There are some things you should know about scuba diving and snorkelling in the Maldives. If this is one of your dreams on your bucket list, you will want to read this.
In this article, I’ll tell you what diving and snorkelling are like in the exotic Maldives. The type of diving skills for each dive site is described with a rate of easy to difficult along with a couple of entertaining videos.
The beautiful Maldives sits in the Indian Ocean with over 1,000 little coral islands and 26 interesting ring-shaped atolls. They offer some of the best prime diving sites for scuba divers and snorkelers.
Blessed with friendly people, these amazing tropical islands have elegant blue lagoons, white sandy beaches and palm trees… what more can you ask for?
While you indulge yourself in the land pleasures of night activities and long walks along the crystal beaches, there is also the intriguing underwater invitation from the sunken garden of Eden and elegant sea creatures.
It’s no wonder snorkelers and divers from newbies and experienced, travel to the Maldives from all over the world to fulfill a few of their dreams on their bucket list.
The majority of the dives are drift diving and are mostly done from luxurious liveaboards that take you to remote and exotic locations. I’ll be giving you a link to that below…
Are you ready to do this?
Scuba Diving and Snorkelling in Current Swept Channels
Diving from the Scubaspa Ying Liveaboard Video!
The Maldives is one of the world’s renowned drift diving destinations.
The channels can be broad in between the atolls and strong incoming currents mean fresh new plankton soup. This attracts the larger pelagic sea creatures like the year-round residents, the giant manta rays, the gentle whale sharks, and tunas.
Enchanting forests of different coral and entertaining fish species thrive in currents because of the delicious floating minute soup mixture.
This is a dream come true for underwater photographers who enjoy the magnificent colourful reefs with caverns, undercuts, swim-throughs and exotic overhangs with gorgonians and sponges.
While most of the dive sites in the Maldives are average to strong currents, there is still something for everyone like the easy gentle currents for snorkelers and the not-so-experienced divers.
What I really like about the Maldives is its unique diversity in the diving ambiance, for instance…
The Blue Lagoons – Great For Everyone
Every Maldivian island has a lagoon and while it may not offer much in large pelagic sea creatures, you can still have a great snorkel or have your first memorable dive experience as you learn.
Looking for some calm water? This place is perfect for you or a family member. Here, you can find the body of water is usually quite shallow and sandy and protects the lagoon from strong currents.
The Thilas – Drift Diving With Strong Currents
Thilas (pinnacles) are fascinating underwater islands.
If you’re looking for some good strong drift dives, look for the small peaks.
These magnificent pinnacles are bejewelled with clinging colourful coral and sponges. They are one of the best places to see caves, and tunnels along with resident lobsters, crabs, sharks and large schools of fish.
Even the hungry wrasse and shrimp set up their cleaning stations in the current. They patiently wait for the large pelagic sea creatures like the manta rays and whale sharks to arrive so they can feed on their dead skin, parasites, and bacteria.
The Kandu – Drift Diving With Strong Currents
Another great place for drift diving!
Anytime you dive around atolls, the border of ring-shaped tiny coral islands or if they’re situated close together the tidal current changes. It hauls in a harvest of fresh plankton for the big guys like the manta rays and the whale sharks
When you see the Thila and the Kandu, the strongest currents are here. Do you want the thrill of your life? Then this is where you need to dive. Come and watch the most spectacular show of assorted marine fauna whiz before your eyes!
The Faru – Current For Drift Diving and Fun For Snorkelers
Drift divers love this place because of the strong current and even snorkelers have a fun time hanging out where it’s not so deep.
A faru is an interesting collection of reefs often appearing in the shape of a horseshoe on a single atoll.
Skill Ratings for Divers and Snorkelers in the Maldives
Below is a list of some dive sites with their rating. * is easy drift diving and ** medium to difficult *** invites challenges
Male Atoll Location
Manta Point (Lankan Beyru) *
Type of drift dive – Easy
Dive level – You can easily learn to dive in lagoons. Beginners to experienced divers and snorkelers.
Attraction – Manta rays and whitetip reef sharks come to the cleaning station.
Rasfari Corner *
Type of drift dive – Easy
Dive level – You can easily learn to dive in lagoons. Beginners to experienced divers and snorkelers.
Attraction – Cleaning station for the manta rays. Lots of turtles.
South Male Atoll Location
Kandooma Thila ***
Reef hooks and sharks in the Maldives video.. enjoy watching!
