scubajunky17
Contributor
Thanks for the info, how does it compare to other places you have dived ?
Non-liveaboard recommendations?
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Scottmurillo
Registered
The diving in South Ari Atoll is wonderful. I would definitely go back but on a liveabord just because of the price for the resorts. That being said if you do find a good resort you will definitely see a lot there. I’m sure there are ways to stay on local islands to do it cheap.
scubajunky17
Contributor
Thanks.
Tippytoes12
Contributor
We have done ten days in Fuvamulah, with Pelagic Divers and seven in Dhigurah with Boutique Beach, the latter about three times. Both were fantastic, we saw whalesharks several times in Dhigurah. Fuvamulah for the tiger sharks, hammerheads, threshers and white/black tips was fantastic, a truly unique experience. Both destinations are perfect for either before or after a LOB or just as single destinations.
scubajunky17
Contributor
Wow, how many tigers would you see ? Giant Hammerheads or Scalloped ? what kind of numbers ? ? are there budget options for Fuvamulah? can you backpack and rough it there ? is it easy to get to ? Can one access the best diving by local ferrys and stay at reasonable accommodation ?
JustSurfaceInterval
Contributor
Keep in mind that this schedules are not daily and sometime just get ancelled because of rough seas or bad weather.
Make your itinary and then have a look by Island what Guesthouses are there. You can use the usual sites (Booking.com & co). "Reasonable" will depend of hat you judge being reasonable.
PS: Quote is from the thread you opened in June 2022.
scubajunky17
Contributor
Thanks, nothing wrong with getting up to date information is there ? June 2022 was a year ago !Keep in mind that this schedules are not daily and sometime just get ancelled because of rough seas or bad weather.
Make your itinary and then have a look by Island what Guesthouses are there. You can use the usual sites (Booking.com & co). "Reasonable" will depend of hat you judge being reasonable.
PS: Quote is from the thread you opened in June 2022.
cetacean
Contributor
@Parlem
We've had a slightly different experience in the Maldives (diving both LOB and land based).
The vast majority of LOBs depart and return to Male. On a 7/8/9 day itinerary. This means they only dive the central atolls. There is *much* better/varied diving both to the north and south in the Maldives (including the Baa Atoll and Laamu Atoll). Don't get me wrong, atolls like Ari Atoll have some really good dives (like w/whale sharks) however outside of that, places like Laamu offers much more varied and interesting diving (along with big schools of fish, mantas, etc.), with much less tourism & diver impact.
The only (really) viable way to dive these atolls is land based. Same is true for Fuvamulah if you want to dive with the tigers or thresher sharks.
Our experience: the farther you get away from Male, the better the diving - that includes avoiding the central atolls as much as possible.
We've had a slightly different experience in the Maldives (diving both LOB and land based).
The vast majority of LOBs depart and return to Male. On a 7/8/9 day itinerary. This means they only dive the central atolls. There is *much* better/varied diving both to the north and south in the Maldives (including the Baa Atoll and Laamu Atoll). Don't get me wrong, atolls like Ari Atoll have some really good dives (like w/whale sharks) however outside of that, places like Laamu offers much more varied and interesting diving (along with big schools of fish, mantas, etc.), with much less tourism & diver impact.
The only (really) viable way to dive these atolls is land based. Same is true for Fuvamulah if you want to dive with the tigers or thresher sharks.
Our experience: the farther you get away from Male, the better the diving - that includes avoiding the central atolls as much as possible.
Thinking of heading to Fuvamulah next month for a land based dive trip Is 3-4 days of diving enough to cover the best sites there?
Also I hear there is a channel crossing dive site near Vaavu Atoll where you can see large schools of sharks - is it really worthwhile diving around Vaavu Atoll for this?
Also I hear there is a channel crossing dive site near Vaavu Atoll where you can see large schools of sharks - is it really worthwhile diving around Vaavu Atoll for this?
There are only 2 good sites that I can remember. The rest are quite normal or nothing special for me.
You don't go Fuvahmulah to look for critters or coral. It is for the Tiger, Oceanic Manta, Silver Tip, Thresher, Great Hammerhead (if lucky) etc.
1. Tiger Zoo for the Tiger Sharkssss
2. Fuvahmulah South Plateau
PS: The sunset in Fuvahmulah at Geiymiskih Fannu is beautiful and you can drop by Cool Banana for dinner after that.
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