Regularly an encounter with the giant manta rays is common on this reef, from December until April the big manta rays can be watched during there feeding and cleaning procedure in cleaning stations on the top reef. A close approach is possible, but don’t touch or chase them; otherwise they will disappear in the blue. The reef itself drops on the east side steep down to 25m where the sand bottom starts. The big overhangs at 20m are a good start of the dive before you go shallower and follow the reef edge on the 12m area where the mantas can be seen most of the time. The reef top has nice marine life, moray eels, octopuses, lion fish and a few napoleons make this place, even without manta rays a real adventure.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 25m

Banana Reef, named after the C-shape of the reef is around 100 meters in length. The reef is in front of the channel where fresh current enriches the reef with plankton it carries attracting also pelagic.The most exciting part of the reef is at the north-eastern side of the reef where big spectacular rocks starting from a depth of 30 meters rising up to 12 meters below the surface. Schools of Banner fish can be seen just at the start of the dive, the dog-toothed tuna and several species of Jackfish can be seen chasing their next pray. As you drift, the reef slopes down and after few minutes you will drift in the biggest overhang in Banana Reef where the top starts at 10m and drops to 20m. This overhang is fully covered with soft coral on its ceiling, huge schools of Blue line snappers is always inside letting you approach them very closely. It is both suitable for beginners and the most experienced divers and is a photographers’ heaven.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

Kikki Reef is located towards the west part of Vilingli Island.

This shallow part of the reef is an excellent place for photographers having a lot of tropical fishes. Also you can find lots of pipe fish, scorpion fish and shrimps. The overhangs start at a very shallow depth of 8 meters onwards until 18meters of depth at its end.

When there is a strong current on the main reef this site is protected from the currents making it ideal for beginners as well as advanced divers. The dive can be started on either end of the overhangs depending on the currents on the main reef. The best depth of this site is between 10 to 15 meters where the overhangs are plotted with sea fans. Squirrel fish can be seen inside caves with lots of banded shrimps.

The length of the site is about 150 meters. At the last overhang you can keep drifting and while finishing your dive on the shallow top reed at around 5 meters making it a perfect and enjoyable safety stop.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 25m

Cocoa Corner is located on the north side of the Biyadoo channel. The wall of the channel is steep and we can find many caves and overhangs, whereas the outside reef slopes more gently. Inside the channel 200m from the corner, is a large outcrop of reef 20m long at the depth of 30m.

The best conditions are with an in-going current even if it is also possible with an out-going. Watch out with an out-going to go down before the large outcrop. We might also witness “washing machine” with an in-going current knowing that they will not be as strong as other dive sites.

The outside corner offers a great diversity of fish life. School of pyjamas, snappers, fusiliers, many groupers are very often seen. We can even spot on the corner at 30m some white tips reef sharks, eagle rays, grey reef sharks. There is also a great quantity of colourful soft coral after the corner in-between 10 and 20m. Some beautiful caves and overhangs finishing the dive with an in-going current or start it with an out-going.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

Those huge caverns are among the largest and the nicest of all the Maldives tourists’ atolls. 2 big caves close to one another are just 50m from the corner, one at 20m, and the other one at 16, the latest one is 70m long and has a curly overhang. Inside the pass you come to one cave at about 10m with a hole going all the way to the top reef at 5m. With a torch it is even better.

Inside the caves, we will see yellow sponges, seafans, blue soft coral, small tube corals and often giant morays, as well as squirrelfish, and many groupers. Along the reef we should see clown triggerfish, Napoleon, sweetlips, and angelfish, and this is a great site to spot many turtles, especially green turtles.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth:

This site is a little channel on the north side of Guraidhoo channel. This channel has a very shallow, narrow sandy canyon, separating the inside from the outside. The channel deepens inside to a sandy bottom at 30m, and the reef slopes from 6m to 30m on the outside.

Here divers can encounter plenty of fish life inside the channel and especially inside the canyon. School of pyjamas, lutjans, fusiliers, butterflies are very common. At the entrance of the canyon, with an in going or out going, white tips reef sharks are very often spotted as well as napoleon. The canyon is the high light due to the quantity and diversity of fish and also to the reflection of the light on the sandy bottom.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

The reef is on the west side of Rihiveli. The top reef is between 5 and 10 m, and is dropping slowly to a sand patch at around 30 m. Overhangs can be found in at all depths, but some lovely caves around 12m offer a great variety of coral, white tip shark, turtles, lobster. This is our favourite place for night dives.

