A list of the best rated scuba dive sites in Maldives.

Manta Point

Manta Point is located south east of Lankan Finolhu (Paradise Resort) and it is 1 hours sailing from Male. In the southwest monsoon when the plankton blooms there are many mantas found on this reef, where they feed and get cleaned by the smaller fish at the 'cleaning stations'. To make sure you have the best experience, remain neutrally buoyant, stay in one place and let the mantas come to you. The depth is about 15 meters allowing plenty of bottom time. The mantas will circle around in ...

Feydhoo Finolhu

Feydhoo Finolhu House Reef is located north of Male, 20 minutes by boat. This island is used by the education ministry. The reef is a straight wall down to about 35 meters with lots of crevices and holes and some swim-throughs as well. The wall is completely covered with soft corals, sponges and abundant small marine creatures. In the holes you can find resting turtles and small silver fish, which are often used as bait by fisherman. Eagle rays are common as are schools of bat fish and flutemout...

Maaniyamas Thila

Located inside the atoll mainly mild currents with calm surface condition, makes Maaniya mas Thila (Maaniyamas Thila) ideal for novice divers. The oval shaped thila is around 50m long, peaks at 6m and slopes to around 35m. The site is full of a variety of juveniles, including yellow boxfish, angelfish and sweet lips, you may spot tiny nudibreanches. Maaniya mas thila is famous for spotting stonefish, scorpionfish, and one of the rear fishes frogfish. Eagle rays, white tip reef shark and turtles ...

Bodufinolhu Thila

On the sloping outside reef of Maamigili, Bodufinolhu Thila is an excellent site to observe pelagics and schooling fish. Enter the water just outside the local island Maamigili and head towards the channel entrance, dropping down close to where the wall meets a sandy slope at 30m. This is the best area for pelagic encounters and for the biggest fish in the world, the whale shark. Divers often find large schools of eagle rays or manta mobulas along with white tip reef sharks, tuna and barracuda. ...

Five Rocks

Five Rocks is in Dhigurahshu Kandu, just northeast of Digurah Thila. This pinnacle has broken into five pieces that reach from the sandy seafloor at 40m to about 12m. Carved with numerous overhangs, these pinnacles are exposed to the nutrient-rich ocean currents and are carpeted with multihued oft corals. Swirling above the pinnacles are jacks, black-and-white snappers and fusiliers. Where the thila split, the rocks are pitted with caves and huge undercuts. These are adorned with a delicate blan...

Digu Thila

The long Digu Thila lies in the middle of the channel, south of Ghuli Island. The thila runs east – west, rising to around 10 meters at the western end. The eastern end joins the shallow entrance to the channel. We dive the north part of the thila with overhangs and caves between 15 and 20 meters. There is a rich display of soft coral on the reef and sea fans in the caves. Fish life on the pinnacle is prolific with large schools of basslets and snapper and aggregations of bannerfish and sw...

Bolifushi Wreck

A wreck in the north of South Male, just south of the island Bolifuri, is called Bolifushi Wreck. Not much is known about the wreck and divers should concentrate on its fantastic array of marine life and invertebrates. Plenty of healthy corals can be found....

Velassaru Caves

The Velassaru Caves are located on the northern reef in the Vaadhoo Channel about 60 minutes sailing from Male'. The reef top is at 3 meters and falls away into the deep. Start the dive at the eastern point of the island and follow the current. The corals are abundant, as is the fish life. The reef is pock marked with small and large caves where you may find stingrays and turtles resting on the sandy bottom. Large schools of the red tooth trigger fish and anthias are seen here. If the curren...

Guraidhoo

Guraidhoo is the largest town of South Male Atoll and has about 1500 inhabitants. It used to be a fisherman and boatbuilding community but most have converted to tourism. The main street is filled with tourist shops and offers some nice strolls for those glad to be back on land. The capital Maafushi, just to the north of Guraidhoo, is still inhabited by many fishermen who sell their catch in the markets of Male. Guraidhoo is a well known liveaboard night stop since they can spend the night in a ...

Canyon

Emboodhu Canyon or Vaadhoo Canyon sits in the middle of the northern reef of Male South Atoll. This is a magnificent dive with imposing topography, fish life and corals. A large boulder, the size of an apartment block stands apart from the reef forming a canyon about 100 meters long, 13 meters deep and about 15 meters wide. Many different species of fish can be seen here, notably large schools of sweet lips and red snappers, napoleon wrasse, thousand of anthias and huge groupers hiding among the...