Liquidstate

Dhigu Thila is a very long, narrow reef which rises from the sea floor to the crest at 8 to 16 meters depth. Both sides of the Thila drop down like a wall and most of the overhangs are between 20 to 25 meters. On either the western or eastern end of the Thila, depending on the direction of the current, a fine selection of fish can be seen; Fusilier and Banner fish, Eagle Rays and Jack fishes. Drifting along the side of this long Thila is equally exciting as,during low season, schools of Glassfish come here and Manta rays cruise the top.

This dive site is a marine protected reef. The top of the Thila (a submerged mountain) is 12 to 16 meters deep and is inhabited by different coloured varieties of soft and hard corals. If conditions are optimal, you will see a vast scale of marine life from the tiniest of creatures to the huge Barracuda. There are large, rough blocks on either side of the Thila which sweep up the current allowing schools of Fusiliers to escape the hunting Jack fishes. During low season (May to November), Manta Rays come to the cleaning stations on the Thila and big clouds of Glassfish gather around this coral formation.

The northside of this thila, at 25m to 30m, retains colourful coral formations in excellent condition, and colour soft corals fill the overhangs. It’s also home to lots of fish.  We found pufferfish, a zebra moray, groupers, snappers, sweetlips, goatfish, spadefish, butterfly fish, wrasses, parrotfish, and a lovely little 6ft nurse shark that was sleeping.  Also got a distant view of some Manta Rays.

With so much to look at, it was difficult to maintain good buddy behaviour. I only lost sight of Jen once or twice though, so we were alright!

Dhonfanu is an oval shaped reef starting at a depth of 7 to 14 meters. One side of the Thila forms a beautiful swim-through beginning at 18 meters and ending around 25 meters. There is a canyon on the other side of the Thila between the main reef and a large block that stands slightly with astonishing corals and aquatic life. When the conditions are right, Grey reef sharks, Eagle rays, Barracudas and big schools of Jack fish can be seen.

The swim through was superb, and along our dive we found pipefish, groupers, bannerfish, featherstar, and lots of unicorn fish, with their big ‘horn’ sticking out their foreheads.

The first dive of our holiday was at Eriyadhu in the North Male Atoll.  We landed at Male Airport early on the 26th, after about 13 hours in the air.  By mid-day, we were already in the water!  It was a really simple dive, designed as a check-out dive to give everyone a chance to check their kit over.  Just as well really, because both Jen and I were a little underweighted to begin with - partly due to diving in our new 5mm wetsuits, but no doubt also due to the fact we haven’t been diving for a year or two!

The dive was very scenic, and the Maldives is a fantastic place to go diving. Even on our first dive me managed to find ourselves a turtle!   Afterwards, we had time to unpack, sort our bags, and get to know some the others on the boat while we steamed towards the Baa Atoll.