Black Pearl has set sail on the 10th October and is right now at southern Ari atoll, Dhangethi. This week Black Pearl has 3 Italian, 3 Germans and 2 Hungarians.
With a total of 8 divers Black Pearl has so far covered dive sites on north Male’ and south Male’ including Lankan Manta Point. During their 2 dive on Sunday morning to manta point they have encountered four manta rays on each dive simply gliding on the top of the cleaning station.
After north Male’ atoll Black Pearl cruised over to south Male’ and covered Guraidhoo Kandu and Cocoa Corner / Kandooma Thila.
Black Pearl dive guide Issey reports that out of these the best was crossing from Cocoa Corner to Kandooma Thila where 25 to 30 gray reef sharks patrolling the channel entrance and a school of 10 eagle rays cruising at pace speed just above the divers.
The average visibility these days are between 7 to 10 meters and at times 12 to 15 meters. The weather has been so far at its top level, giving calm sea conditions with a mild breeze and keeping Maldives as the sunny side of life with 29 degrees throughout the day.
Three Dives
After a superb dive at Kuda Rah Thila (Protected Marine Area), Sting Ray headed towards Omadhoo Thila for the day’s third dive.
At Kuda Rah Thila the current was extremely strong but displayed plenty of fish. On the up current were Yellow Back Fusiliers and Thin Lined Fusiliers. The caves were filled with blue stripped snappers exhibiting a yellow cloud.
The current faded to a milder version on the second dive but didn’t change the fish life. More white tip reef sharks and other pelagic were seen.
For the third dive Sting Ray crossed over to South Male’ atoll and dived at Medhu Faru in late afternoon. Among the highlights were Giant Trevallies that gathered near the fallen coral blocks and leaf fish.
The visibility remained poor both at Southern Ari and South Male’ atoll and the current were flowing out of the atoll most of the time.
Yellow Back Fusilier
Last dive of the trip
Fortunately the current was flowing in to the atoll early morning at around 6:00. This gave the opportunity for the diver to begin their dive at Cocoa Corner and cross over to Kandooma Thila to the end of the dive and the divers witnessed heaps of Gray Reef Sharks.
For most divers or for the shark lovers this is a must to do dive but can be a very strenuous dive as divers might have to swim across /against the current and spend dive below 25 to 28 meter. This is the best method to see the channel entrance and observe gray reef sharks, white tip and lots and lots of pelagic.
Categories: Liveaboards, Maldives, Scuba Diving, South Male Atoll, Stingy Ray Liveaboard Tags: Blue Striped Snappers, Grey Reef Sharks, Kandooma Thila, Kuda Rah Thila, Medhu Faru, mv sting ray, Omadhoo Thila, pelagic, South Male Atoll, southern ari, Thin Lined Fusiliers, white tip reef shark, Yellow Back Fusilier
Fish Head, Mushimasmigili Thila was the first dive at 06:30 with strong current and poor visibility. Couple of Gray Reef sharks and Napoleon were among the highlights.
We crossed the channel after the dive to south Male’ atoll and at 11:45 we dived at Kandooma Thila. Here we saw more gray reef sharks again, eagle rays and lots of other fish.
Our last jump landed us at Guraidhoo Corner. By then the current had changed to strong incoming with very clear visibility. The dive began from the south corner and after hanging near the entrance of the channel we drifted inside where the current effect was like washing machine.
The final anchorage was at Guraidhoo and then next day, first thing in the morning, we started towards hulhumale’ and visited the capital city Male’
This was the last cruise of this season and Adventurer 2 will be going to the dry dock for maintenance.
In summary this season was very productive for diving. The north east monsoon provided good current and amazing fish life not to mention the number of whale sharks and mantas seeing compared to last years.
Adventurer 2′s blog will continue when the cruising resumes.
Yesterday morning the weather turned out to be really bad and due to poor surface conditions we decided to dive in a protected reef.
We jumped in to the Radhdhigaa Outer Reef at 07:00 am with no current at all, the visibility was good and reef was very healthy.
Our second jump led us to Maaya Thila at 11:00 AM with a light current and poor visibility. Despite the poor surface and underwater condition we had an enjoyable dive at Maaya Thila.
Last dive was at fish head at 15:00, the surface condition remained almost the same as in the morning; gusty wind and an unsettling sea. With medium current and good visibility we saw five Gray reef, two white tip reef sharks, the ever-so-friendly and curious napoleon wrasse and an eagle ray.
Our final anchorage was at a lagoon at the eastern edge of the atoll close to mushimasmigili Thila called Faanu Mudugau.
Categories: Adventurer 2, Dive Site, Liveaboards, Maldives, North Ari Atoll, Scuba Diving, Scuba Diving Holidays, Scuba Log Tags: Adventurer 2 Liveaboard, Grey Reef Sharks, liveaboard diving holidays, Maldives Scuba Diving, poor current
