The topography here is quite complex. The thila is divided into four large coral heads, of varying sizes, that sit on a plateau rising from 40m (130ft) to 12m (40ft). The thila is no more than 100m (110yd) in diameter, and you can swim around the whole site in a single dive. Each of the blocks is undercut from 15m (50ft) to 25m (80ft) with superb caves jammed full of soft corals, gorgonians and whip corals.

• 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.

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

Located on outside reef of Emboodhoo Finolhlu, Emboodhoo Canyon is a section of the reef that collapsed and created a canyon-like area. This huge rock stands about 5 meters away from the main reef, creating overhangs by the side of the reef. A lot of sponges and soft coral are seen from depths as shallow as 12 meters.

Large red snappers and groupers are seen on the shallower part .As you descend you will find that on the rock there is a huge gap with soft coral; white tip sharks are seen gliding with the current at times. As you drift along the reef the overhangs which start from 10 meters of depth can drop to 25 meters and stretches out for about 40 meter across making it a magnificent sight.

The rest of the dive can be done with the drift along a long sloping reef which is rich in coral growth and fish life. Do expect to see turtles, moray eels and lion fishes along the drift. This dive site is most suitable with a small to medium current; it is suitable for advanced and open water divers.

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

Embudhoo Express is located on the south side of the Channel, entering South Male’ Atoll facing Emboodhoo Island. It is one of the most exciting channel dives, while crossing the channel with an ingoing current there is 100% grantee that you would encounter white tip sharks followed by Grey Reef Sharks. Schools of Big eye travelly and barracuda are very common not to mention the hunting tunas.

The site is recommended for advanced divers with good drift diving capabilities, the idea of the dive is to start the dive on the reef close to the corner towards the channel. While drifting with the current towards the corner divers should keep a distance from the corner and move away to the edge of the drop off; the idea is to keep the drop off as a reference and to drift with the current, and to cross the channel towards the Thila. Once at the Thila you may keep the right hand shoulder to the Thila and drift in. The Thila itself has lots of marine life on it including Giant sea fans under the overhangs and with lots of butterfly fish and oriental sweet lips.

This dive site can be easily done with a small ingoing current but the pelagic of course won’t be as present as while a good ingoing stream. To see the sharks you would at least need a medium ingoing current making the site an adrenaline rush and crave to the return to dive here once more.

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

The Felidhoo is a sloping wall with overhangs and divers can expect to see white tip reef sharks, banner fish, stingrays, boxfish, barracuda and fusiliers.

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

Akiri Channel is a drift dive. This channel has several deeper overhangs ranging from 20 to 30 metres with lots of black coral bushes and soft corals. During the North East monsoon there is a good chance you will encounter mantas and even whale shark. Also dolphins are spotted often at the surface. Napoleon wrasse, schools of barracudas, sting rays, sand rays, white tip reef sharks, Moray eels, scorpion fish, lion fish and heaps of fusiliers can be seen in here.

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

Birds Island is a coral garden plateau and sandbank welcoming you to have a pleasant dive in this place. A mixture of coral life, heaps of red and black snappers, anemones and sometimes a white tip reef shark makes this dive site very special. Moray eels, garden eels, sometimes sting ray, eagle ray pass.

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

This nice dive point is in the Makunudhoo channel. The shallowest is 18metres. Overhangs in the southern part of these 200 metres long Thila provides a nice shelter for the sweet lips and the soldier fish. The big canyon gives a real feeling for the divers, with white tip reef sharks big dog tooth tunas and the travellies. On the other hand the fusiliers play the important role for the drama playing by tunas and the travellies called hunting. On the top of the Thila is fully covered by red and yellow soft corals.

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

Banana Reef is an infamous site, mainly because it was the first dive site to be discovered in the Maldives but also because it has something for everyone and today it still carries on to be one of the most popular in the area. The dive, which ranges in depth from 5 to 30 meters, has several fascinating features comprising of a pinnacle, caves and some overhangs. Coral formations here are abundant and colourful, attracting an extensive variety of fish, including powder blue tang, squirrelfish, morays, napoleon wrasse, bannerfish and oriental sweetlips. Larger pelagic such as sharks, barracuda and groupers swim the waters and currents can be strong at points so it is best to stay close to the reef.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30 meters

Large and shallow plateaus (10 - 20 ft) on the west side of the atoll, right next to the wide lagoon of Rasfari. It is covered with hard corals and hosts a cleaning station during the northeast monsoon. The most common way to do the dive here is to start on top of the reef, which is protected from the currents and after spending some time with the mantas continue the dive towards the wall that drops down to about 75 feet. The wall is nicely covered with hard corals, rich with fish life and popular with turtles.

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

Explore the captivating underwater world of North Male Atoll with its renowned dive sites like Lankan Manta Point and Fish Factory. Encounter vibrant coral reefs, diverse marine life including mantas, sharks, and colorful reef fish, making it a diver's paradise.

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

The South Malé Atoll offers thrilling dives characterized by strong currents, making it ideal for more experienced divers. This atoll features deep channels, known as kandus, which funnel nutrient-rich water from the open ocean into the inner lagoon, attracting large schools of fish, sharks, and other pelagic species. Coral life flourishes along the outer reef walls and on thilas—underwater pinnacles—while overhangs and caves within the channels provide shelter for a variety of macro life.

