The Heart of Ari Atoll - Maldives
When I first arrived in the Maldives, only one word would come to my mind: BLUE.
The Maldivian territory is divided in 1% of land and 99% of water, so “blue” is a good word to describe this country. Flying with a seaplane you can truly be in awe of all this different tones of this one colour: a Maldivian man once described me his country as “50 Shades of Blue”, and he could not be more right! The Maldives were created by volcanoes erupting in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and with the years got eroded and slowly sunk leaving only tiny little flat islands (the highest mountain is 4.5m, FACT) and shallow reefs. Depending on how deep is the reef, the water comes in a big range blue, from a very light blue in the shallows, to the deep dark blue in the channels between the Atolls.
But for me, such as my previous post on the Cap de Creus , the real beauty of this place resides underwater: yes, I love perfect white sand beach and green palm trees, but have you seen how it looks like below the surface? Gentle giants, like Whalesharks and Mantas, thrive in these waters, along with Dolphins, Sharks, Turtles, and well over 1000 species of fish… And that without counting on the amazing coral “cities”, which host all of the species.
Official video of the Constance Moofushi Resort
I first arrived to the Maldives in March of 2019, to work as a Scuba diving Instructor in an island resort called Constance Moofushi, on the border between North and South Ari Atoll. The first sight of the place was astonishing: perfect flat sea, tiny baby sharks circling under the arrival jetty, luxurious water villas, green palm trees and a pristine white beach, the perfect place for honeymooners. I could not wait to jump in the water, and when I did I was mind blown.
Diving in the Maldives
The water temperature is pretty much the same all year round: there are no “real” seasons in the Maldives, only the Western Monsoon and Easter Monsoon. When the wind blows West, it’s “summer”, a hotter and dryer period of the year that starts by the end of November and ends by mid-April. The rest of the year is “winter”: it doesn’t mean it will be cold, but there might be more storms and rain. In 2019, we had an amazing month of August where we did not see a drop of rain, but on the other hand we had a late start of the dry season, which started by the end of December. Being so close to the Equator, weather can change really fast and is hard to predict. Water temperature goes from 27C to 31C and the visibility varies between 10m on the big plankton booms (great for seeing Mantas) and 50+m on some days, depending on the currents.
Another big factors on your dive are the currents. In the Maldives, there are 2 types of currents: outgoing current and incoming current. Atolls are a conjoint of little islands, most of them drawing a shape in the ocean. The incoming current is when the water from the ocean enters the atoll in the pass between the islands or shallow reefs, bringing clear visibility and attracting big predators close to the passes, like sharks, eagle rays and big tunas. On the other hand, when the water comes from to atoll to the ocean it is called outgoing current, bring loads of particles and plankton, reducing the visibility (sometimes drastically) but attracting plankton feeders like Mantas, Mobula Rays and even Whalesharks. The currents are created by the tides: in the Moofushi area, outgoing was when the tide was falling and incoming when the tide was rising. As the moon influences the tides, on full moons and new moons, currents tend to be strongers and less predictable: it can guarantee some great dives for more advance divers, but don’t get fooled… It can be truly dangerous, make sure to listen and follow to your guide, he probably knows better than you how to handle the currents. Unfortunately, every year they are accidents and people can get lost miles away in the sea, never to be found again.
Even thought all the area is absolutely stunning and diving is mindblowing, I picked 5 dives to be my favorite:
Moofushi Rock (Bojahamadi)
One word to describe this dive site: WOW. I have roughly done 2200 dives in my life, and this one has to be the best dive site I have ever dived.
Moofushi Rock is known to be one of the best Manta cleaning stations in the Maldives. A manta cleaning station is place, usually a rock or a big piece of coral, where mantas come to get parasites removed and wounds cleaned by the hundreds of little cleaner fish living there. Mantas love it: it is a bit like a local Spa, where you hang out with your friends, sometimes even spending up to 8h per day just getting cleaned. Even though Mantas are big pelagic animals travelling all over the Maldives, they will always remember where the cleaning stations are, and it is thought that they kind off can communicate with other mantas to tell them where to go. Other animals benefit from these places, such as sharks, rays, turtles and even the reef fish.
