Scuba diving in Raa Atoll in Maldives

One of the most beautiful places to scuba dive in Maldives is Raa Atoll, also called Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll. This atoll is an administrative division of the country Maldives. It includes Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll proper and the island of Alifushi. Alifushi and Etthingili islands stand on a detached reef of their own with very deep waters. The Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll is 35 miles in length from North to South, and 15 miles in width. The western border of Maalhosmadulu has many round shaped coral rings or oval reefs, which are also called faru locally. The center has many coral patches or giri. A Giri is a shallower version of a thila.  
 
Fenfushi Giri is a great scuba diving in Maldives, also known as Northern Maalhosmadulu has many overhangs that make this place even beautiful. On the sandy bottom of this overhangs you will spot stingrays and Napoleon wrasse. The reefs in this area also has many hard corals, sea whips and fish life that will make your scuba dive in Maldives memorable. The marine life is not limited to just these, expect to see butterflyfish, parrotfish, bannerfish and lots of fusiliers, unicornfish and surgeonfish as well. There is an area with lots of dead corals that ends with a wall covered whips, black coral bushes and tubastrea corals sheltering schools of orange basslets and fairy basslets. The current in the giri can be very strong that helps the marine life grow naturally.

Reethi Thila has some good diving spots that is very typical for Maldives. You will see a underwater pinnacle with abundance of caverns and overhangs and with a dazzling number of fish in the area. The area doesn’t have as much coral cover as the other diving destinations of Maldives, but represents many wrasses that include African, Ringed, Reindeer, Lemon Meringue, Speckled, Blue-streak Cleaner Bird and Six-bar. Also expect to see angelfish, surgeonfish and triggerfish when scuba diving in this part of Maldives.

Scuba diving around Nellaidhoo Thila in Maldives

The islands of Maldives are places for most beautiful marine life and colorful reefs for scuba diving. The best way to witness them yourself is jump into water as a scuba diver. Maldives is one of those places, wherever you look is beautiful and something to do for scuba diving and snorkeling.

Nellaidhoo Thila is a wonderful place for scuba diving in Maldives. Don’t forget to take a camera as you’ll regret this afterwards. Get ready to encounter black and white tip reef sharks underwater around this thila. When scuba diving in Nellaidhoo thila, you will see mantas towering above you and large schools of giant trevallies swimming in the water. You may also spot moray eels, leopard sharks and on the sea bottom there are hard corals and big rocks that will surely amaze you.

There is another reef in the area called magic mushroom, where you dive as deep as 28 meters. It’s a mushroom-shaped 80 square metre head of the pinnacle at around 13 metres deep. Here you can spot interesting sea spices like nudibranchs and mantis shrimp.

On the west side of the reef around Naiuaadhoo Island, you get to experience the adventure dive in Maldives of Buda Cave. The cave mouth is an incredible 60 meters across, rising from a depth of 30 to 25 meters. Plenty of surprises await you as you venture 15 meters into the cave. Remember to take your torch to spot sleeping nurse sharks and wandering white tip reef sharks. Towards the south side of the cave you will find at least 4-5 marble rays dozing behind 2 large rocks. When seen from the inside, the contrast of the sunlight filtering through the water framed by the cavern walls makes for a spectacular photo, especially if you catch a white tip against the light.

On leaving the cave the hard coral covering the wall is rich with amazing creatures. Curious Napoleon wrasse seem to follow you up the wall and you could even spot a turtle and a few mantas. A wonderful way to end your dive!

Starting scuba diving for the newbies

For many people scuba diving is like connecting to the mother earth deeply. The 3d movement and the underwater life surely surprises the scuba divers every time they do it. Scuba diving is yet a very complicated sport that require good training with certification from an authority who is allowed to do so. Almost everyone with good health can scuba dive, when it’s not necessary to be an athletic person. Even a children as young as 15 years old can go for scuba diving as long they get proper training and are in good health. However the young people must do medical checkup prior to scuba diving.