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

The famous Hanifaru Bay, which is known locally as Vandhumaafaru Adi, is thought to be one the few places in the world where whale sharks congregate in to mate, although recent research suggests otherwise with the vast majority of the whale sharks seen there being young males. The bay also regularly sees some of the largest gatherings of Manta rays worldwide with up to one hundred individuals in the small inlet when the tide pushes plankton into the bay.

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

Grey Reef Sharks and large pelagics can be seen at this site as well as manta rays, Napoleon Wrasse Eagle Rays and Sailfish.

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

Divers can explore colourful reefs with large coral colonies teeming with small fish, rock formations with large fish roaming around and crevices with small creatures sheltering inside.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 40

The top is covered with blocks and hard corals which are crowded with small to medium size reef fish; groupers, Picasso trigger fishes, butterfly and angel fishes and patches of anemones. On the sloping reef a variety of anemone corals are spread around the whole thila some of which have the beautiful purple sides on which the tentacles are attached. Sea fans and table corals can be found at a depth of 20 meters and the top reef, while the down side of the reef is quite bare. There are small overhangs full of glass fish, avoiding the medium and small size hunters, by staying in between the black coral branches.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30

You can expect to see many big fish and sharks at this site.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 40

A very shallow channel with several cleaning stations for Manta Rays. Sharks and Napoleons are also usual sightings as an almost unbelievably large field of sand eels.

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

From May to November, an exceptional concentration of kreel attracts hundreds of mantas for feeding and often some whale sharks also feed among them.

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

This dive site has a strong ingoing current with reefs and caves on the outside on the wall. Around the entrance there are grey reef sharks, eagle rays and other pelagics.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 45m

Alimatha is in Vaavu Atoll and sits on the eastern edge of Maldives.
Alimatha is the complete Maldivian destination for all tourists because it has it all: world-level diving for both experienced and beginners, aquarium-like snorkeling sites and emerald shallow waters.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 15m

It is located about 15 meters on the south of Beriyan Bodu Thila. The top of the thila is around 15m deep. The thila is 5m wide and has a length of about 20m. It features 3 levels. The deepest level is 30m and the north-west side of the reef has a little plateau, with many midnight corals. It features overhangs on the west side, which run down to the south. The east side curves into the sandy bottom.

The next level has a depth of 23m and again features overhangs on the west and east side. The shallowest level, which is the top of the thila, features plenty of hard and soft corals. The dive typically starts at the deepest level and you can go around the thila once on each level. The dive can then be finished at the Budo Thila, if wanted.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Experienced Diver - 50 + Dives
• Max Depth: 30m

During north-east monsoon is a good manta gathering point. Out of this season it can be a very nice drift dive with great outcrops and nice reef fishes. On the more southern part, the kandu cuts in weird ways the thila, creating nice cavities within the steep wall. In this side there use to be dog toothed tuna, napoleon and grey reef and white tip sharks.Currents can be very strong, and drifting the thila will be over in less than 30 minutes. Be prepared for an open water safety stop.

• Dive Type: Drift Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

This is a very interesting formation, with a wall of seafans on the outside of the main peak, and some pinncacles on the western side. There is a tunner to swimthrough cutting the reef at 16m where yellow sweepers stay. At the north side there are another two pinnacles starting at 20m, with a narrow canyon between them. The dive can be very deep and currents treacherous.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Advanced Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 40m

Located in Meemu. Thuvaru North is a channel site, located opposite the similarly named island in the south. The north side offers a pleasant dive with marine life typical of the Maldives. Encounters with sharks resting on the sandy bottom & a variety of other reef fish along the edge of the channel, are possible. Depth: 12 - 50m

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

Some call this place manta point, as you might encounter manta rays between december and april. If not you still have the possibility to see some bigger stuff in the blue, like eagle rays. The thila lies inside the Hithi Kandu and goes from 8 to 25m, there is not much coral compared with other dive sites and visibility sometimes is not good. Although with bad visibility the more chances to see manta rays. From east to west there are three small bays with sandy patches where tunas, fusiliers and oriental sweetlips can be found. As the thila is quite long (more than 300m), is a good dive for drifting.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 25m

Huvadhoo atoll is known for being home to the biggest fish in the world. Just like in Thaa atoll there is now specific place where diving would guarantee an encounter with a whale shark but the common practice is to use a strong light in the evening at the back platform of the boat to attract the zooplanktons which will further attract the whale sharks. Scuba diving while having the shark at the back of the boat is rather discouraged as the bubbles may disperse the mass of the plankton. Sometimes the whale sharks will stay for hours.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 30m

A very narrow channel with its channel edge at about 28m and can be easily crossed if the current runs the right direction. Big swarms of big fish can be seen during the cross - big eye trevallies, barracudas, huge tunas and jacks, but the highlight is definitely groups of grey reef sharks. On your way to the other side you will pass small overhangs staffed with yellow soft corals. Finishing the dive in the shallow area at the channel corner with blue strip snapper, batfish and turtles.

• Dive Type: Boat Dive
• Diver Level: Open Water Diver
• Max Depth: 28m