Even though there are more Mantas there during the dry season, they can be seen there year around, sometimes 10 or more of them together, staying there for long periods of time. The best part? The cleaning station is at -14m, so it is accessible for any diver and you can stay there without worrying exceeding your maximum bottom time. At the deepest part of the cleaning station (around -25m), dozens of White Tip Reef Sharks get their teeth cleaned by the Cleaner Wrasses, while Grey Reef Sharks and Eagle Rays lurk in the back, next to the pass, sometimes gathering more than 300 sharks. A yellow Leaf-fish is known the live there, you just have to really focus to find it.
Between the shark pass and the clean station you can have sometimes some crazy encounters… I have personally witnessed Spinner Dolphins, Blue Marlin, Leopard Shark on various occasions, mating Reef Mantas, 3m long Silvertip Sharks, close to 2m wide Marbled Rays, a school of mating Napoleon fish (10 females for 1 huge male), huge male Green Turtle (very uncommon in the area), 3m long Nurse Sharks, a curious Whaleshark that hung out for about 25min, and a mindblowing and rare Ornate Eagle Ray, as big as a Reef Manta. I have also heard and seen videos of Dolphin fish, Thresher Shark, Tiger Shark, Hammerheads, Oceanic Mantas and a regular Bowmouth Guitarfish. Believe me or not, this place exists for real!
Despite the fact the fact that Moofushi Rock can be surprisingly unpredictable, it is the busiest dive site in the area. Liveaboards, resort dive shop and local island dive shops of the area go there, and the cleaning station can get REALLY busy. More than a dozen boats can be there at once, I think the time that I saw the most was 17 boats, with easily over 200 divers at once, clinging on the reef to see the mantas up close. Corals have been destroyed in a perfect circle around the cleaning station, allowing divers to kneel and even lay down on the reef, trying sometimes to pet the mantas, causing great stress while they should be there relaxing. As we were the closest dive center, we recorded and IDed the mantas for the organisation Manta Trust, we have noticed a decrease of mantas on the station, but mantas still roam in the area, just waiting for us to leave.
Himandhoo Thila
Himandhoo Thila is Moofushi Rock’s “sister” dive site: being relatively close to each other, the same fish can be found there, including mantas and sharks. The main difference is the shape of the dive site: while Moofushi rock is plateau with a progressive slope to the end of the Maldivian plaque, Himandho Thila is the south part of a big round reef that ends abruptly in the ocean.
Big overhangs with nutrient filtering Sea Fans and big fallen rock covered with soft corals provide protection from predators and too strong currents to baby Eagle Ray, juvenile sharks and Hawksbill Turtles. The closer you get to the open ocean, the more bigger animals you will find: large schools of Eagle Rays, loads of Grey Reef and White Tip Reef Sharks, and occasionally Mobula Rays and Silvertip Sharks. There is also a Manta cleaning station there: although not as famous as Moofushi Rock, on a lucky day you might see 3 or 4 of them in the area. Mantas are a little less predictable there, but this are a LOOOOT less divers here, which is really appreciated.
I recommend to do this dive on a middle current, outgoing or incoming (more possibility of Mantas vs more Sharks), if you want to enjoy fully this dive site: it is quite a long dive site, so current will improve your dive. The top of the thila is around 8m deep and goes all the way to a big sand patch at -35m, but it is more enjoyable if you have at least an Advance Open Water certification. Nitrox is also highly recommended, the best part of the dive is between 12-25m.
Dega Thila
Dega Thila is the perfect dive site for beginners and macro underwater photographers: the almost non existent current there provides a safe place for those who are still learning to control their buoyancy or for those who want to take their time and look for smaller critters on the reef.