All kind of tropical fish are there, butterfly, sweetlips, angel or trigger, but we can also see the white tip sharks either in the caves around 12m, or down on the sand at 25m, lobsters and big groupers are hiding in those caves, as well as turtles.
Great site to spot torpedo ray or stingrays, leaf fish are not rare there if we look well enough, lionfish are very numerous, and the coral on the overhangs are very delicate. Big Napoleon as well as mantis shrimp or ribbon eels can also be seen.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

The square-shaped reef is about 80 metres wide and can be circled in one dive if divers wish, providing the current is not too strong. There are ledges and caves at different depths around much of the reef and for the most part, there is a big undercut from about 25 to 30 metres before the reef tapers to the bottom slopes. The north and north west sides have a particular interesting landscape at reasonably shallow depths, making it ideal for the less experienced diver, while at depth, are caves with all the usual features including sea fans and black coral bushes. Divers tend to stay shallower at Fish Head, hovering around the reef edge at about 15 metres as this gives the best all round view of a family of about 20 resident grey reef sharks.

• Min Dives: 9
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

One of the channel dives that you don’t want to miss. With strong incoming current the list of possible encounters is impressive. Mainly grey reef sharks but also whitetip reef sharks, eagle rays, napoleons and tunas are quite common and with the visibility reaching 120 feet during the northeast monsoon it can be the highlight of the trip.

• Min Dives: 6
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 18

The top of the wheelhouse is at 24 meters and the propeller is at about 27 meters. Coral is already well established on Fesdu Wreck, and a couple of good sized black coral bushes are growing off the stern. Among the superstructure are moray eels and in the engine room are big groupers. The wreck lies at the end of a small Thila that is about fifty meters out from Viligilee Falhu reef. There is extensive soft and hard coral growth all over the Thila and plenty of fish life, few caves and little coral rock formation.

• Min Dives: 5
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 20

Lhaviyani Atoll, whose shape and particular position features oceanic channel dives either on the east and on the west side, giving us the chance to dive with “in-coming currents” in both monsoon seasons to spot any kind of pelagic fish including grey reef sharks.

• Min Dives: 10
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 20m

Located on the southeast outer reef of Lankanfinolhu Island in North Male atoll in Maldives, Lankan Manta point is a dive site among the most famous Manta rays cleaning station. The large block of coral at a depth of 10 to 18meters is where the rays come during the southwest monsoon and outgoing currents to get cleaned by wrasses. Easy to access and adapted to beginners, this popular dive site is often visited by many cruise ships and divers, and can even become over-visited sometimes.
Even though Manta rays are the main reason divers come to Lanka Manta Point, you can also encounter whitetip sharks, lobsters and humphead wrasses.

It is recommended to enter the water ahead in the current to avoid disturbing the rays. A building on the coast will indicate the location of the cleaning station. When the current is strong, do not stay at the surface for too long.
Divers can drift with the current toward the rays’ cleaning station, but it is mandatory to remain away from the cleaning area without crossing it.
The North reef is made of a gentle slope, but the South reef gets steeper and hosts many humphead wrasses and turtles.

Outgoing currents can cause turbulence that may push divers offshore. It is recommended to remain close to the reef to avoid that.

As the most famous manta cleaning station, this site can also get too crowded sometimes. It may be interesting to consider going to other sites in the surroundings, where rays can also be spotted.

• Min Dives: 10
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 20m

The SS Seagull is located at North Malé Atoll. It is a wreck of a steamboat that is fully covered by corals and sponges. Some pieces of the wreck are spread all over this dive site. There are multiple crevices around, grottoes, a deep downward slope (part of the reef), as well as a cave at a depth of 30m/98ft. The current ranges from light to moderate, which allows drift diving towards this site sometimes.

Although it is possible to dive at the SS Seagull throughout the whole year, the period from December to May is preferred by divers. It usually rains more from June to November, and then the current gets stronger, bringing more sea life. The average temperature of the water is about 26-29C/79-84F, and the air is generally around 26-29C/79-84F.

The SS Seagull is known among divers for its nurse sharks, eagle rays, and huge barracudas. Other interesting species include jacks, moray eels, grouper, soldierfish, and stingrays. Some smaller inhabitants of this dive site are parrotfish, blue tangs, blennies, trumpetfish, and frogfish.

• Min Dives: 10
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 40m

Gaafaru Atoll is a small island on the important shipping route, which is surrounded by numerous shipwrecks. The main dive sites around here are the SS Seagull (a giant sunken steamship with an anchor at 6m/20ft, boilers and stern at 30m/98ft), Lady Christine (a sunken iron vessel with a drop down at 50m/164ft, overhangs and caves) and Erlangen (almost intact shipwreck with the hull at 50m/164ft).

The best season for diving at Gaafaru Atoll (Maldives) is from January to May, while June is usually not recommended. The water temperature averages 27-28C/81-82F, and the air is generally 29-31C/84-88F.

The shipwrecks of the Gaafaru Atoll dive sites serve as home to nurse sharks, Napoleon wrasses, moray eels, rays, grouper, and lots of crustaceans. Sometimes divers may even spot a hawksbill turtle.

• Min Dives: 10
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 55m

One of the most spectacular dives in the Maldives. Blue soft corals and endless extraordinary fish life.

• Min Dives: 50
• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m