Diving in Huvadhoo atoll & The mesmerising dive sites of Gaafu Dhaalu

With 26 coral atolls to pick from, the Maldives are an extremely diverse diving destination. If you are looking for unexplored spots, you are best off heading far north or deep south. One of the most splendid and untouched atolls is Huvadhoo atoll. In this post we are going to explore the best dive sites in Gaafu Dhaalu (the southern part of Huvadhoo). The vivid stories of our guest author, Cate, will simply make you fall in love with the diving in Gaafu Dhaalu, so read on!

 

Falling in love with the Maldives

Hi! I’m Caterina Fattori, marine biologist and dive instructor. At the moment I am on stand-by in Italy, pacing up and down, waiting to be back in my underwater world! I lived in the Maldives for 4 years. As the restless person as I am, I don’t spend much time in the same country. But let me tell you, the Maldives are MIND-BLOWING!

It was love at first sight: I fell in love with the beautiful nature of the Maldives, both underwater and on land. So I tried to explore as much as I could of these “Pearls on the Indian Ocean”. I had the pleasure to visit and dive (of course) twelve atolls: from the really northern point of the country Haa Alif, Thuraakunu outer reef, to the well-known “Tiger shark island” Fuvahmulah.

 

Exploring the best dive sites of Gaafu Dhaalu

Here, I would like to share with you my favorite dive sites in Huvadhoo atoll and in particular Gaafu Dhaalu. This is where I spent almost 3 years on a really tiny island called Konotta. (At the moment the resort is closed, previous Outrigger Konotta).

Huvadhoo Atoll is well-known among divers as “SUVADIVA”. It is located in the far south of the Maldives, below the one and half degree channel and just above the Equator. Huvadhoo is considered the second largest atoll in the country and is divided into two administrative regions:  Gaafu Alifu (north) and Gaafu Dhaalu (south). It is also the deepest atoll in the Maldives, however, sometimes it can be disappointing if you don’t know its features.

It is recommend to dive during NE monsoon (January-May), especially if you choose a liveaboard. The route will take you mainly diving in the pass (Kandu/channel) on the east side, where pelagic and sharks will awe you! The inside atoll, is pretty much calm without really strong currents and the marine life is not abundant like in other Maldivian atolls. The lack of the “famous Maldivian” current inside the atoll, influenced negatively the reefs. In particular during the 2016 Mass bleaching event. Unfortunately, some reefs were completely gone after this devastating heat wave, but now many of them are getting back in shape!

Now, if you haven’t done so before, check out where I was based…it’s pretty much far away from the traditional Deep South liveaboard route you may know…so, let’s jump into my Favorite dives sites.

 

Konotta House Reef – Home sweet Home

I am probably falling into triteness, but it was my playground. Absolutely spectacular and never disappointing! The reef surrounding the resort is an incredible dive spot, especially the north-west side. Numerous and huge massive corals are interrupted by patches covered with branching and table corals. Believe me, some of these enormous massive corals (Porites) are more than 2 meters in diameter. When you think that they are slow-growing corals, 1-2 cm growth rate per year, their estimated age is crazy!

Schools of grey reef sharks are normally patrolling the whole reef, with black and white tip sharks too. Not uncommon are the sightings of nurse and leopard sharks sleeping under coral blocks.

For the lovers of small critters, along the drop off, holes and cracks offer a perfect shelters for flatworms, nudis, sexy shrimps, shrimps and scorpion leaf fish. Once we could find 8 of them in a really short distance swim. On sandy patches between spotted garden eels, you can interact with curious mantis shrimps too.

On the shallow reef, swimming surrounded by immense schools of busy parrotfish and big mouth mackerel, is simply the norm.

You can have frequent encounters with eagle rays, turtles and cruising bottlenose dolphins, especially at sunset time. This was absolutely the most magical moment of the day for me, because also guitarfish, cow tail and pink whip rays (sometimes more than 10) were coming into the shallow sandy lagoon.

The plankton abundance in the area is scarce, however, due to its remote position and little pollution, some days the bioluminescence could give a super glowing touch to the nights!

I really hope the resort is going to re-open soon, so that many people could appreciate and enjoy such beautiful reef (even if it’s only snorkeling)!

 

Meradhoo Kandu – The perfect coral architecture

For all the coral lovers out there, this is truly a paradise, so make sure to bring a camera with you on this dive!

This channel is located on the west side of Gaafu Alif Atoll exactly in front of the homonymous island of Meradhoo (now Raffles Meradhoo).

The dive normally starts on the southern side of the outer reef and drifting inside the atoll. The ocean side is full of beautiful and healthy corals and is abundant in macro life. In the blue it is easy to encounter big pelagic passing by like: tunas, barracuda, rays, school of blue fin trevally and white tip sharks.

On the corner there are many chances to swim with big Napoleon wrasse, or into school of snappers or being under a “rain of fusilier” and well…. the best safety stop experience is definitely exactly after the corner!

When the current is strong enough you can just relax and go with the flow. Enjoying the flight above endless layers of incredible huge table corals covering the channel as well as the abundant marine fauna!

