This picturesque dive location, one of the best dive sites in the world contains a plethora of marine life, such as batfish, napoleon, oriental sweetlips, snapper fish and others. The aquatic landscape is similarly on par, featuring majestic caves and brilliant coral outcrops. The best Maldives dive spot Dolphin Corner is also a protruding reef, shaped like a finger reaching into the channel from the southern side. Experts advise divers to initiate their expedition on the steeper outside reef and drift towards the corner where the reef plateau flattens out. Along the route you can spot dazzling coral formations, blue-finger sponges, hydroids and featherstars. In times where the current is strong at Filitheyo Kandu dive site you should hold onto the dead coral and watch the plethora of marine life in the Maldivian depths; white-tip reef sharks, napoleon wrasse, eagle rays, schools of fusilier and snapper fish, just to name a few. When the current is ingoing, a good option is to drift over to the lee side of the reef; here you can catch sight of the two huge mushroom-shaped coral outcrops towards the corner – one at 15 meters and the other at 10 meters. It is a popular spot where you can observe a variety of fish life like Moorish idols, blue triggerfish and powder blue surgeon.

Broken Rock may be amongst the best dive sites. Apart from Kudarah Thila, Broken Rock dive site is most probably one of the the most well-known diving locations in the South Ari Atoll. This Thila is literally a broken rock with a 2-metre wide canyon that splits the small Thila in two parts, from the west to east, giving the reef its name. This canyon is the main attraction on this wonderful submerged reef. Broken Rock is covered in soft corals and only one diver can enter the canyon at a time. On the north side at a depth of around 25-30m, there are two big coral blocks with overhangs and beautiful fan corals which are well worth a visit. The top reef at Broken Rock has great hard coral growth and is an ideal place to find invertebrates like leaf fish and nudibranchs. Depth and strong currents make this Thila suitable only for experienced divers. A dive torch and a surface balloon are both strongly recommended at Broken Rock.

The dive sites on the top of the thila is like untouched reef with stunning table corals. These layered coral formations offer plenty of protection for the Maldivian marine life such as the morays and shy reef fish. There are cleaner wrasse stations peppered all around the reef and it is not uncommon to spot large schools of fish or mantas congregating in the area. More often than not you will catch sight of black snapper fish, blue-dash fusilier, yellow-black fusilier, and aggregations of the oriental sweetlip, cruising around these depths. The rapid currents that stream through the channel accentuate the brilliant soft corals, as they compete for all available space.

Cocoa Corner is one of the top scuba diving sites. Due to the fascinating marine life and landscape at Cocoa Corner dive site it is one of the best dive spots that can be explored in several different ways and with the right current and conditions, it’s is the best shark show around Male Atoll. Many dive guides consider crossing from Cocoa Corner to Kandooma Thila. With the right current, divers begin the dive from Cocoa Corner and while maintaining a depth of 25 to 29 meters, they swim across the current while parallel to the edge at 40 meters. This gives a natural reference that divers are maintaining the correct position while crossing to the Thila and divers are not taken too far inside the channel. The Thila lies in the middle of the channel about 15 meters from the channel edge. Here, divers will see heaps of Grey Reef Sharks from big mother sharks to newborn babies patrolling the edge of the channel together. Eagle Rays and schooling Jack Fish are also common at the beginning of the Thila. By the time divers reach the Thila, their bottom time should be running out and the best thing to do is to swim to the top of the Thila and continue diving in shallower waters. A safety balloon is a must at Cocoa Corner and divers should be prepared to make an open water safety stop.

Fotteyo Kandu is one of the top diving sites. Many scuba divers consider Fotteyo Kandu to be the best dive site in Maldives and it is also rated among the top 5 dive spots in the world. The mouth of Fotteyo Kandu dive site is exposed to the ocean and during north east monsoon when the currents are incoming, a good variety of fish species gather at the entrance to the channel. Animals commonly spotted at Fotteyo Kandu include Gray Reef Shark patrolling the channel mouth, Jack and Tuna in the deeper water, schools of Midnight Snappers and Red Snapper form in huge groups. The wall features caves, overhangs and swim-thoughs at different depths. These caves and overhangs are filled with colourful yellow color like soft coral, deeper caves and overhangs are filled with huge bushes of black corals. The Thila in the middle of the channel entrance is the best place to do the safety stop. A surface balloon is a must at Fotteyo Kandu.

Fushi Kandu in Maldives is one of the best diving sites. This is a spectacular Maldives scuba diving site spanning a one kilometer wide channel containing five separate thilas. The thilas at Fushi Kandu dive site are mainly very narrow and long, initiating from a sandy bottom of around 20m – 25m. Once inside the main channel, the depth drops to over 30 meters, with the outside ledge decreasing steeply from 30 meters. These thilas attract many schools of fish, along with moray eels, eagle rays and even sharks. The main location to spot sharks would be along the outside drop off, whereas returning to the thilas for a leisurely dive across the entire channel would bring you face to face with sting rays and possibly nurse sharks, dwelling in the sandy channels. This dive location is a strong favorite of scuba divers visiting the Maldives on holiday, do not miss out on this spectacular dive route; it is an aquatic experience not soon forgotten.

Embudhoo Kandu is undoubtedly one of the top dive sites in the world. Inside the channel itself is one colossal cave ranging between 5m – 25m, with a swim-through at 11m. A majority of the dives initiate on the outside reef and conclude in this very cave. The Maldives marine life that is found inside the cave consists of seafans, sponges, large morays, angelfish, octopus, lionfish and even the odd squirrelfish. Embudhoo Thila (Coral Garden). The best diving at Embudhoo Thila dive site is a spectacular underwater reef located on the north corner of the Embudhoo Kandu. The reef top ranges between 12m – 15m with a lavish decoration of hard and soft coral upon the reef plateau. On the south side of the thila you will find a protruding ledge alongside a small cave. It is here that reef fish congregate in large numbers, whereas around the outskirts it is not uncommon to find sharks patrolling the waters. This Maldives dive site is suitable for beginners if the current is favorable; most of the channels in the North-West direction of South Male Atoll are pretty shallow with one or more thilas at the entrances. At Mas Thila you will find sharks, trevally and deep caves, whereas at Bolifushi Housereef lies the wreckage of a 9 meter fiberglass yacht, which attracts white-tip reef sharks, napoleon, triggerfish, remoras and eagle rays.