Would any resort in South Ari be viable for good diving?

[sinetwo]

Hi all,

I'm likely to head off to a resort in South Ari in November - not a liveaboard unfortunately.. Could anyone kindly tell me if most good divesites (for large stuff and/or macro ) are accessible from any resort in South Ari? Or are the distances so great, that I should pick a resort based on its proximity to the good divesites, as opposed to picking a resort based on personal preferences?

Any suggestions for macro and big pelagics (whale sharks, dolphins, sharks, mantas) would be greatly appreciated! Notably you won't really go to the Maldives for Macro, but I've got both wet lenses so why not

Thanks,
SineTwo

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi there

We just did a wonderful liveaboard and the best diving was in the South Ari Atol. We spent two nights moored off Dhigurah Island . My husband had done his research beforehand and booked us into Boutique Beach Resort, which happened to be on Dhigurah Island for our second week. The really good sites were just off the island , an absolute maximum of 10 minutes away by boat. We dived with a whaleshark and saw one snorkeling from the liveaboard. We snorkeled for 10minutes with a whaleshark while at Boutique Beach , just around the corner from the harbor. We didn't see any mantas but there were heaps of sharks , turtles , eagle rays etc. etc.

This is however a local island , so no alcohol is for sale. It's also a working island, so there is some rubbish and a fair bit of construction. However we really loved it there.

I have written a trip report further down this page.

Hope this helps a bit.