Diving around Biyadhoo Island
In addition to the stunning House Reef there are some 27 excellent dive sites within easy reach of Biyadhoo Island. Here is a list of the most popular
Manta Point.An easy dive with light current
Famous as a manta cleaning station. Between June and November the mantas come in from the deep water and hover over the coral blocks while the small cleaning fishes do their work. When you have had enough of watching the Mantas, continue the dive and find oriental sweet lips and napoleon wrasses, turtles and various types of moray eels. Sometimes even the very rare golden moray. Hogura Hura.An easy dive with no current.
This is a place for macro photography. Hogura Hura is a beautiful, relaxing dive site without currents for all levels of divers. The reef is covered mainly with hard corals, ascidians, algae and soft corals. Plenty of colorful nudibranches and flatworms, many different moray eels are found here as well as a dense lionfish population, stone fishes and many rare crustaceans and hidden juveniles. Sometimes you can even find a ghost pipe fish. Triton Giri.An easy dive with light current
Triton Giri is a small round reef inside the atoll and offers a nice and relaxed dive. On one section of the giri there is a small cave with lots of glassfish inside it. It is a beautiful place for the diver that is enthusiastic about finding small things such as nudibranches, flatworms or many ifferent types of shrimps. The lucky diver may even find a rare frogfish. But also plenty of fusiliers, a lot of trevallys. Sometimes tuna and turtles can be seen. Aquarium.An easy dive with light current
The Aquarium is found one kilometre inside Lhosfushi Kandu and is an excellent, easy dive site for beginners. White sandy bottom with many small coral blocks and all kind of reef fish as well as shrimps, snake eels, some moray eels and turtles. Sometimes it is also possible to find the rare Dracula goby here. During the monsoon season mantas are also known to frequent this place as a cleaner station. Kandooma CavesA difficult dive with medium to strong currents
Kandooma Caves is probably one of the largest cavern complexes in the entire tourist atolls. A group of four large caves in a row, with one about 65m long guarantees an interesting dive time. There are beautiful sea whips, fans and soft coral found around the entrances of the overhangs. Inside are soldier fish, sting rays, moray eels as well as beautiful yellow sponges on the roof of the main cave, lit up with a torch they shine like stars. It is almost guaranteed to find big green turtles here. Also massive napoleons are common and white tip reef sharks. Sometimes with a little bit of luck, you can even have a look at a sleeping leopard shark. Depending on the currents this dive site can be a challenging drift dive only for the experienced diver Lhosfushi Kuda KanduA difficult dive with medium currents
The channel on the north side of Medu Faru has a very shallow, narrow, sandy entrance 10 metres wide, at a depth of five metres. The channel drops off to a sandy bottom at 30 metres. There is abundant fish life inside, including oriental sweet lips, butterfly fish, and schools of snapper, tuna, napoleon and white tip reef shark at the exit of the channel. There are also large morays, and, during the south-west monsoon, sometimes manta rays pass by. Divers that have a closer look can also find the purple fire goby at a depth of about 30 metres. |
Kandooma Thila.The teardrop shaped, 300m long thila is one of the most exciting
dive sites in the Maldivesand has fantastic scenery with lots of beautiful soft and hard corals and an incredibly rich fish life. The reef top starts at 16m (at the eastside 20m) which makes a quick descent necessary as there are usually very strong currents. There are grey reef and white tip sharks, barracudas, huge tunas, big eye trevallys and big groups of eagle rays, some sleeping nurse sharks under the coral blocks on top of the reef as well as all common smaller kinds of reef fish to see. Not to forget: many big green turtles can be seen on the reef top or hiding under the overhangs. But – depending on the current – it is a tough dive only for experienced divers. Villivaru Giri.An easy dive with no current
Villi Varu Giri is a small round reef near the Island Villi Varu. It is a nice and quite dive for divers at all levels as there is usually no current. This location has a great quantity of stone fish, lion fish, scorpion fish, octopus, anemone fish, pipe fish, ghost pipe fish, nudibranches, flatworms etc. On the sandy bottom around the reef are many garden eels . Villi Varu Giri is also very famous for night dives Maafushi OutA medium with dive with light to medium current
Maafushi out is a typical outside reef. It is an excellent site for divers who are prepared to take their time and concentrate on the smaller fish and interesting features of the reef. A lot of reef inhabitants are hiding among the corals and rocks; for example, lion fish, stone fish, different types of shrimps and moray eels. You can also see mobula rays, lobsters and sometimes eagle rays passing by. This is a dive that is never boring, due to the immense variety of life. Cocoa OutA medium dive with a light to medium current
Cocoa out is a perfect spot for all levels of divers, from beginners to experts. At this characteristic wall dive you find next to the nice hard corals a great variety of reef fish and other marine creatures. Fusiliers and different types of snappers, surgeon and unicorn fishes, turtles nd sometimes napoleon wrasses. If you come close to the corner at the end of the dive you can also encounter hunting trevallys, eagle rays, tunas and white tip reef sharks. A nice dive for the fish observer, or just relax and enjoy the scenery Cocoa CornerA difficult dive with medium to strong currents
Drifting along the outer reef of Cocoa Corner you can see many Fusiliers and Turtles as well as white tip reef sharks and spotted eagle rays. As soon as you enter the channel there are small overhangs with beautiful soft and hard coral, sea fans and sponges cover the reef wall offering a fantastic range of colours. Many big groupers, oriental sweet lips and snappers can be seen. With sometimes strong currents this dive site requires good skills in drift diving Napoleon ReefThis leisurely wall dive incorporates plenty of schools of fish located on the reef edge. You can see blue striped snapper, two spot snapper, butterfly fish and numerous turtles and tunas. The reef got its name due to the great quantity of Napoleon wrasses of all sizes that are seen here. Overall napoleon reef offers a relaxing dive for all levels of divers
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Guraidhoo CornerA difficult dive with a strong current
The entire Guraidhoo channel, between Guraidhoo Faru and Medu Faru has been declared a Protected Marine Area. There are in fact two channels, Lhosfushi Kandu and Guraidhoo Kandu, separated in the middle by a reef known as Medu Faru. The channel has an intricate reef system with many diving alternatives. It is one of the premier diving locations in the Maldives and the focus of plenty of diving activity in South Male Atoll. This dive site offers everything for the experienced diver: Grey reef and white tip reef sharks, eagle rays, mantas, barracudas, huge tunas, stingrays, turtles, napoleons and even fascinating macro life like leaf fish |
Olhuveli OutA medium dive with a light current
Olhuveli Out is a dive site outside of the atoll. It is a typical wall dive in a depth range from 6 to 30m. In the holes of the reef you will find many species like different types of moray eels, cleaner shrimps, peacock mantis shrimps some turtles and quite often eagle rays pass by. As there is only a very gentle current all levels of divers can enjoy exploring this reef |
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