Maldives diving: North or South? A liveaboard to the north atolls

You are going diving in the heavenly Maldives and with so many possibilities, from the far north to the deep south, it can be overwhelming to take a pick. On top of that, you can choose to dive from a resort, a local island or a liveaboard… Allow us to help you plan a mind-blowing dive vacation!

In this article, our guest author Megan is taking us along on a liveaboard to the north atolls. She has been diving the north, south and central Maldives as a dive guide and knows the best dive sites inside-out.

Photo by Lluís Masuet

 

To hell with 2020! Take me back to the Maldives!

2020…what a year!! If you are anything like me, I think it is safe to say that many of us spent a good chunk of the year dreaming of travel and finding a little piece of paradise. Staring at that travel calendar, being taunted by the gorgeous images, praying for an end to the virus so that we may rejoin our loved ones and get back to life… Well, if that calendar happened to be a beach-themed one, there is a very good chance that at least one photo featured is of the amazing Maldives! To the general traveler and beach enthusiast, the Maldives is known as a luxury destination with pristine beaches and ocean, best known for honeymoons. To scuba divers, it ranks high up on most diving bucket lists…and for very good reasons!

 

Diving the Maldives from North to South

First, just a quick bit about me… My name is Megan and I started diving in 1999 after being a frustrated snorkeler. Loved it! Soon after, gave up my corporate job and climbed the ranks until I earned my scuba instructor certification. Spent 7 rewarding years working land-based in the Florida Keys when something occurred to me. The world is comprised of 72% water…why am I only exploring .000005% of it?!?!?

Thankfully, I do speak German, so in 2011 I was able to secure a job at Kuramathi Resort on Rasdhoo Atoll in the Maldives! It was just a 6-month contract to start. But as it is so amazing there, I ended up extending another year. By then, the island life was starting to wear on me. The island is the resort, the resort is the island. So, I started looking for my next adventure. Saw an advert for a liveaboard job in either Indonesia or Palau. Responded to that and during the interview things took an interesting turn…they were also looking for someone in the Maldives!! And so my journey throughout this gorgeous country began.

 

Resort vs. Liveaboard diving in the Maldives

What you need to understand about visiting and diving from a Maldivian resort, is that while it is definitely paradise, you will only see that resort and possibly a neighboring local island as well as a deserted island. It isn’t like traveling to a “normal” country where you can freely move about and explore – unless you are a really good swimmer!! That is why I jumped at the opportunity to join a liveaboard (in the Maldives known as “safari boats”) that went to the far north and south as well as the entire central atolls. I was there 7 months – long enough to do all of the itineraries, before they moved me to Palau (a story for another time).

Remember that there are 1192 islands. On a resort only island you will see maybe 3 islands tops and be able to explore dive sites in 1, maybe 2 atolls depending on where you are located. When diving the Maldives from a safari boat, especially on the northern and southern itineraries, you really see the country!

Photo by Lluís Masuet

 

A journey to the North

The Maldives have been spoken about here already. What I would like to do now, is take you on a journey to the North and see how it compares to the rest. What I loved best about diving the North Maldives was that you almost saw no one else. You really felt like an explorer! Nothing but ocean around you. Coming off of the central itinerary, it was such a welcome relief. On the really famous dive sites like Fish Head, Haafsa Thila, Alimathaa Jetty, there were sometimes more divers than fish. So, to be the only dive boat (in the North), was a privilege and honor.

 

The difference between diving the north, south and central atolls of the Maldives

In general, there are not so many major differences between the regions other than the traffic. The dive sites everywhere are either Kandus (channels), Thilas (underwater pinnacles) and Farus (reefs or walls). And they are, for the most part, all pristine! What I found interesting is that there is not a lot of soft corals, especially in the north. There are a couple sites in the central atolls with good soft corals, and a couple on the southern itinerary that rival Indonesia. But soft corals in the north Maldives are patchy at best. However, extremely healthy hard corals everywhere!

Having that healthy construct means that you will have a difficult time choosing a lens for photography. Because the ecosystem is very diverse you will find anything from nudibranchs to whale sharks at any given time. One of my fav bits of advice from the Dive Photo Guide’s group leaders was to plan for “close focus, wide angle”!

Photo by Lluís Masuet

 

Channel diving in the South – Pinnacle diving in the North

As Nico said in his Deep South article, much of the diving there is Kandu/channel diving since you‘re looking for the big boys (sharks). Healthy Thilas/pinnacles everywhere as well, as the southern Thilas haven‘t been explored or dove on as much.

