Featuring 66 splendid islands, only 13 of which are inhabited, Thaa Atoll features nearly forty named sites and is sure to yield even more splendid places to dive in the future. With clear turquoise waters and warm temperatures year-round, the area is at its best between May and December. As there are so many dive sites to choose from, selecting your favorites can be time consuming. Here are just ten sites to give you a start.
Number 7 - Maldives Dive Sites
A fantastic site for all divers, Number Seven offers depths from five to forty meters, and is home to an almost unbelievable array of marine life. Approximately 150 meters long and 30 meters wide, the reef features healthy coral, even on its shallow top, and is peppered with splendid overhangs where you can find everything from nudibranchs to napping nurse sharks and turtles. Depending on the amount of current present, the site is also good for pelagic encounters. Watch for tuna and trevally, eagle rays, and even the occasional manta ray or two.
Dutch Divide - Maldives Dive Sites
With strong currents and sweeping eddies, Dutch Divide is suitable for experienced divers only, even though it is relatively shallow, with maximum depth at 35 meters. The reef wall, which features huge coral blocks blanketed in sponge and soft coral growth, begins just 8 meters beneath the surface. With overhangs and swimthroughs to explore, the site is beautiful as well as fascinating from a geological standpoint. Watch for snappers and glassfish, lobsters and spindly legged spider crabs, and loads of brilliantly colored reef fish in sheltered areas and barracudas, tuna, and other pelagics, including sharks, outside in the current.
Full Color Reef - Maldives Dive Sites
Named for the splendid array of soft coral in crayon colors, Full Color Reef is huge. Approximately 600 meters long and extending from the surface to depths of 15 to 25 meters before dropping away into the abyss below, it is scored with overhangs and pocked with small caves where turtles can sometimes be seen resting. Look for sharks and napoleons, barracuda and trevally, tuna, and lots of other fish as you explore.
Plateau - Maldives Dive Sites
A magnificent plateau beginning just 8 meters beneath the surface, and topped with a fantastic coral garden, this site is calm and ideal for all divers. While novices will enjoy exploring the shallows, those with more experience can explore the Plateau’s steep walls, which drop away to meet the ocean floor at a maximum depth of 40 meters. With overhangs and small caves all along the Plateau’s western edge, and beautiful gorgonians along the southeast side, the site is good for at least two dives.
Budha Giri - Maldives Dive Sites
Suitable for all divers, Budha Giri is a small thila which begins just two meters beneath the surface and offers maximum depth at 35 meters. With a surface area of approximately sixty by forty meters, it is home to an incredible array of macro life which takes shelter beneath its overhangs and around its many small bommies, and is surrounded by a kaleidoscope of reef fish. You’ll sometimes see large pelagics passing in the distance, particularly if outside currents are up.
Turtles & Caves - Maldives Dive Sites
A splendid section of outer reef which offers depths between 2 and 35 meters, Turtles and Caves is covered in fantastic soft coral and sponge growth. The site is often suitable for all divers, but when currents are strong, only those with experience will be able to enjoy it safely. Watch for rays, turtles and sharks, tuna and napoleons, and an endless array of smaller reef fish and other creatures as you explore this magnificent site.
Eagle Ray Garden - Maldives Dive Sites
Named for the eagle rays which are normally encountered here, Eagle Ray Garden is a lovely site with very little current. Offering depths between six and thirty meters, it is suitable for all divers, and as the coral and caves are splendid, it is just right for underwater photography. With lots of macro life and plenty of larger creatures to be discovered as well, the site offers an excellent vantage point for watching the blue beyond. You never know what will appear!
Gorgonian Garden - Maldives Dive Sites
Approximately 500 meters long, Gorgonian Garden offers endless opportunities for exploration. With a gentle slope to the north, and a steep wall dotted with small caves to the south, the site is washed by strong currents and is normally suitable only for divers with some experience. Named for the big gorgonians that color its walls, the site is home to a stunning array of marine life in every color, shape, and size imaginable. Watch for everything from manta rays and turtles to schooling fusiliers and batfish, tuna and trevally to nudibranchs and shy crustaceans. Maximum depth is 40 meters.
Caribbean Reef - Maldives Dive Sites
With outstanding macro life, this large thila has steep walls on its southeast side and a broad, sandy plateau to the southwest. An excellent place to encounter numerous stingrays and mobulas, along with the occasional manta ray and a few eagle rays, the site is also home to schooling batfish and fancy fusiliers along with white tip reef sharks. Watch for turtles, particularly in areas where the soft coral they love to nibble at is in abundance. Excellent for all divers, Caribbean Reef offers depths between six and forty meters.
Brands Hatch - Maldives Dive Sites
A very fishy dive site with strong currents and maximum depth at thirty meters, Brands Hatch is suitable for experienced divers only. Featuring huge coral blocks out in the middle of the channel’s entryway, along with a swimthrough and overhangs where smaller fish and other creatures take shelter from the nearly constant current, the site is well known for its shark and eagle ray encounters. Not diveable during outgoing current, it is also a good place to see huge schools of fusiliers and a few different kinds of snapper, along with sleek barracuda and enormous tuna, all swimming against varied and interesting topography.
More heavily populated than many other Maldives atolls, Thaa Atoll is home to approximately 14,000 people – still a small number when compared with other areas of a similar size. Be sure to plan your trip to Thaa and the Maldives in advance, since diving normally takes place from liveaboards and space is often limited!