Diving in the Maldives
Posted By Sara-Lise Haith on 27 July 2002
Whether scuba diving or freediving, the Maldives is an excellent location for avid fish-watchers. Sharks can be seen in abundance, without having to stage a feeding, and during monsoons where the plankton is in bloom, shoals of tuna, snapper, jacks and trevally can be seen in groups of 100 to 500 strong. After the effects of El Niņo in 1998, the coral reefs have suffered drastically and coral bleaching aftermath is seen on most reefs.
However, divers are not to be discouraged as new corals are forming and plenty of soft corals can be seen, especially at Kuda Thila (30m) in North Male Atoll, and at Helengeli Thila (east of North Male Atoll), one can enjoy the thrill of a strong drift dive combined with canyons lapping up soft corals and the play of active white tip sharks. At new moon and full moon tides, only divers with experience in strong currents should attempt this dive.
Whether snorkelling or diving many different species of fish can be seen, and on some dive sites 150 species can be spotted on one single 60 minute dive.
The maximum depth allowed for diving is 30m (100ft), stipulated by Maldivian law. Spearfishing and shark feeding is prohibited and there are certain items that are prohibited to be removed from the country, including turtle shells, all kind of shells, dolphins, manta ray and whales. Dolphins can often be seen and divers travelling across the big channels on safari boats, often see pilot whales.
Drift diving is the main feature of diving in the Maldives; currents can be up to (roughly) 5 knots on normal dive sites due to the small areas between channels. There are some extremely long reefs (farus) and also earth mounts (thilas), which flourish with featherstars, turtles, groupers, octopus, nudibranch. Visibilty can range from 15m to 50m, depending on the season and monsoon.
The Napoleon wrasse population is good, also due to the stoppage by public protest to the Maldivian government of their capture and sale to the Far East!
Famous wrecks in the Maldives are the Halaveli, and the Maldive Victory. The currents around the Maldive Victory can be treacherous but there are already descent/ascent lines fixed for easy access (also makes it a load of fun!)
The Maldive Victory was driven into the reef on Friday 13th 1981, by an inebriated boat captain. The wreck is fairly intact, is approximately 88m long with the hull lying at 37m. With good visibility you can still see the anchor lying in front of the bow on the sandy floor. Penetration of the wheelhouse is fairly easy for divers with wreck experience, but a local guide is recommended. The marine life is incredible. When the current is strong huge shoals of fusiliers appear, at one time there must have been 2000 of them, yellow margin triggerfish fiercely protecting their selected cabins, small schools of darts also appear amongst the party and very often juvenile tunas. On the wreck itside are corals, huge Kubary Nembrotha nudibranch on the top deck, scorpionfish, and marvellous honeycomb and scoop spinned oysters glaring at the divers as they drift past.
To access the wreck the diving dhoni (boat) will anchor to a buoy already fixed to the wreck. The descent line is attached to the mast closest to the stern, and from there on you go down, often clinging to the mast to avoid being swept away by the current. Once inside or close to the wreck you can manoeveur around it quite easily.
After diving the Victory often a brilliant choice of dive site would be Banana Reef, famous for its variety of marine life. One can see honeycomb moray eels, schools of bannerfish of up to 500 strong, mantis shrimps (which are quite common in the southern part of North Male Atoll) and turtles. It is an excellent site for conducting a Fish ID or Naturalist course.
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