Scuba diving is a fun and an adventurous activity that unveils some of the mystery that surrounds the world’s oceans. As you go deeper into the underwater world, you’ll get to witness a world that is so differently diverse, mind blowing and intriguing. The diversity of this marine world has attracted millions of people across the world with some diving fun, for adventure, for photography, for conservation, for fish identification and many more.
Although diving was not recreational at the beginning. It was mainly for military and research purposes however over the years it has commercialized into an exciting adventure sport.
The acronym SCUBA is the short form of ‘Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’, that is the gear you use to breathe underwater.
What is it like to scuba dive?
Scuba diving is perhaps, the best way to explore the fantastic underwater world, getting up close with the wonders, and the secrets of this magnificent marine ecosystem. With breathtaking colorful diverse inhabitants makes diving an unimaginable experience.
As you have limited air, a regular recreational dive takes about forty-five to sixty minutes. However, it gives you enough time to explore the dive site with comfort. Diving is fun, is adventurous and is transformational.
Breathing underwater itself is a magical feeling and gliding through the azure waters sometimes might make you feel like an astronaut. As you maintain neutral buoyancy while diving, you are literally weightless.
Diving in the Maldives
Diving in the Maldives is an experience not to be missed. With an incredible abundance of marine life and clear waters it has attracted divers from all over the world. With a tropical climate and warm temperatures year around, Maldives can be dived at any time. Throughout the year the water temperatures stay constant at about 26 to 29 degrees. The larger marine animals like mantas, whale sharks, turtles and reef sharks can be found throughout the year.
The Maldives Dive Environment
The Maldives offers several different dive environments, some of which include:
Faru: A faru (in Dhivehi) means a reef. This could be the outer reef of the atolls and the reefs of islands.
Giri: A Giri (in Dhivehi) is a circular reef in which the top reaches the surface, particularly in low tide. Giri’s can be found inside the atoll and inside large lagoons as well. These places offer a variety of marine life and often is good for novice divers.
Thila: A Thila (in Dhivehi) is also much like a Giri but is further below the surface. Here, you’ll find a variety of marine life such as soft coral, gorgonians, and an abundance of fish life including reef sharks.
Channel: A channel or pass is where the atoll meets the ocean as is the gateway to the atoll. It is commonly done as a drift dive. For most life, it is best to dive at channels when there is an incoming current, but some spots do offer good dives during outgoing current as well. Channel dives are good for large pelagic fish, different species of sharks, and eagle rays.
Lagoons: Most islands and big reefs has its own sandy bottom lagoon protected from the current which is ideal for beginners learning to scuba dive.
Wrecks: There aren’t too many but there are few interesting wrecks in the Maldives,
The best seasons for diving in the Maldives!
Maldives has two seasons which generally affect what you can expect while diving.
The Northeast Monsoon Season.
The period from the end of December to May is the northeast monsoon (Iruvai in Dhivehi) with the winds coming from the northeast. During this time there is a general lack of wind, this creates sunny skies and calm seas. Due to these conditions, the visibility on the eastern side of the atolls is good with roughly 20-30m of visibility and on the western side, there is about 15-20m visibility.
As the currently flow from east to west, many shark species gather in the eastern side channel entrances in large numbers while mantas are attracted to the western side where the plankton flows out to the open ocean.
Southwest Monsoon Season.
The period from June to November is the southwest monsoon (Hulhangu in Dhivehi) with the winds coming from the southwest. We expect some rains during this season. The currents move easterly through the channels making the visibility better on the eastern side of the atolls. The wind picks up during this time and sea can get a bit rougher.
What to expect in the Maldives?
With such a massive diversity and sheer quantity of marine life, a diving holiday in the Maldives can often be one of the best scuba diving experiences you can ever have.
The seas of the Maldives boast a large array of colorful soft and hard corals with extremely rich aquatic life. Some of the common inhabitants include parrotfish, trigger fish, clownfish, barracudas, Moorish idol, manta rays, stingrays, eagle rays, sweet lips, wrasses, reef sharks, zebra sharks, whale sharks, grey reef sharks, hammer heads, and tiger sharks.
Scuba diving with Scubaspa
Scubaspa Maldives is a floating resort with exceptional, five-star diving services. The two-sister luxury liveaboards cater a maximum of 40 guests each. Each liveaboard comes with its own Dive Centre, a Dive Dhoni (boat) which is fully equipped for all your diving needs.
Scubaspa organizes divers into small dive groups each guided by well experienced and highly qualified dive instructors or dive guides. The reason being to provide world class diving services with a personalized approach leading to quality, care, safety and most of all fun.
Scubaspa is beyond a floating resort. It is also a training facility offering plentiful courses with highly skilled instructors. Apart from that it conducts various aware programs to broaden your knowledge about marine life, the eco system and how you could contribute positively to save and protect the environment.
Ecological concerns.
Coral and marine life are an integral part of nature and environment that must be preserved. Corals are delicate living specimens which take many years to grow and while diving it is important not to harm them.
Some of the points to keep in mind while diving are:
- Do not touch any coral, fish, or any other marine life – they are fragile creatures. Some fish may get aggressive when felt threatened.
- As we use fins while diving, please bear in the mind not to stamp or kick the corals.
- Do not pick or break pieces of coral, shells etc. to take home.
A fun rule is dive, observe, enjoy and leave only bubbles. What you share are the colorful experiences in the form of stories, photos, and videos.