Diving in the north Maldives, we found the most action on the Thilas inside the atolls. Only problem was, the Thilas in the North are significantly deeper. Made things tricky on the first day to conduct check dives sometimes. The average depth of the tops of Thilas is about 18m/60ft! This is why we did require an advanced scuba diving certification for the northern itinerary and generally encouraged Nitrox to maximize bottom times. We guides would alternate going in the water first to set a descent line for the divers to follow to the Thila. Often you will have someone struggling with equalizing or the currents would be raging at the surface and we didn‘t want anyone drifting off. So, the divers would descend, hook in and enjoy the show!

 

What I love about diving the north Maldives

The majority of the northern Thilas were longer and narrower than what we saw elsewhere. Also, they often would have more action and life with less coral. We would always put up a board with sightings. By the second day grey reef sharks were just an assumed character and were presumed to be present on every dive! What I really enjoyed the most about the underwater life in the North Maldives was that you saw some really unique things. We saw more juvenile sharks and sea turtles than the other itineraries. Also, I loved that there was a great wreck dive in Lhaviyani Atoll at the Shipyard. This was a nice change of pace from reefs and sharks.

Photo by Lluís Masuet

 

The best dive sites in the northern Maldivian atolls

In this walk down memory lane, I found one of my trip logs from the north. Here were some of my favourite sites and sightings.

Haa Dhaalu Atoll – Leopard sharks, guitarfish & a bunch of grey reef sharks

In Haa Dhaalu, Fine Thila was always a great way to kick off the trip. Eagle & Marble stingrays, Halimeda Ghostpipefish, Leopard sharks and cool formations. The definite hit with everyone here was Nelaidhoo Thila… 9 times out of 10 guests would want to stay the night and dive it again in the morning! This was one of the tricky sites to set up on as it is about 18m/60ft on the top. It took us 45 mins to set the descent line once! The reward, however, is massive. Almost always you would end up in a debate as to whether there were 20-30 or more grey reef sharks there. Plus a 2m Guitarfish! We would regularly see, white tips, schools of jacks, snappers, barracuda, and on and on….

 

Shaviyani Atoll – Dolphins & breathtaking sunsets

From Haa Dhaalu we would head to Shaviyani Atoll. The dives here were very good, but definitely didn’t compare to the rest of the itinerary. But you need to dive your way north, and this was by far the favourite anchorage for the night. In the pic you can understand why! 7 Palm Island is the picture-perfect spot for sunset and a great, protected lagoon. Our morning dive before departing Shaviyani was an exciting one on this particular trip as my divers and I got to play with a small group of dolphins!

 

Noonu Atoll – Festive corals & more sharks

Now we head to Noonu Atoll, with arguably two of my favourite dive sites in the North. First, Christmas Tree Thila. So named because, well, it is shaped much like a Christmas Tree. Also, this was one of the rare spots in the north that was decorated in multi-coloured soft coral. Depending on the currents, you could spend the whole dive just on the “tree” (if the current was mild). If the current was strong, as this pinnacle is quite small, we would drop groups 10 minutes apart so it didn’t get too crowded on the Thila. The groups would then move over to the wall nearby to finish the dive.

Not far from there was Miyaru Thila. You will see the name Miyaru quite often – Miyaru Thila, Miyaru Kandu, Miyaru Faru. The simple reason is that “Miyaru” in Dhivehi means “Shark”. And the Miyaru Thila in Noonu never disappointed! Guests would usually request repeating these dive sites the next day before departing for Lhaviyani Atoll.

 

Lhaviyani Atoll – Kuredu Express & The Shipyard

Lhaviyani has one of the original tourist resorts, Kuredu, built in 1972. Kuredu Express is one of the better-known dive sites in the country, just because it has been dove on for so long. It is quite good, and hardly any boat traffic, but you have to hit it on an incoming tide for there to be any action. So, while you wait on the tide, you dive Kuredu Caves. There isn’t a ton of coral, but the caves offer protection from the current for more Hawksbill and Green Turtles than you could ever hope to see!

Then, as mentioned before, you have The Shipyard. Two ships, used and scuttled by the fishing industry, one upright and the other about 15m/45ft away on its side. Again, currents determine how much you can see and do. But lots of life looking for refuge from strong currents right along with you!