Before 50s, diving was only for the scientists and marine biologists who were doing research. Scuba diving became a recreational or sport activity after the 50s, but got popularity recently from the 90s. After 2000, scuba diving destinations started to emerge as more and more people around the world becoming interested to see the life in the ocean and explore the spices that lives there.

You cannot go scuba diving without a certification course even it’s just for fun. It's also recommended to read some scuba diving blogs. Most of the scuba divers nowadays do it for recreational purpose, when there are also many underwater photographers who also dive into the sea to capture the life out there. Many people around the world have made scuba diving their career due to high demand of the industry.
You must have some swimming skills before thinking of taking a scuba dive certification course as you will be swimming underwater with the marine spices. You also need to buy all the equipments like scuba diving masks, fins and snorkels. There are hundreds of accessories available for scuba diving. So speak to a diving instructor for the basic ones that you need to start with.
There are many scuba diving locations available in the United states. Florida probably has the most beautiful and large number of locations. Internationally, you may think of Indonesia, Maldives, The Caribbean and Egypt. Scuba diving is not limited to only these countries as there are thousands of other islands in the world with great coral reefs and thrilling underwater life.

Maldives as a scuba diving destination

Scubadiving in Maldives has become very popular recently as one of the most beautiful diving destinations among the scuba diving community. Wonderful coral reefs, large pelagic fishes and incredible sea life made scuba diving in Maldives very unique and welcoming.  Never been to Maldives? You must if you are into scuba diving. 

The Maldives is a nation of islands in the middle of Indian ocean. There are almost 2000 small islands divided into 26 atolls which forms the land of Maldives. The islands are surrounded by Laccadive Sea, about few hundreds kilometers south-west from India and Sri lanka.  

The weather in Maldives is best in January to April for activities like scuba diving. During this season the sea is more calm creating beautiful environment for scuba diving and the temperature is an average of 28 degrees. The sea becomes a bit rough during July to October and there are rains several times of the week. You can still expect some sunny days and dive into the reefs. 

The best way to visit Maldives is by plane as it’s in the middle of the ocean. The main airport is Male international airport, situated on the island of Hulhulé. There are few other airports close to Male, but the main airport serves most of the international flights. 

The main transport in Maldives is by boat, you may also use sea plane if have some extra cash. The local traditional Maldivian boats are called Dhoni which are very affordable. You can also use the speedboats that runs between the islands all the times. Sea planes can make your trip even more exciting as you can see the beautiful landscape of the islands from the top. 

The sea around Maldives has a lot to offer for scuba diving and any other recreational activities. The incredible marine life and beautiful reefs will surely make you remember them for ever.

Some useful information for scuba diving in Indonesia

Indonesia is a very interesting place consisting of 17 thousands islands, has over 15% of the coral and about 25% of fish spices on earth. The country has almost the same geographic dimensions as the entire Caribbean. With thousands of places to visit and all the attractions, Indonesia is the best scuba diving destination in the world. It’s not possible a for any scuba diver to visit all the dive sites in Indonesia in one trip. Actually it will take you months or even years if you also go to the remote islands in Indonesia. Here are some useful information for scuba dive in Indonesia. 

Weather – You will find the dry season in Indonesia from May through September, the wet season is normally November to March. Because of Monsoon expect hot and humid environment all year-round.

Average Water Temp – Water temperature is very suitable for diving in Indonesia, typically in the low to mid-80Fs, the temperature can get lower in some areas depending on the weather. 

Average Visibility – The visibility is highly changeable, normally 50 to 100 feet in the most popular dive sites. You can expect to see deeper during the dry season. 

Travel Savvy - A valid passport is required, six months before expiration and tourist visa to enter any of the countries surrounding the Red Sea. The main destinations like Bali has good communication, but you may have to use liveaboards to visit remote islands. 

Accommodation: Indonesia is one of the busiest tourist destination, so you can expect to find all types accommodation there ranging from five star resorts to cheap bad and breakfast. The scuba diving destinations will have more accommodation than the remote or less visited islands. It’s better to book before you travel there.