Yes, the coral bleaching took its toll, but still the Maldives make for fabulous diving. Very nice dives, some with strong currents, colourful fish, sharks, morays, napoleons, nudibranch, octopus, lobster and turtles. Favourite dives:
Madvivaru (Rashdoo Atoll): steep wall in the beginning, slope afterwards with lots of coral and fish. Saw whitetip reef shark, very big napoleon, nudibranch, moray eels, lion fish, large box fish, colourful giant clamps and anemones.
Furana North (North Male Atoll): along a wall, then through a channel. Saw several reef sharks, big free swimming moray, napoleon, large nurse shark, turtles, lion fish.
And then what we came for this time... Hammerheads (however only from a far distance at Madivaru Hammerhead Point Rashdoo Atoll) and Manta's (plenty of them at Lankan Reef and Sunlight Thila, North Male Atoll).
Madivaru Hammerhead point: 6 am dive. On two occasions saw lots of blue triggerfish, oriental sweetlips, lion fish, moray eels, reef sharks and four eagle rays on the reef.
Lankan Reef makes for a good dive even without manta's: nice corals, eagle ray, whitetip reef shark, more than seven turtles, napoleon fish, and moray eels.
At Sunlight Thila the two manta's stayed close by for the enrire dive, but the dive also offers shrimp, garden eels and lion fish.
For report on dives made in 1998 on the Maldives, check the dive site descriptions.
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