Located 30 minutes south from the Constance Moofushi Resort, this little reef is divided in 2 parts: on the west side are 2 lines of 2 and 3 pinnacles and on the east a “giri”, a very shallow circular reef. The top of the shallower pinnacles is around 4m (great area for safety stops) and the deeper sand patches are at 34m deep, which makes it a great dive site for all levels.
The pinnacles are, for me, the most interesting part. A big school of Batfish is always present between these two lines of pinnacles and little white tip reef sharks lurk on the bottom, where you can also find some very large Spearing Mantis Shrimp. Bushy Black Coral cover the deeper pinnacles and huge schools of glass fish and bait fish and their predators, juvenile Dogtooth Tuna and Trevallys, dashing through the schools. Around the shallower pinnacles are 2 swim-throughs: one is a little narrow tunnel, full of sponges and corals, but you have to be careful not to hit anything. Little overhangs full of sponges offer perfect places to find nudibranchs and flatworms, such as the splendid Goniobranchus gleniei. Day Octopus and Yellow Boxfish are also very common there. Soft corals cover the top of the shallow pinnacles, and you have chances of seeing 1 or 2 Hawksbill Turtle feeding.
Emas Thila
Emas Thila is a highly underrated dive site. Even though we were the closest dive shop to it, I have only been there 4 times in a year, but each time was a truly mind blowing experience.
This little reef is a bit of a challenge and only the most experienced divers can dive it: this reef is located in the middle of a wide channel between the Moofushi reef and the Himandhoo reef and it can be subject to really strong currents. Also the shallower part of the reef is a -16m, so you have to be a bit careful with your air consumption and Nitrox is highly recommend to fully enjoy this dive site (the dive is between -32m to -16m). Finding the reef is a bit challenging also, someone will probably have to jump to find the reef from the top.
But here comes the good part. As this reef is pretty unknown and hidden, even by local people, it has barely been fished and almost never been dived. Giant Sea Fan corals cover the north part of the Thila, some of them over 1.5m wide, a giant school of thousands of Trevallys circle the mid-top reef, big Grey Reef Sharks are frequently found on the western tip of the reef, and the WHOLE reef is covered in small pink/orange soft corals. Big fallen blocks create overhangs where schools of fish seek protection. If the current allows you to go a bit further, a “Blue Cave” (very big overhang with curtains of blue soft corals fall from the roof) can be explored, sometimes recently mated female Grey Reef Sharks seek shelter there from too excited/aggressive males. Visibility tends to be really good, specially on a slow/medium incoming current.
Overall, one of my favourite dive sites ever: it is just so beautiful you are the whole dive in awe.
Moofushi Kandu
Its closeness to the resort and the abundance that you can find in the Moofushi Channel is why I pick this dive site. You dive the north wall of the channel, which is more exposed to currents, refreshing the water and bringing nutrients to the healthy corals there, regrouping a large amount of fish and turtles.
It is a wall dive, from -5 to -35m, full of crevasses and overhangs, providing food and shelter to many different fish species, such as Napoleon Wrasses, Grey Reef Sharks, White Tips Sharks, Groupers, Oriental Sweetlips, very large Giant Morays and many more. But beware of the overhangs! Currents there can be ripping strong, creating undesirable “washing machine” currents. On the top of the reef, between 4 to 10m deep, you can find a beautiful hard coral garden, where you can find many Hawksbill Turtles, of all sizes.
The highlight of this dive sites are the Eagle Rays: sometimes, if you get extra lucky, a big school of them can be spotted there, with easily 30 to 50 specimens, cruising together against the currents. It is an impressive sight to witness, trust me! Due to its closeness to Moofushi Rock, Mantas can sometimes be seen passing by. Leopard Sharks, Mobula Rays and even the very elusive Bowmouth Guitarfish were sometimes spotted there, roaming in the middle of the pass. A family of Spinner Dolphin used to be seen in the area, but most of the time we would seem them from the boat and hear them underwater. You just need to get extra lucky!