Thanks for your report. I just got back from there. My understanding is, corals are better in the north and to watch big stuff you go south.
What I did not like was their obsession with safety.
Maldivian scuba regulations are certainly an overkill in safety. Like, if I did not dive for 3 months I have to go through an orientation dive and demonstrate that I can clean my mask and find my reg if it fells out of my mouth. They impose their own max depth of 30 m (98.5 ft) and those guys who rented us tanks for shore diving threatened to check our comps for max depth we reached (though never bothered to). You fill endless questionnaire with 50 health related points and if you answer "yes" to any question they ask for doctor's statement that you can dive. And constant reminding from the DMs to stay near your buddy kills all the fun underwater.