Atoll
Kandus, or channels, are a major feature of South Male diving. On the eastern reef wall there are 6 channels through which a huge volume of water gushes, bringing with it all the nutrients to attract large quantities of marine life. Coral coverage in South Male is not what it is in other areas so if pristine reefs are your thing, North Male and Ari Atoll may have more to offer. The diving in South Male on the other hand features fish in schools of sizeable numbers, big pelagic fish, plenty of soft corals and caves as well as one very good wreck, and is considered one of the best liveaboard diving areas in the Maldives.
The atoll is separated from North Male Atoll by the Vaadhoo Kandu. This means it has strong ties to Male in terms of economic and cultural influence, and that the travel time from the international airport to many parts of South Male is comparable to that from North Male.
Vaadhu Caves - an exciting dive along caves which start at 30m, all with beautiful hanging soft coral and some gorgonians. Excellent marine life, often including Napoleaon wrasse, eagle rays, tuna and big jacks as well as white tip reef sharks and turtles. On top of the reef big schools of fusiliers and oriental sweetlips are a common sight.
Cocoa Thila - this spot attracts the pelagics when the current is flowing, you can expect to see trevally, tuna and eagle rays here. Three large coral bommies attract a lot of activity when currents are eddying around them, rock cod, sweetlips, fusiliers and many other fish congregate here. There are also a number of caves and overhangs along the reef face.
Baros Thila - The amazing abundance of fish at this site alone makes it worth your while to dive here. With the huge variety of reef dwelling species of fish, schools of batfish, barracudas, sharks and sometimes even sharks and turtles passing by you, it is easy to forget that the coral at this site are no longer in perfect condition.
Embudhu Canyon - A huge rock in front of the reef creates an exciting canyon with lots of caves and overhangs. Colourful soft corals make this site a delight for photographers with schools of yellow snappers and oriental sweetlips unconsciously posing for the perfect picture. Chances are high that there will be encounters with eagle rays, napoleon and sharks.
Turtle Reef - Located on the east-side of the South-Male Atoll, Turtle Reef offers a good basis for the appearance of sea-turtles. The reef shows a very dense and varied cover of corals which is used by these interesting animals as necessary hiding places to feel home and it also guarantees a great variety of food. Furthermore we can find many other colorful reef-inhabitants such as boxfish, porcupine fish, surgeonfish and schools of bannerfish. Due to the fact that turtles appear most commonly on the top of the reef we dive this site quite shallow. The low air consumption guarantees a nice and long dive. Easy and relaxing this dive can be joined and enjoyed by everyone.
Kuda Giri - This dive is at a small wreck which lies at a depth of about 25 meters near a beautiful reef with several caves and overhangs. A fantastic dive where you can explore the wreck and then go to the reef and explore it if you wish. The visibility in the area is not good but the marine life and reef creatures make up for it. The wreck is home to some small fish and elsewhere ,around the reef, is a large variety of fish including ballan wrasses, parrotfish, sweetlips, triggerfish, lobsters and the occasional white tips reef shark.
South Male Atoll has far too many dive sites to mention here however a few of the better ones are Maafushi where eagle rays and turtles are often spotted on the sandy bottom. Gulhi Kandu, Lhosfushi Kandu, Medhu Faru, Embudhu Canyon, Bolifushi Thila and Velassaru Faru are some of the other good dive sites around South Male Atoll.
Dive site name : South & North Ari Atoll
Northern Ari Atoll or Alifu Alifu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives. It is formed by the northern section of Ari Atoll, the small Rasdhukuramathi Atoll, and the isolated island of Thoddoo. Many of the islands in this atoll have been inhabited since ancient times and have arqueological remains from the Maldivian Buddhist period. The water temperature is between 27ºC and 29ºC and Visibility is excellent, going from 30 to 60 meters, and could drop to 15 meters due to the movement of currents and tides.
South Ari Atoll in Maldives is endowed with enrapturing tropical splendor. It is one of the exciting dive locations in Maldives. South Ari Atoll boasts of several world-class dive sites in Maldives. thilas and outer reefs are suitable for exotic diving rather than channels. South Ari Atoll entices divers with its profuse aquatic flora and fauna.
Broken Rock - is About 80 metres long, what distinguishes this thila from the others is a canyon that cuts through the diameter of the thila. The canyon is about one to three metres wide and 10 metres deep. It slices the reef from south east to north west. The top of the reef is 14 metres and the canyon reaches a maximum depth of 24 metres. Swimming through this 50 metre long canyon is one of the highlights. The strong currents and protected pockets on the reef have made an ideal environment for an amazing variation of marine life from strong branching seafans and soft coral to schools of barracuda, fusilier, tallfin batfish and turtles.
Dhigu Thila - In the channel to the south of Madivaru lies this narrow, 400 meters long thila running east to west, It is also called Toroka Thila. The reef top is about 3 to 5 meters in the center and 10 to 12 meters on the west side. The reef to the east is deeper and finishes off on at a 18 meters plateau that turns towards south. On the southern side there are caves and overhangs at 22 to 26 meters. There are three points jutting off the main reef to the south. At the last point on the deep south east corner are caves at 30 meters. Barracudas, white-tip and grey reef sharks, eagle rays and sometimes mantas and napoleons can be found here.