Type of drift dive – Challenging
Dive level – Important to have good buoyancy control. You need to be an experienced drift diver and don’t forget to bring your current hooks
Attraction – This is a popular dive site and is considered the best dive site in the South Male Atoll. White tip sharks and grey reef sharks, trevally, jacks, snappers, eagle rays, green turtles, and large schools of fish await you.
Strong currents greater than 5 knots exist with incoming and outgoing currents. You are advised to do a fast descent so be prepared to quickly and gently equalize your ears.
Rasdhoo Madivaru ***
Type of drift dive – Challenging
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is required. You need to be an experienced drift diver and don’t forget to bring your current hooks.
A piece of advice is to not swim out to the blue and you should keep diving along the Madivaru Island reef. The site’s natural layout is intricate and presents many sandy bottoms and appealing reef formations.
Attraction – Reef sharks, huge dogtooth tunas, eagle rays, manta rays, and whale sharks.
This is a channel drift dive between Rasdhoo Island and Madivaru Island that goes out into the open ocean.
Because of the channel, you can expect strong incoming currents that attract manta rays and whale sharks. You may even be fortunate enough to see hammerhead sharks.
North Ari Atoll Location
Maaya Thila **
Type of drift dive – Medium to difficult current
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is required. Beginners to experienced divers should be comfortable in the water and familiar with drift diving.
Attraction – Moray eels, whitetip sharks, snappers, fusiliers, jackfish, turtles, and stingrays.
Fish Head **
Type of drift dive – Medium to difficult current
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is needed. Beginners to experienced divers should be comfortable in the water and be familiar with drift diving.
Attraction – Large impressive schools of jacks, snappers, barracudas, tunas, reef sharks and fusiliers. Moray eels and turtles.
Bathalaamaagaa Kanthila ***
Type of drift dive – Challenging
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is expected. You must be an experienced drift diver and bring your own current hooks. There are incoming and challenging outgoing currents.
Attraction – Eagle rays, large jack schools, fusiliers, reef sharks, napoleons
South Ari Atoll Location
Manta Point (Moofushi Kandu) **
Type of drift diving – Medium to difficult current
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is needed. Beginners to experienced divers should be familiar with drift diving.
Attraction – Look foe manta rays at the cleaning station at around 46’/14 meters – 82’/25 meters. There are lots of blue-striped snappers and fusiliers along with whitetip reef sharks.
Recommendation – Use reef hooks to help you enjoy taking photos of manta rays.
Kudhimaa Wreck **
Type of drift diving – Medium to difficult current.
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is needed. Beginners to experienced divers should be familiar with drift diving. Want to do a wreck dive?
Attraction – Located next to the Machafushi House Reef.
This must-see dive is the Kudhimaa Wreck, a medium-sized 52m long Japanese cargo steel ship.
Sunk in 1998, the ship is a prisoner to the sea to the delight of divers. Sea creatures are in constant competition looking for homes among colourful corals, sponges, and algae that are latched to this wreck.
Pufferfish, lionfish, batfish, boxfish, nurse sharks, eels and the hard-to-spot rockfish are just some fish who have made this wreck their home.
Large holes have been cut to allow safe entrance for divers and once you’re inside, you’ll be in awe when you see the activity of sea creatures.
Kudarah Thila ***
Type of drift diving – Challenging
Dive level – You must be able to do a deep dive to 30 meters and have good buoyancy control. This dive is for the experienced drift diver. Remember to bring your current hooks so you can stay a while and watch a panoramic scene of underwater bliss.
Attraction – Groupers, large schools of snappers, flatworms, jacks, batfish, colourful soft corals, and fusiliers.
This protected site has the most superior diving conditions in the South Ari Atoll. You will definitely want to bring your torch if you want to check out the small caves.
Most noteworthy is the interesting diverse geography that awaits you here with an appealing tunnel crossing, 2 exotic detached blocks and some very large overhangs.
Maamigili Beyru *
Type of drift diving – Easy
Dive level – You can easily learn to dive in lagoons. This is ideal for beginners to experienced divers and snorkelers.
Attraction – This is the perfect location to see the world’s largest fish year-round, the gentle whale sharks. Specific rules are discussed by your professional tour guide prior to the dive which must be followed.
Vaavu Atoll Location
Alimatha House Reef **
Type of drift diving – Medium to difficult
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is required for beginners and experienced divers. Familiarity with drift diving is required.
Attraction – This is a night dive where you are entertained by a show of nurse sharks and stingrays while you relax and kneel on a beautiful sandy bottom.
