Deep South

Addu Atoll

The most southern atoll of the Maldives, which is located south of the equator and used to be a British Royal Air Force base.

Here are some possible sites you may visit:

• Maa Kandu -

  The Manta Cleaning Station in Maa Kandu is located inside the northern channel at a depth of 16-20 metres. Here the manta rays fly in to get cleaned. Divers just hook on and hover above the corals and enjoy the show. Keep an eye to the blue to spot eagle rays and white tip sharks swimming by.

  
  

• British Loyalty Wreck -

  The British Loyalty is a 140m tanker that got torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942 during WWII. The Ship escaped the sinking but got torpedoed a 2nd time by a German submarine despite the anti-submarine nets. It got damaged too much and finally the British sank it inside the Atoll on 5th January 1946. The British Loyalty rests on its starboard side  lying on a silty bottom at 33m. The port side reaches 16m with nice hard coral growth on top.There is a descending line to make the location easier as the visibility is always poor. Divers can discover the main bridge first  and then head to the propeller and rudder as they are in good condition, black coral and small marine life everywhere. The bilge passage reveals a path that can be used. Sometimes a Great Barracuda is luring there in the dark.

  
  

• Demon Corner -

  Demon Corner is a drift dive along the northern reef of Hithadhoo Island. The direction of the current doesn’t matter at all for a successful dive. As usual in Addu Atoll the Top Reef is rich in corals and small reef fish, Turtles can be found there and it is not unusual a Manta Ray surprises the divers passing by. Going to the deeper part of the outside reef encounters with Grey Reef Sharks and Silver Tips is possible, always worth to keep an Eye out in the blue water at this site!

  
  

Fuvahmulah Atoll

Tiger sharks, oceanic manta and thresher sharks. Oceanic Island rising from the deep with incredible visibility.

• Fuvahmulah South Plateau -

  This dive is ranked the best in the Maldives to encounter pelagics like tiger, thresher and hammer head sharks. It indeed offers one of the most incredible drift dives.

   

  Fuvahmulah Island is a unique Atoll in the Maldives without a lagoon but surrounded by great depths in the middle of the Indian ocean. The top reef is at around 10m south of the island and from there it very steeply rushes down to a fairly big plateau at around 45m. Along the the end of the slope where the plateau develops is a sandy channel where thresher sharks can be observed. The dive can be done in many different ways but best is to practise during the northeast monsoon with a water entry far in the blue water and let the current do the work passing over the top of the deep plateau. Depending on the strength and direction of the current it can be a little bit more technical and some efforts are worth it for potential encounters. It is not unusual to see hammer head sharks, thresher sharks, tiger sharks, silky sharks, silver tip sharks, grey reef sharks, barracudas, Wahoos, sailfish and even Mola Mola and Oceanic Manta Rays here.

   

  Please note: At Emperor, we believe in providing as authentic an experience with nature as possible. We do not believe it is appropriate to chum/bait for, nor feed, sharks and therefore will not dive or promote the experience known as "Tiger Zoo" in Fuvahmulah Atoll. We dive Fuvahmulah and regularly encounter Tiger Sharks there, as well as at other spots on our itineraries, and we believe these offer a far more natural experience.

Huvadhoo Atoll

Huvadhoo Atoll, also known as Gaafu Atoll, is one of the southern and the deepest atoll in the Maldives. Here are numerous pristine dive sites filled with caves, steep drop offs and beautiful underwater landscapes, as well as breath-taking coral formations and fish life.

Here are some possible sites you may visit:

• Gemanafushi -

  Gemanafushi is for divers who like to take a chance, all or nothing, a blue water dive with divers entering slightly south of the Gemanafushi and simply drifting with the current, North to South and along the long outer edge of the reef. In strong currents you can expect to travel 3-4 km. With a bit of luck and good technique, especially in the earlier morning hammerhead sharks or silky sharks may come up from the deep to have a closer look at the divers. Its common to see Wahoos, barracudas and grey reef sharks the closer you get to the reef.

  
  

• Kooddoo Kandu -

  Kooddoo Kandu is a rich but technical dive south of the island. It is very good to observe sharks and other pelagics and several water entries at the north or south side of the channel are possible. The fauna is concentrated in the centre, north or south depending on the oceanic current. The channel entrance and the drift inside offer a lot of healthy hard coral, however on the southern shallow reef unfortunately a lot of waste is in the water too, thus its recommended to spend the entire dive time at the channel entrance.

  
  

• Nilandhoo Kandu -

  South of the island Nilandhoo is a 300m wide channel that offers good chances to see pelagic fish. It is a top ranking site to spot sharks such as grey reef sharks, white tips, black tips, nurse and leopard sharks. barracudas, Sailfish, Tunas, Eagle Rays, Turtles and humphead wrasses are common sightings. Occasionally Tiger Sharks or Hammerhead Sharks have been observed in the blue too, all happening during incoming currents with generally good visibility during north east monsoon.

  
  

• Villingili Kandu -

  This channel south of the Island Villingili offers with an incoming current a spectacular dive. Large quantities of grey reef sharks can be observed patrolling back and forth in front of the channel. North corner is a bit more steep dropping down to the channel entrance and the south corner gentle slope down to the middle of the roughly 200m wide channel bottom at 30+ meters. After spending the NDL at the channel mouth entrance divers drift with a stronger current inside, if they can keep the southern reef to the left shoulder it is possible to reach a sandy bottom area close to the southern island Kooddoo where many Green Turtles and different kind of Rays await to make it a cherry on the cake for the end of the dive.

  
  

Gan Airport