Shark Craze at Cocoa Corner

Yesterday, the first dive was at Cocoa Corner, and after having a great time, we repeated our second dive at Cocoa Corner. In total from both dives we saw 15 to 16 Gray reef sharks and many various fish species.

Embudhu Delights Divers in Fish Diversity

The third and the last dive of the trip was done at Embudhu Canyon (also spelled as Embudhoo). On the north east side of the outer reef is a large chunk of reef that has collapsed making a 20 to 30 meter gap in the reef. Exposed to the ocean side fish life here is prolific. Often different species of fish congregate at this point and during north east monsoon there can be a high concentration of fish including white tips, bat fish, shoals of fusiliers chased by trevally, jacks and tunas.

Trading in the Old for the New

Once our dhoni returned us back to the liveaboard, we anchored at Hulhumale’, where everyone went off to visit Male’, the capital city of the Maldives.

All of last weeks’ divers checked out in the afternoon and all new arrivals were checked in by 16:30. Out of 14 Italians, 12 are divers and 2 are non-divers. We will begin our week of diving tomorrow morning with the orientation dive first.

Goodbye Ari Atoll

Our last jump at South Ari atoll for this week was Kuda Rah Thila at 7am, with medium current and good visibility we managed to have a great dive to finish up our tour of the Ari atoll.

After the dive we crossed over to south Male’ atoll, specifically to the Guraidhoo Region and at 11:30 we made our second jump at Guraidhoo Corner. With a mild current we began the dive from the corner and swam to the entrance of the channel. Gray Reef Sharks, White Tip Reef Sharks and lots of other fish made for a great dip.

Double Up on Guraidhoo Corner

At 15:00 we repeated Guraidhoo Corner with the hopes of seeing more sharks. The current at this time had picked up a bit from earlier and we managed to see more sharks.

Our tally was 8 Gray Reef Sharks, 6 White Tip Reef Sharks and various fish species were among the highlights. Our final anchorage for the day is Guriadhoo.

Poor Visibility, but Cool Sharks Nonetheless

This morning everyone woke up while the Black Pearl was moving from Maayafushi lagoon to Bathala Maaga Kan Thila and diving started at around 06:45.

We have noticed today and in the past weeks that the visibility is deteriorating.  These are the typical signs of monsoon seasons changing.  With less than 15 meters of visibility and medium / strong current still we managed to see gray reef sharks, white tip and the uncommon but occasionally seen silver tip reef shark.

Today’s second dive was at Hafsa Thila (also known as Makaru Thila) which is further inside the atoll near Maaya Thila. We had the worst visibility that we have experienced so far out of all the previous trips; Only 5 to 6 meters of visibility!!!!!

High Visibility Allows for Excellent Sightings

We moved to Rasdhoo atoll for the third dive at Rasdhoo Madivaru. With no current, but much better visibility, we were able to have a great dive. White Tips, Gray reef sharks and Mobula Ray were among the highlights at Rasdhoo Madivaru.

In spite of poor visibility today, we got to see a fantastic display of sharks, and most of all seeing silver tip reef sharks was totally worth it.