The Best Night Diving in the Maldives
Christian Vizl/TandemstockCurious nurse sharks swim in for a closer look during a night dive in the Maldives.
Maldives
The night dive that keeps divers aboard the M/V Four Seasons Explorer up late, chatting over Tiger beer, is Eboodhoo Caves, off the island of Muthaafushi.
The thrills don’t always include big animals, and this isn’t a dive with current. Rather, it’s exciting for the massive stalks of soft corals bathed in the electric pinks and oranges favored by it-girl pop stars. And at night, they feed. Nesting on the stalks are crabs and lobsters much smaller than a pinkie.
Nurse sharks favor the site, poking their heads under overhangs and nudging corals to scoop up crabs and mollusks.
If You Dive in the Daytime
When dive guides in the Maldives tell you to let go, they’re not giving life advice. Rather, the command follows any hook-in hang session, which begins with divers tethered to the reef, buoyed up by currents elbowing through a channel leading to the heart of an atoll.
Once the divers have had their fill of eyeing whitetip, gray and leopard sharks, they release the metal hook connecting them to the reef wall, and then ride the flow for shallower waters.
• Read about the Manta Trust research on the Four Seasons Explorer
From M/V Four Seasons Explorer, which cruises the Male and Baa atolls, the best spot to hook in is Rasdhoo Madivaru, off the island of Rasdhoo in the northern half of the country. Keeping the sharks company are eagle, bowmouth guitar, manta and mobula rays.
Says Abdul Latheef, dive manager of Explorer, “Guests don’t stop talking about that dive — so we usually repeat it the next morning.”
DIVE CONDITIONS: Water temperatures average in the low 80s year-round. Expect visibility of 100 feet or more, save for the rainy season, June through September. However, the season with daily hourlong rain showers is also that of migrating mantas.
INSIDER TIP: All gear is provided aboard Four Seasons Explorer, but you might want to bring your own fins to ensure enough power on pass dives. For hook-in diving, the tool supplied has just one prong; if you prefer the style with two, bring your own.
FOR MORE INFO: fourseasons.com/maldivesfse