Bathalaa Maagaa Kanthila - is a long, narrow spur, about 20 meters wide starts at Bathala Maagaa and extends for 500 meters northwards into Maagaa Kandu. The top gradually becomes deeper untill reaching the bottom at 30 meters. The eastern side of the spur is the outside of the Atoll and drops steeply from 20 meters. There are one or two small caves at the northern end on the outside. Visibility is usually better on the outside.
Barracuda, tuna, turtles, sharks and sometimes eagle rays are quiet likely to be seen here. The reef top is covered in a variety of coral. There are sponge balls with ascidians and hydriods at the deeper end while closer to the main reef are sea anemones and big porite corals home for aggregations of sweetlip and bannerfish. Fusilier are all over the reef and there are small schools of big-nose unicornfish and snapper.
Machafushi Wreck - was sunk in 1998, by now the artificial reef supports a great variety of marine life. The wreck sits upright only a short swim from the reef which slopes gently from 2 to 25m. Its keel at 28m and its deck at 12m. Near the stern you'll find the crew quarters and wheelhouse, where oriental sweet lips and blue lined snappers took over from amidships to the bow. A variety of encrusting sponges, leather and tubastrea corals and a few small soft corals have since taken hold on the wreck. It is also home to several large moray eels, groupers, batfish and host of reef fishes.
Veligandu Kandu - is a shallow channel with around the depth of 10 meters. The reef slopes at 25 m and in the middle of the channel a large coral garden formulated with nooks and crannies with myriad underwater species. Manta rays are often seen swimming across the channel. Maaya Thila is the frequently visited dive site with an average visibility of 20 m and an average water temperature of 26 C. An impressive site to spot gray reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, batfish, zebra morays, stonefish, frogfish and turtles. Maaya Thila is located to 3 km northwest side of Maayafushi Island Resort and can easily be accessed by boat in 20 minutes from this resort.
Halaveli wreck - was sunk by the dive school of Halaveli Island in 1991 to makes it an attractive dive spot. The Halaveli wreck is a home to large morays, stingrays, batfish and groupers. It is located on the house reef of Halaveli. Fesdu wreck dive, 1 km southwest side of Fesdu Island Resort, is another wreck diving site filled with colorful marine species and soft corals.
North and South Ari Atoll literally have to many dive sites to mention with hundreds of thilas (reef). Some of the better one which you might want to include in your dive trips is Bodu thin thila, Kandholhudhoo Thila, and Aah Thila. This dive is just spectacular with huge variety of marine life including large pelagic.
Dive site name : Baa Atoll
Baa Atoll is an administratibe division of the Maldives. It consists of three separate natural atolls, namely southern Maalhosmadulu Atoll (which is 42 km long and 32 km wide and consists of 9 inhabited islands), the Fasdūtherē Atoll (wedged in between the two Maalhosmadulu Atolls and separated from north Maalhosmasdulu Atoll by Hani Kandu or Moresby Channel) and the smaller natural atoll known as Goifulhafehendhu Atoll (Horsburgh Atoll in the Admiralty charts).
Situated on the west of the Maldives atoll chain, it consists of 75 islands of which 13 are inhabited with a population of over 11,000 people. The remaining 57 islands are uninhabited, in addition to five islands being developed as resorts.
Maavaru Kandhu - This is a fantastic dive about 30 minutes from the Coco Palm Resort in the Baa Atoll. We did this dive as a drift dive as the current was quite strong, but it was possible to escape from the current in some of the overhangs. These were really beautiful with bright blue and yellow soft coral hanging down from the reef, completely unspoilt. We watched a stingray swim out of an overhang and move up the reef with undulating sides. There were also turtles, morays, pufferfish, lots of little fusiliers, jackfish and lionfish. A really colourful dive with lots of interest.
Maaddoo Corner - the north east side of the island reef offers the most interesting dive. There are amazing overhangs. When the current is flowing into the Atoll, it's difficult to dive because the water flow splits in two directions contouring the reef. On the reef top, inside Maaddoo Kandu there are excellent table corals.
Hanifaru Bay - of the Baa Atoll in the Maldives is a place where the dreams of nature come true. Dreams of seeing the ever graceful Manta Rays, lots and lots of them. The sea-locked swathe of gorgeous Atolls scattered down the Indian Ocean, the Maldives is renowned for it's postcard picturesque luxury resorts and amazingscuba diving. The Baa Atolls situated on the west of the Maldives atoll chain, consists of 75 islands of which 13 are inhabited. This Atoll is divided by a 3km wide channel, with big drop offs into deep waters and is rapidly gaining recognition as a new dive spot for enthusiasts keen to escape the crowds of the better known dive sites in the Maldives. But what makes this atoll so special is the bay of Hanifaru running from the southeastern edge of a small island and large sand flat cay called Hanifaruhuraa.
Muthafushi Tila - This little round tila is shaped like a wedding cake with layers, so that you can go round it starting at 20 metres and gradually work your way up. It is a beautiful dive because the coral is so bright - it's red, yellow and orange and it is everywhere. Also there are loads of fish darting about in shoals above your head. One can see lots of morays, anemonefish, glassfish, bannerfish, a big octopus, fusiliers, and trevallies. It is great to watch the trevallies chasing the fish.
Miriandhoo Thila - on the west side of the reef, there's a 3 to 20 meters of depth chimney and at the east side, there are large coral rocks, overhangs, and small pink corals. This is a great dive not only for beginners but an experienced divers too. Diving around this dive spot one might see Anglerfish and at 30 meters there's a large school of blue-striped snapper. There is also black coral and sometimes ghost pipefish.
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