Large groups of jackfish are also performing at a depth of no more than 15m.
Miyaru Kandu ***
Type of drift diving – Challenging
Dive level – Good buoyancy control is required for the experienced diver.
You should expect to descend quickly when encountering a strong current.
Attraction – Hammerhead sharks, grey reef sharks, turtles, jacks, fusiliers, eagle rays, huge groupers, napoleons, tunas.
Visibility can be as great as 131’/40m (northeast monsoon). There are some very exciting caves that can be explored in this channel revealing black coral, a distinct potato coral and whip corals. If you look close enough you’ll see moray eels and Glassfish.
If you want to see the giant manta rays, they can be spotted during the southwest monsoon.
Scuba Diving and Snorkelling in the Maldives Summary
Best Time To Go: Male Atoll, Maldives – Manta rays and whale sharks can be seen from May to November.
Best Time To Go: Ari Atoll, Maldives – Manta rays and whale sharks are year-round residents
Best Way To Scuba Dive And Do Some Snorkeling: Liveaboards
Departure Port: Male
Water Temperatures: You’re going to love diving and snorkelling in the Maldives! Year-round, it’s 80-86 F/26-30 C
Visibility:
Ranges anywhere from 70’/20m and up but the good part is when the visibility is not so great because of floating plankton. This means there is a high possibility that manta rays and whale sharks are around.
Featured Sea Creatures: Manta rays and whale sharks, hammerhead sharks and other sharks, eagle rays and tuna frequent the open water where currents reside.
Napoleon wrasse, groupers, sweet lips, snappers, turtles, moray eels, parrotfish, jacks, fusiliers, glassfish can be seen and much more.
Recommendation: If you’re new to diving or maybe you consider yourself a novice diver, there are liveaboards in the Maldives perfect for you. You may want to check this out…
The great thing about my top recommended liveaboards is they also offer PADI’s Advanced Open Water Diver and Nitrox courses. If you want to dive a little deeper to examine an underwater wreck and want to be a wee bit more adventuresome… these courses will give you a ton of confidence and improve your buoyancy control.
Well, I hope I was able to provide you with useful information on that list in your bucket.
If you have any stories you would like to share of your vacation to the Maldives or have any questions or comments, it would be awesome to hear from you. Please put them in the Comment Box below.
Thanks for reading!
Monica
I am new at diving and have my basic open water certification and so far i love it.
The Maldives and the Indian Ocean are definitely on my list of places to dive.
do you think it would be a good idea for me to get my advanced open water before visiting the Maldives? Or would my current certification be sufficient to get a great experience there?
Hi Brendon,
Thank you for reading my article. I glad to hear you are enjoying your diving. To get the best drift dive experience I would say yes, it is an excellent idea to get your Advanced Open Water Diver Certification before you dive in the Maldives. You can go on PADI’s website and sign up in their eLearning. You can learn all the sections online in which you have a year to complete and do in your own time. After that you can hookup with a dive shop and finish by doing 2 required dives, the Deep dive and the Underwater Navigation dive plus pick out 3 others courses, all part of the Advanced Open Water Diver Certification. Here is an article I wrote on the certification
https://joyofscubadiving.com/p…
While you’re on PADI’s website, you might want to also check out PADI’s Buoyancy Control Course because being neutral buoyant will be very important doing your drift diving. They also have a course on Drift Diving which is definitely worthwhile taking. All these courses are going to make you a more confident diver and are lots of fun plus you get more dives in.
Let me know which course is your favourite.
Regards,
Monica
Wow, This is so beautiful, I am looking at taking a course in diving and some of my family members snorkel We’re actually looking at making a trip to the Maldives next year. They way you painted the pictures and the details of the Maldives, I can see myself actually doing it. The video was gorgeous. How long have you been diving? I live in Florida would you suggest anywhere here for beginners.
Hi Brian,
Thank you for your great comment! You can do your theory on the entry level PADI Open Water Diver Certification online thru PADI’s eLearning. Here is an article that explains how to do it . https://joyofscubadiving.com/d…
When you do the theory online, you have a year to complete and can do it anywhere with internet and a computer. As you go thru each section, you’re given quizzes and at the end you’ll do the exam. After that, inside PADI’s site, there is a list of dive shops in Florida and other places around the world where you can complete the certification by meeting with a professional dive instructor to get familiar with your dive gear and get to practice dive skills in confined water or pool and then do 4 open water dives accompanies by your instructor.
I have been diving since 1982 thereabouts… long time…
Thanks for reading!
Monica