Diving in the Maldives

The Maldives is a low-lying nation with dreamy white sand beaches and excellent reefs with an abundance of marine life. Scuba diving is done at a leisurely drift pace as the Indian monsoon current sweeps along the island chains, moving nutrients and divers along. This rich water flows up along the walls, feeding the soft coral clinging to the rock sides. Inside the atoll lagoons, rock pinnacles – thila – rise up from the depths to scratch the water’s surface. In the channels there are swim-throughs, caverns and overhangs festooned with colorful sponges, invertebrates and gorgonians. At cleaning stations, wrasse and shrimp service manta rays, with giant turtle and whale shark sightings common.