To make this exciting dive unique, while drifting you will typically hear dolphins’ whistles. Enjoying them from the boat after surfacing was the cherry on top.

 

Kuda Hasfa – Sharks Thila

Kuda Hasfa is a tiny thila, with a top reef at around 10-12m / 40ft, descending steeply. It is elongated and narrow. Despite its size, diving here even twice in the same morning won’t disappoint you! I highly recommend to be Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certified for this dive site. The current can be really powerful sometimes. In this case, just hook yourself in and enjoy the thrilling show!

Keep your eyes peeled on the top reef to spot leaf scorpion fish, nudis and false scorpion fish while swimming through the resident school of blue stripped snapper. This search can often be really tough due to the amount of anthias and bait fish covering the spot completely. If the conditions are calm, you won’t get bored. The show is guaranteed in any case! Dogtooth tuna and bluefin trevally will display their voracious predatory strategy on these little fish. You will appreciate also the loud sound produced from this crazy frenzy! The scene’s colours are enhanced by some orange, red and yellowish soft corals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the slope there are not many corals except for some Tubastrea micrantha (Midnight coral) and Black whip coral between patches covered by sea anemones hosting their endemic Maldivian anenomefish. Check out also for ribbon eels and fire gobies in the holes on the north-west side. At greater depth, in particular in the narrowest sides, the bottom is covered by big massive coral and branching ones too.

Eagle and mobula rays often pass by. But if you dive here you always hope to enjoy schools of grey reef sharks (more than 30 individuals) and some white tip in the blue. Completing the scene are huge schools of yellow-back fusilier, rainbow runner and batfish.

 

Manemas Thila – For macro fauna enthusiasts

Manemas is a small thila, not far away from Meradhoo Kandu. It became one of my favorite dive sites in Gaafu Dhaalu, while the bleaching was devastating other close by reefs. Here the conditions didn’t let the corals suffer much thanks to the exchange of “cold” water from the channel.

The slope is densely populated with branching table and massive corals. The branching ones are like elaborate laces. I could spend hours watching the perfection of the different coral skeletons. Tons of blue Chromis or anthias dance with each and every small water movement, giving the resemblance of impeccable synchronized swimming competitions in between the colonies. In addition, you can appreciate other small critters or moray eels around the coral blocks.

On the sandy slope the garden eels are sometimes disturbed by oceanic triggerfish, engaged in their perfectly circular nest constructions.

On the top reef is a cleaning station, visited mainly by a conspicuous number of batfish. Commonly spotted are also sleeping white tip sharks under coral blocks. Just for the “expert-detective” divers is a huge stone fish, always hiding undisturbed into a crack ambushing its preys!

You could spend quietly your safety stop by checking out the huge anemone city covering the shallowest part of the top reef.

 

Short Cut – A mesmerising channel dive

This dive site is a narrow channel in Gaafu Dhaalu, situated north of Meradhoo Kandu. I strongly recommend being an advanced and Nitrox diver to dive in this site.

The dive starts at outer reef. The wall is pretty deep and resembles a mountain chain, completely covered by branching and table corals, interrupted by sandy areas. You can usually see Leopard sharks and sting rays sleeping peacefully here.

Often Napoleon wrasses, tuna and hawksbill turtles make the experience unforgettable. With a strong incoming current (from outside to inside the atoll), on the corner a dense school of big eye trevally are just waiting for “easy food” to pass by. Black tip sharks and giant groupers roam around too.

Once you’ve enjoyed the abundant marine life and you want to drift inside the channel, you can enjoy beautiful school of eagle rays, surgeonfish, snappers and more. Unfortunately, this channel doesn’t have a prosperous coral garden.

For the safety stop you will be at mid water. But do not waste your time, always check around and above you, because, this is another common channel used by spinner dolphins to come into the Gaafu atoll.

 

Manta ray in Huvadhoo

Just before leaving Huvadhoo Atoll in 2018 I received a wonderful surprise at the Short Cut channel! I was on the boat, without my diving gear, waiting for my colleague and guests to end their dive. Suddenly there was flapping on the surface. I didn’t have a clue about it because it lasted just a sec. The capitan moved the boat a bit closer to the reef and there again, flapping… I was so excited!! Thanks to my dive manager, God bless him for leaving his diving gear onboard. I grabbed his mask and fins (size XXL) and jumped in… I was completely alone swimming with a shy but gorgeous manta ray. My first and last in Huvadhoo atoll. It was my precious secret, since none of the divers saw it!

I am sure you will enjoy the thrilling dive sites of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll!

I hope you will get a chance to visit and dive Huvadhoo atoll and discover the beauty of the “Unforgotten Atoll”, in particular the atypical dive sites of Gaafu Dhaalu. Most of the area isn’t fully mapped yet, so you never know what is awaiting for you underwater! 😉

To conclude, forgive me if I come across a bit fussy, but a DIVE is not cool just because there are tons of sharks, mantas, nudis and blablabla. I urge you to appreciate everything and in particular the astonishing builders of these underwater cities! Without healthy CORALS you can’t expect AMAZING dives…

Happy bubbles everyone!!

Cate