 

Baa Atoll – Manta rays & whale sharks

From Lhaviyani we would head to Baa Atoll. Baa, as you might know, made the news in 2010 when videos came out with incredible footage of the manta ray and whale shark action in Hanifaru Bay. That video made Baa Atoll the most contentious one for me since divers came with that expectation, forgetting that this is nature, things swim in and back out and we can’t guarantee that experience every time.

Also, after that footage made its way out, naturally everyone needed to go there. This meant tons of traffic from locals, nearby tourist resorts and liveaboards. Too much traffic is stressful to these animals and they will stop coming if too harassed. The Maldivian government came up with a plan to help regulate the traffic, which was good and bad.

Good in the sense that no more than 10 groups could be in the lagoon at one time. Bad in the sense that it was almost over-regulated. There were “resort days” and “safari boat days”. Even if no one was in the lagoon, they wouldn‘t bend the rules to allow us to enter. This meant that we couldn’t plan for the right tide or moon cycle. You just went in when they let you and hoped something was happening. In 2012 we were usually disappointed. However, nearby dive sites usually helped to soothe wounds.

Photo by Lluís Masuet

Remember, in Hanifaru you can only snorkel. Also, to enter and exit the lagoon, the animals had to swim by the dive sites! So, on scuba, we saw plenty of whale sharks and mantas – both swimming and on cleaning stations – to the extent we discussed not bothering with the red tape of the lagoon! Dharavandhoo Thila stands out as one of the better cleaning station sites. Always fun to explore!

 

Goidhoo Atoll – Spotting pilot whales

Now we head onto one of the longer crossings from Baa to Rasdhoo via Goidhoo. Goidhoo Corner is worth a look as the fish don’t see many divers and are as curious about us as we are of them! Quite often, we would spot pilot whales as we crossed.

 

Rasdhoo Atoll – Diving with hammerheads in the blue

Rasdhoo…my old stomping grounds! Madivaru was always my favourite dive site when I was on island, and it still remains one of my top dives in the Maldives. The main reason liveaboards come here is for what is off of Madivaru in the wee hours of the morning…Hammerheads! This area is one of the 5 known Scalloped Hammerhead spots in the country. You need to be there at sunrise to have any hope of seeing them (with rare exception), and you are diving out in the blue! Bear in mind, you need to be comfortable with your buoyancy as you are restricted to 30m/100ft depth…and the bottom is about 500m/1500ft!! With all the plankton glittering around you, even if you strike out on hammerheads, it is still a stunning dive.

 

Back to North Male Atoll

By this time of the trip, you start seeing more and more resorts, more boats, start feeling like you are back to reality and civilisation. In general, I do recommend that if you are planning to come to the Maldives to join a Safari Boat, regardless of the itinerary, you should consider arriving a day ahead so that you are well rested and ready to go on the first day of diving. For this, there are any number of local hotels in every price range to lay your head and rest up. At the end of your charter book a couple nights at a resort and enjoy some relaxing before heading back to the real world.

Photo by Lluís Masuet

 

Diving the North vs. the South of the Maldives

And finally, to the debate of diving the North vs the South of the Maldives…you really can’t go wrong anywhere! The Maldives has earned its reputation as a top dive destination for a good reason. As long as you leave the central areas, you are venturing to places where no night travel is allowed…because it still isn’t thoroughly explored!

On a non-diving note, in the North Maldives you will find Utheemu island. We absolutely loved taking guests there because it is extraordinarily significant in Maldivian culture and history. You can visit the Bodu Thakurufan Memorial Centre, a really old palace & graveyard while experiencing a beautiful local island. Adventure awaits…

 

Monsoon season & best time to dive the north Maldives

December through May is the NE Monsoon season and is considered to be the high season as well. June through November is the SW Monsoon and low season. During the SW season is the prime time to see mantas and whale sharks. May to Dec is considered the best bet in Hanifaru, though naturally there is a chance year round to see them as well.

 

Liveaboards that go to the north Maldives

Liveaboard itineraries are based on the monsoon seasons, so especially if you book with a boat that begins or ends in Male, their scheduled itinerary is set so you can have as safe and smooth a ride as possible. While there are about 40-50 Safari Boats licensed and operating, very few run north. While there may be more, running very limited trips, two companies that are known for their longer and more unique trips are Blue Voyager and Carpe Novo. What are you waiting for??!!

Cheers,

Megan

 

Where would you like to go diving in the Maldives, north or south?

Check out our blog post on diving the Maldives Deep South and leave us a comment to let us know which liveaboard itinerary you would love to do.