A Protected Marine Area, this offers one of the best-known dives in the Maldives. There is a remarkable variety of marine life on the thila, including grey reef sharks, white tip sharks, turtles, stonefish, frogfish, zebra morays, batfish and many, many more species. At the edge of the thila, where there is a large coral overhang full of bright orange Tubastrea corals.The top of the rock, at 15m (50ft), is covered in colourful soft corals. The vertical side of the rock drops down to the atoll plate at 40m (130ft). In this channel between the satellite rock and the thila, grey reef sharks often patrol and we have seen guitar shark here on a number of occasions.

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

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.

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

Diving in North Ari Atoll is not famous for corals, and in fact, many dive spots may seem a little dull in terms of the coral splendor. However, the main attraction of this part of the atoll is the regular encounters with big marine life including reef and hammerhead sharks.

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