fruit stand at the market

Visiting Male, Maldives

It would have been ashame to wake up before the sunrise and never snap a photo…I finally did…check!

photo (91) sunrise

Miyaru Kandu

Today marked our final day of diving. We only had two dives scheduled today as we had to comply with the 24 hour waiting period before we could fly. Our first dive was at Miyaru Kandu, another channel. Again we were looking for big stuff. I suppose those who really get excited over sharks and the like were disappointed as there was not much to see, so again we swam across the channel to the reef instead of dropping down to watch sharks circle. Continue reading “Visiting Male, Maldives” →

Sharks and Rays Swarmed in Epic Night Dive in the Maldives

Dive Sites in the Maldives

Kuda Rah Thila in South Ari Atoll

We took our usual ten minute journey to our morning dive site, this time, Kuda Rah Thila in South Ari Atoll. The boats rarely travel at night, thus our morning dive is generally positioned near the afternoon site we dove the previous day. This Thila had other small pinnacles next to it, so it made for nice wide swim throughs and was quite different from our continuous reef circling. Continue reading “Sharks and Rays Swarmed in Epic Night Dive in the Maldives” →

manta ray

Manta Rays in the Maldives!

Dive Sites in the Maldives

Moofushi Kandu

This morning, we went back to the same dive site as yesterday afternoon, Moofushi Kandu, to try our luck with the mantas again. This time they were slightly more cooperative. One came in from the left and a little while later another came in from the right. They glided around elegantly for a few minutes before they decided that was enough. We were not in the best place for viewing. A huge school of blue striped snapper were right in front of us. Continue reading “Manta Rays in the Maldives!” →

octopus

Octopus, Giant Clams, and Turtles at Fish Head Reef…The Maldives

Well, we were up by 4:30 am. The time adjustment has been poor at best for us. We certainly haven’t needed the 6am wake up call! Today our dive briefing was at 6:15 instead of 6:30 so that we could beat a few boats into the water.

Dive Sites in the Maldives

Hafza Thila in North Ari Atoll

We dove Hafza Thila in the North Ari Atoll, that is once we found the site. Our group of 6 dropped into deep blue with our dive master and didn’t find the pinnacle so we had to surface, board the boat, and drop again. At first the visibility wasn’t that great, but that seems to be the case where there a slight current. The trade off is usually for a few shark sightings as they like to rest in the current. We spotted a giant moray as we circled around the reef and other divers but the best part to me was on the top of the pinnacle. Here we found countless seastars and anemones with their clownfish counterparts. The table coral was lovely and large enough for two baby white tip reef sharks to rest beneath its ledge. Overall it was a pretty nice dive though still a bit chaotic with multiple dive groups in the area. Hopefully we won’t be competing with boats on every site. Continue reading “Octopus, Giant Clams, and Turtles at Fish Head Reef…The Maldives” →

The Maldives…Here We Come!

Traveling to the Maldives

The forecast called for snow Thursday night. If the weather people were ever right I wouldn’t have been too nervous about my travel plans to the Maldives, but for some reason the Denver weathermen have yet to notice their model is almost always 12 hours behind schedule. Snow was falling at 5:30am Thursday morning when I awoke, and it continued until my delayed AA Flight took off closer to 10 instead of 9. Another maintenance problem they announced, plus de-icing. Continue reading “The Maldives…Here We Come!” →