Fuvahmulah - seasonality and diving conditions

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Liberty01

Contributor
Messages
250
Reaction score
6
Location
Germany
# of dives
500 - 999
Hi,
I was recommended to Fuvahmulah for healthy reefs and big marine life.
I plan to go either end of March or end of August beginning of September.

I heard that some of the sharks and the oceanic manta rays are seasonal and wonder which time of the year would be better.
Of cause, one consideration is that rain in August/September might effect the visibility at Tiger Zoo.

How about diving conditions on sites other than Tiger Zoo (swell, up- and downcurrents)? I know, diving in the Maldives usually involves negative entry and using reef hooks. But do you have to go deeper than 30m and fight very strong currents to see hammerheads and thresher sharks etc.?

Do they go to the same sites every day?

Thank you in advance.

Best regards,
Heike
 
I went to Fuvahmulah at the start of February 18 and loved it. We saw 3 oceanic mantas and had really close encounters. From memory the manta season is at that time- March I think is prime. I also think there is a better chance of hammerheads in March but you could get lucky anytime , we saw a great hammerhead at Plato but again it was quite far away. We did 30 dives over 10 days and there was 1 dive each day at tiger zoo which was gripping. We saw between 3 and 8 tigers on each dive at tiger zoo plus silver tips.
We went to about 7 dive sites in total, but the most dives were at Plato and Tiger zoo. Plato is run as a drift dive but it’s deep so you won’t get near the bottom. That’s where we saw the most threshers, few tigers out in the open , walls of grey reef sharks but they were just far enough away that pics weren’t any good. You drift for most of the dive then have about a 5 min portion against the current at the end of the dive.

They also have a dive site where you are more likely to encounter the oceanic mantas- so whatever you want to see the team will do their best for you.

Really can’t recommend Fuvahmulah dive school enough- they will organise everything for you with a direct message through Facebook. If you book up with them say hi to the team from me.
 
Thank you.
Sounds good.
How deep did you go at Plato?
Is there enough different marine life at Plato and Tiger Zoo to keep it interesting for 10days?
 
I went to Fuvahmulah at the start of February 18 and loved it. We saw 3 oceanic mantas and had really close encounters. From memory the manta season is at that time- March I think is prime. I also think there is a better chance of hammerheads in March but you could get lucky anytime , we saw a great hammerhead at Plato but again it was quite far away. We did 30 dives over 10 days and there was 1 dive each day at tiger zoo which was gripping. We saw between 3 and 8 tigers on each dive at tiger zoo plus silver tips.
We went to about 7 dive sites in total, but the most dives were at Plato and Tiger zoo. Plato is run as a drift dive but it’s deep so you won’t get near the bottom. That’s where we saw the most threshers, few tigers out in the open , walls of grey reef sharks but they were just far enough away that pics weren’t any good. You drift for most of the dive then have about a 5 min portion against the current at the end of the dive.

They also have a dive site where you are more likely to encounter the oceanic mantas- so whatever you want to see the team will do their best for you.

Really can’t recommend Fuvahmulah dive school enough- they will organise everything for you with a direct message through Facebook. If you book up with them say hi to the team from me.

How were the corals? I've seen photos posted by Panda but since the photos focus have invariably been tiger sharks etc., I haven't been able to get a good feel for the corals there.
 
Can you recommend a place to stay? Did you book half or full board?
How many diving days would you suggest?
 
How were the corals? I've seen photos posted by Panda but since the photos focus have invariably been tiger sharks etc., I haven't been able to get a good feel for the corals there.

I would say the Corals were the best we have seen in the Maldives. In my opinion they were in way better condition than the northern atolls which are much more bleached. I think because it’s exposed to the open ocean and it’s a single island atoll - the water temperature doesn’t get the chance to heat up as much as it does in the north. The corals in tiger zoo are pretty much all dead but it’s at the entrance to the harbour. The dive sites where you have the best chance at mantas and thresher sharks had a really healthy covering of hard and soft corals. It’s not as healthy as a pristine raja ampat but still really good.
 
Can you recommend a place to stay? Did you book half or full board?
How many diving days would you suggest?

When we stayed- I messaged Panda and Tatiana through FB messenger and they sorted the accommodation. I had asked for a place with good wifi and aircon. They have a number of places that they can recommend based on what you want to spend. Having looked on their website they don’t seem to have the same hotel that we stayed in- but they have a good selection.

We booked full board and would really recommend that. Typical day was breakfast of eggs , fruits, toast the usual stuff. The hotel we stayed in didn’t cater themselves but we had a menu where there was a great selection of food that we ordered in the morning for lunch and at lunch for dinner. It had a huge selection so even fussy eaters would be fine. I’m not sure if all the hotels are the same but that’s what we did.

We did 10 days of diving and I would say that’s perfect if you are as mad on diving as me. I was genuinely gutted to leave when the trip was over. I’d say do at least 6/7 days of diving , but if you can stretch it then do it .

They also lent us a moped which was great- between dives we could go exploring round the island.
 
Thank you.
Sounds good.
How deep did you go at Plato?
Is there enough different marine life at Plato and Tiger Zoo to keep it interesting for 10days?

Sorry just seen the first message last. We went to 30m at Plato......... not legal in Maldives to go deeper... . However you could easily stick to any depth that you wanted to go. Yeah when we were in Fuvahmulah we hadn’t seen hammerheads yet so were desperate to see them and Plato is the best chance, we were always looking forward to our dives there. Although we didn’t see them we saw more than enough to keep us interested. At tiger zoo at the end of the dive you can search for tiger teeth and I found an absolute beauty ( so sad to say it’s one of my most treasured possessions lol)

I tend to rate trips by how I feel on most of the dives- iv done some dives where I’m thinking about work, stresses that are bugging me in everyday life. However all the dives in Fuvahmulah had my attention all the time- so that’s why I think it’s a great place to go. Hope that makes sense.
 

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