The Black Pearl liveaboard explores the Kandooma Thila, Vaagali Thila & Medhu Faru dive sites in the Maldives…

The Black Pearl Liveaboard, one of the Maldives’ finest scuba diving vessels, concludes yet another successful week of adventurous scuba diving and fun in the sun!

Kandooma Thila Dive Site

Kandooma Thila is one of the most renowned dive sites in the South Male / Guraidhoo region.  Kandooma Thila features healthy coral growth and an abundance of fish life with the right currents.

With around 10 to 12 meters visibility, the dive at  Kandooma Thila turned out to be a fantastic dive. The divers had the chance to swim with grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks and, of course, schooling jacks at Jack’s Corner.

Vaagali Thila Dive Site

The Black Pearl Liveaboard‘s second dive was to Vaagali Thila. Vaagali Thila is located southeast of Vaagali, an uninhabited island, and is the perfect dive site for spotting sharks, manta rays, eagle rays, fusiliers and jackfish. Furthermore, schooling snappers are often seen at Vaagali Thila as well.

Medhu Faru Dive Site

The Black Pearl Liveaboard‘s third and last dive of the day was to Medhu Faru, located south of Guraidhoo Island. Medhu Faru offered an easy, relaxing dive where white tip sharks and napoleon wrasse were the highlights.

Second Dive at Kandooma Thila

The Black Pearl Liveaboard ends the week in South Male’ Atoll, with another dive to Kandooma Thila, which ended up being a superb choice.  The current conditions were really good with a medium-strong current. Highlights at Kandooma Thila included white tip sharks, grey reef sharks and, to our delight, a mobula, also called a devil fish

Mobula, or Devil Fish

Mobula, also called devil fish, is a genus of ray in the family Myliobatidae (eagle rays). The appearance of a mobula is similar to that of manta rays, which are in the same family. The devil fish can attain a disc width of up to 5.2 meters (17 feet) and tip the scales at over a ton. The mobula is second only to the manta in size. Despite their size, the mobula remains one of the lesser-known ray species.

Mobula rays in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) have been reported to breach as high as 2 metres above the sea.

A mobula breaches, or jumps out of the water

Black Pearl Liveaboard Concludes Another Week of Diving

The Black Pearl Liveaboard will leave their guests at the airport  and resume diving on Monday morning.

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.