Liquidstate

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.

Another dive on the Nelivaru Thila, in hope of spotting more Manta Rays.  No rays unfortunately, but we did come across a free-swimming eel and lots of sea cucumbers.  We started at the rocks on the eastern edge of the Thila again, but this time the current was weaker, so we managed to swim along the full length of the southern, seaward, edge - checking out the overhangs on the way.

The Nelivaru Thila is “bean” shaped with a steep wall on one side and a sandy slope on the other. The crest of the Thila is at 5 meters deep with overhangs between 11 to 22 meters. There are huge coral blocks on both ends of the Thila. Many varieties of hard corals can be found here as well as concentrations of marine life. You can easily spot Lion, Scorpion, andStone fish and perhaps a school of hunting Jack fish. The cleaning stations situated on the sandy side of the Thila attract many Manta Rays for a thorough cleaning during the Low season.

We were really hoping to find some Manta Rays, but it was still early in the season, so we didn’t know what to expect. The Nelivaru reef was a great dive. We started at the rocks on the eastern side, waiting for manta, and then swam half way along the southern edge of the Thila. Along the way we say Scorpion fish, a shrimp in a hole with a gobie standing guard, an octopus hiding, Lion fish, big moray eels, snappers, and parrot fish. The current started to get a bit strong half way along the southern edge, so we turned tail and headed back to the rocks.  Just as well we did, because we had a single Manta Ray swim over.  Absolutely breathtaking creatures!

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