Scuba Diving the Maldives | Scuba Diving Holidays | Scuba Diving Vacations
"Divers can swim away from one reef and no sooner loose sight of it than find another one looming up ahead, like a mirage, until it clearly becomes distinguishable."
Early mariners said the island were so numerous and the channels so narrow that the ship yards touched the trees of islands on either side. Underwater the reefs are so abundant. Divers can swim away from one reef and no sooner loose sight of it than find another one looming up ahead, like a mirage, until it clearly becomes distinguishable. Despite their proximity, each dive site has its own character and mood, just as the currents that are born of them display their own temperament and behavior. The outside reefs are defiant like forwalls solid and impenetrable. They spurn the seething water before them and temper its forces with a solid barrier of battle hardened coral. The Kandus, or channels, are more assertive, like the gates of a fort, steering the restless currents through their narrow openings, forcing them against jagged walls and into crevices and caves where the first filtering of nutrients takes place. The currents bounce back fighting forming eddies and swirling streams before being funneled, exhausted, into the more placid interior of the atoll.
In the channels, divers can find caves and overhangs full of soft coral, a wide range of invertebrates, gorgonians, and sponges. There are also canyons and on the outside corners are steep drop offs. At these impressive sites, vast schools of fish feed in colliding waters.
Across the channels and inside the atolls are the thilas. Mysterious and secretive, they are sentinels of rock that spring from the ocean floor to within a few meters of the surface, splitting and trapping the currents, as they pass causing surprise and confusion. These thilas act like magnet for marine life and provide a spectacular change of scenery.
Around some thilas and reefs are large coral rocks, that can used like compass points to direct divers away from the reef, perhaps to another and safely back home. There are many reefs inside the atolls, they are are often exposed at low tide and form the body of the atoll. They are restful sites, pretty to look at, and always available. Above the water is the vast collection of islands, reefs, and sand bars that make up this rich and historically unique nation. No diver can fail to be impressed by the formation of the islands and the way in which the people have adapted to them.
The isolation of the islanders from the rest of the world has left an intriguing history which is still being unraveled. Stepping ashore in the capital Male' just 10 years ago was for westerners, like stepping into a time warp. Fishing dhonis were tide off to old canons strewn along the sandy waterfront. At the tea house on the marine drive, a foreign face drew inquiring glances. Today every resort has an access to a dive center, and visiting divers are the mainstay of the Maldivian economy. Changes to the marine environment from the influx of tourists, a rapidly expanding local population and the development of new, up-market resorts is inevitable. Keeping those changes in context will be the challenge of the decade.
Scuba Diving
Every resort in the Maldives caters for scuba divers and international certificates of all types are accepted. The dive schools are well equipped, and regulators, BCDs, computers, masks, snorkels and fins are available for hire. For those learning to dive resorts offer a variety of dive courses are conducted in several languages, with courses conducted in English, German, Italian, French and Japanese in most of the For those learning to dive all resorts conduct open water and advanced courses such as night diving, rescue diving, underwater photography. Courses such as naturalist and shark specialist courses have proved most popular due to the growing interest in the marine environment. At resorts, diving is conducted daily all year around and it is only rarely that diving has to be cancelled. Most resorts would have access to a protected reef on the leeward side of the island that enables them to dive even during times of rough seas and strong winds.
Popular Maldives Scuba Diving Sites
Listed below are some of the best scuba diving sites in the Maldives
Wreck of the Maldives Victory (Ship Wreck)
In the early morning hours of 13 February 1981, a Friday, this 35,000-ton freighter ran at full speed onto the southern tip of the island of Hulule - the airport island near the Capital. Panic spread through the island when it became known that the long-awaited foodstuffs and building materials were lying on the bottom of the ocean.
Banana Reef
Shaped like a banana, this reef stretches from North-East to South over a length of some three hundred meters. Nearby resort islands include Fullmoon Island, Club Med and Kurumba. Ever since scuba divers began to dive in this part of the North-Male' Atoll, twenty years ago, Banana Reef has remained an ideal spot. A favourable feature is that since the fish show absolutely no fear of photographers on this reef, one can take excellent shots. However, together with the strong current and the fragile reef it makes anchoring your boat not always an easy task. You are requested to be careful not to damage the fragile reef when anchoring your boat.
Shark Point
As the name suggests, encountering and observing sharks at this point is a frequent and regular happening. They swim to and from at the end of the channel where the currents are strongest. Friendly Gray reef sharks and whitetip reef sharks are those most likely to approach the divers.
Barracuda Giri
Barracuda Giri lies in the North Male' Atoll, North - Northeast of Bandos Island Resort and South -Southeast of Thulhagiri Island. Barracuda Giri boasts some truly spectacular dives. Life forms include large schools of black spotted sweetlips, schools of large batfish, black coral, barracuda etc.
Manta Point
Manta Point, which lies in the northern section of the channel leading out of the Ari Atoll, is - as the name suggests - an ideal place for close encounters with Mantas Rays. From December until the middle of April, the Mantas are regulars at this site, the topography and the location of the site making it an ideal habitat for all species of fish that live on plankton.