Coral Bleaching in Maldives - How Widespread is the Problem?

[Tippytoes12]

We have done three LOBs in the Maldives and all were wonderful. We are very fussy divers having learned to dive in the Red Sea and done BDE in Egypt, Komodo, Raja Ampat, the Philippines to name but a few.

The hard coral sites in some areas are not great. But some of this damage can be due to storms etc etc. However the soft coral sites and the reef tops are in excellent shape. The sites are very very fishy and there are sharks on most sites and wonderful manta spots. Liveaboards like happy guests and will take clients to the best sites. The boat usually moves between dives so you are taken to a very wide range of sites. Sites around resort islands are often thrashed to bits.

I can never remember any dissatisfied guests on any of the trips we did.

 

[LoveFiji]

Alas, I did not make it to the Maldives until 2020, and I was very disappointed to not see the colorful hard and soft corals I'd seen in pictures. The coral looked pretty bad to me in central atolls, Llaviyani and North Ari atolls. I saw glimmers of color in some places, so perhaps it will recover. The fish life, especially the mantas, sharks and rays, was spectacular.