Guests aboard the Black Pearl liveaboard spot grey reef sharks and eagle rays at Guraidhoo Kandu

With the beginning of the North East Monsoon transition period, manta rays are becoming less frequent at the Lankan Manta Point cleaning station.

The Lankan Manta Point (of the North Male’ Atoll) manta ray season begins in early September and lasts until late November or early December.

Manta Ray at Manta Point in the Maldives

Lankan Manta Point Dive

Black Pearl liveaboard dived at Lankan Manta Point for the first time this week. However, no manta rays were spotted, so the divers enjoyed the colorful Maldivian coral and selection of other reef fish that darted along the sandy ocean floor. Read about the Black Pearl’s sighting of a school of mobula rays!

Black Pearl liveaboard plans to cover South Male’ and Ari Atoll this week.

Kuda Giri Wreck and Guraidhoo Kandu Dive

After the dive at Lankan Manta Point, the Black Pearl liveaboard crossed Vaadhoo channel and arrived at the Kuda Giri Wreck for the day’s second dive. The day’s third dive took place at Guraidhoo Kandu.

With an incoming mild current, all divers saw 8 grey reef sharks, a school of 12 eagle rays and loads of white tip reef sharks.

Black Pearl live aboard will be sailing to South Ari Atoll today.

Black Pearl Liveaboard searches for a Whale Shark around the Maldivian Atolls…

After three and a half hours, the Black Pearl live aboard crossed Alihurash Kandu (name given to the channel between Male’ Atoll and Ari Atoll) and reached the Southern Ari Atoll. The weather in the Maldives has been great since day one, and has remained extremely pleasant ever since.

Dive to Omadhoo Thila

On the morning of the 19th, we performed a dive at Omadhoo Thila. The current was relatively strong, and divers had the opportunity to see eagle rays, napoleon wrasse, and dogtooth tuna.

The search for a whale shark began at about 10:00 a.m. and continued till 3:00 p.m.  Unfortunately, we did not spot the massive filter-feeder.

Bluestripe snapper and diver

Dive to Kuda Rah Thila

The Black Pearl live aboard’s second dive was to Kuda Rah Thila (a protected marine area). With almost no current and visibility around 12 meters, divers got to explorer Kuda Rah Thila at length. With or without current, Kuda Rah Thila has an abundance of fish life and excellent coral growth. Lutjanus kasmira, commonly called bluestripe snapper, is one of the main attractions at Kuda Rah Thila.

Dive to Kudhimaa Wreck, aka Machafushi Wreck

The divers started the 20th with a morning diving at Kudhimaa Wreck, also known as Machafushi Wreck. The Kudhimaa Wreck was purposely scuttled in 1998 to provide a wreck dive for scuba divers (If you enjoy wrecks, check out Maldives Victory Wreck and the Kuda Giri Wreck). The highlights from the Kudhimaa Wreck were sting rays, eagle rays and many more.

Dive to Dhigaa Thila

The second dive of the day was to Dhigaa Thila, where the divers saw a few grey reef sharks and colorful soft coral.

BBQ on Raidhigaa Island

The excellent weather gave Black Pearl Live aboard divers a chance of enjoying a great night of BBQ dinner on Raidhigaa Island.

Black Pearl Dives at Lankan Manta Point of the North Male Atoll

The Black Pearl live aboard continues its scuba diving adventures in the Maldives!

Lankan Manta Point, North Male’ Atoll

Black Pearl live aboard diving started from North Male’ Atoll at Lankan Manta Point. With a mild current and visibility of 10 meters, divers from the Black Pearl observed 3 mantas at the cleaning station during the entire dive.

Kuda Giri Wreck, South Male’ Atoll

After Lankan Manta Point, the Black Pearl live aboard cruised to South Male’ Atoll and dived at Kuda Giri Wreck. With almost no current at all, divers got the chance to explore the wreck without much difficulty.

Manta Ray over Coral in the Maldives

Guaraidhoo Region

For final anchorage, the Black Pearl live aboard was around the Guraidhoo region and will be crossing over to the South Ari Atoll today.

Maldives Weather

This week began with clear, sunny skies…Holidaying and scuba diving conditions have remained perfect!

For present weather in Maldives and a 5 day weather forecast, click here.

Weather: Apart from a few showers in the upper north province, generally favorable weather is expected to prevail over the country.

Temperature: 30° C / 86° F

Humidity: 63 %

Winds: West / north-westerly 4 – 11 knots.

Visibility: 12 km

State of the sea: Slight

Wave Height: (open sea) 1 – 3 feet