THE BEST DIVE SITES IN THE MALDIVES

At Baros Maldives, guests can slip into the water from their private villa’s deck to enjoy our world-class house reef or arrange a bespoke dive to any of the 30 nearby dive sites that include some of the Maldives best. Here you will see a plethora of exquisite marine life, including everything from harmless reef sharks and turtles to mantas and moray eels.

1. The Maldives, a diver’s paradise

The Maldivian Archipelago hosts the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world with a biodiversity akin to a virgin rainforest. The cycle of coral construction caused by erosion has left a diverse and impressive reef architecture with canyons, caves, and overhangs, each home to a mini-ecosystem of its own. It truly is breathtaking.

Baros has easy access to some of the most enchanting reefs in the Maldives. These include:

2. Nasimo Thila

In the Maldives the word ‘thila’ refers to submerged coral towers and caves. This thila offers one of the most spectacular dives in the Maldives. A section of the reef has broken off, leaving huge coral boulders at 18-30 metres down. Where the reef has broken off, a long series of overhangs and crevices remain for exploration. The ceilings of these overhangs are covered with a beautiful layer of blue soft corals and host a wealth of fish and marine life.

Here you will see shark, tuna, trevally, turtle, schools of snapper and fusilier, as well as violet soldierfish.

3. Okobe Thila

This reef has a continuous line of ledges and overhangs and is known for its excellent coral growth. It is home to shark, tuna, trevally, turtle, schools of snapper and fusilier and violet soldierfish.

4. Kuda Haa

A legendary site, dubbed by divers as ‘fish soup’, this reef is in a protected marine area and teems with colourful fairy basslet. The site comprises two peaks that rise up from the atoll bed and resemble a camel’s back. The larger of the two humps is about 30 metres in diameter with steep sides. Its peak is just 8 metres below the surface. The second hump has its shallowest depth at 13 metres. Both are covered with newly grown hard corals, which offer protection for a diversity of colourful fish.

Here you will see Napoleon wrasse, turtle, moray eels, large groups of blue-striped snapper, red tooth triggerfish and basslet, scorpionfish and stonefish.

5. Baari Thila

Exclusive to Baros, this thila is located inside the atoll. Sharks and rays are regularly spotted sleeping in the sand on the east side of the thila, while barracudas and eagle rays can be seen in the deeper waters. Schools of oriental sweetlips can also be found here, a big favourite among underwater photographers.

6. Rameez Place

At the right time of year, this reef is home to manta rays that glide majestically overhead. Stingrays, nurse sharks, grey reef sharks, whitetip sharks and lobsters can also be seen in the overhangs of this reef, while tuna, trevally and eagle rays are also regular visitors.

7. Banana Reef

As legendary as Baros itself, this reef is one of the first dive sites discovered in the Maldives and is a protected marine area. The reef is very popular among photographers due to the amazing marine life and the shape of the reef, which is curved, giving it its name. The northeast side of the reef features spectacular caves, canyons and precipitous overhangs that are home to sharks, barracuda, trevally and black snapper. Spectacular schools of yellow snapper, humpback red snapper and oriental sweetlips also light up this beautiful reef.

8. Manta Point (Lankanfinolhu Faru)

This reef is irresistible to manta rays during the southwest monsoon season, with astonishing numbers congregating here. The reef slopes gently down to 40 metres, dotted with massive Porites corals which house colonies of cleaner wrasse that attract the manta rays. The manta rays come in from the deep water and hover over the coral heads while the wrasses get to work, cleaning. Even without the manta rays, this is still a tremendous dive site with huge schools of fusilier, oriental sweetlips and Napoleon wrasses as well as turtles and moray eels.

9. Baros house reef

The world class Baros house reef encircles the island and is known as one of the best house reefs in the Maldives. Just a few metres from the Baros shore, the reef is easily accessible to guests. Gently sloping to 20 metres it hosts a breathtaking variety of marine life. Our house reef is a nursery ground for blacktip sharks, which can be seen here every day in their natural habitat. Turtles can often be seen in the shallower waters. To add to the magic, the reef also has two wrecks to explore.

Baros truly has a wealth of underwater riches to share with our guests. To learn more about diving at Baros and to book your dive, visit https://www.baros.com/underwater-discovery.