Housereef Rannalhi - One of the best Diving Spots in Maldives

Housereef Rannalhi and a few Dive spots around

Rannalhi house Reef have some of the best diving spots in Maldives and serves as a perfect spot for beginners (course and discovery scuba) and experienced divers, in fact the reef is sloping down for a max. depth of 20 meters.

Formation – Table corals and hard corals

Frequently seen – ghost pipe fish, turtle, white tip-, nurse shark, and if you are really lucky, zebra shark.

Kandhooma Thila

Kandhooma Thila is one of the top 5 dives in the Maldives
It’s a teardrop shaped thila which sits on the middle of the Channel developing from West to East for a length of 300 meters , the top is 15 meters making it a typical dive for advanced divers, occasionally when the current is weak can be dive by open water diver.
It is one of the few (around 10 ) marine protected area of the Maldives where fishing is forbidden even to local people. Everything can be seen here, barracuda huge napoleon , school of eagle ray (up to 50 together) guitar shark , giant green turtle, hawksbill turtles, leopard shark , and occasionally manta. The main attraction is a School of grey reef shark that live near the north west corner that can be seen shallow as 25 meters in group of up to 100 m. The best condition are with outgoing current (West to East) where the typical profile is a descent to 18 meters with a 10 minutes swim to the shark point, there we descend to 30 meters and hold with reef hook on the bottom and enjoy the show. When the current is incoming (E to W) is feasible for a channel crossing from cocoa corner to Khandooma at depth of 30 meters, the bottom sits at 40 meters making it a very special dive for experienced divers only.

Current: low – strong
Depth: 14– 40 m
Difficulty: medium – hard

Magu 2 ( Vaagali Bodu Thila)

Magu is situated 15 minutes away by boat from Rannalhi. It is a Thila square shaped which sits in the middle of the channel of Vagaali. It develops from East to West for a length of 200 meters, the top is 5 to 9 meters making it a perfect dive for all level, as it sits at the edge of the Atoll the main sight are grey reef sharks, white tip shark, Napoleon and pelagic fish including huge Yellow fin tuna.
The Thila can be dived on two different sides the north wall and the south wall, the north wall is a place for “big stuff” while the south wall holds an incredible coral life , where ghost pipe, leaf fish and halimeda ghost pipe fish can be seen. The best condition are with incoming current as the visibility can reach 40+ meters visibility, on the other and with incoming current the Viz. can be as low as 10 meters .
The normal dive profile is a descent on the north corner and a hold and wait dive profile.

Current: low – strong
Depth: 5 – 40 m
Difficulty: simple, medium – hard

Guraidhoo Corner

Guraidhoo corner is a huge corner on the Guraidhoo channel it is situated on the south side. The corner is actually developed at 1 meter sloping down to 12 meters and then dropping vertically to the drop off situated at 40 meters
The formation of this corner makes it with strong current the most difficult dive in this atoll (one of the toughest dive all around here) and at the same time one of the best clear water ever can be seen in the Maldives. On clear days while diving in 20 meters is common to clearly see the bottom of the channel at 72 meters. The main encounters are Mantas, grey reef shark and an incredible quantity of pelagic fish, and sometimes hammerhead and whale sharks. The main dive is done with incoming and moderate current. On days where the current is incoming from South East to North West it can be done the channel crossing which is simply a breathtaking Experience for every diver.

Current: low – strong
Depth: 5 – 40 m
Difficulty: simple, medium – hard
Manta Point

Located in front of Guraidhoo island, on the sandy ground between 15-20 meters there is a huge block of coral where during the Manta season (from May to November) mantas can be seen while been cleaned by fishes, It is a perfect dive site for beginners and experienced divers. Current is normally very weak, making it affordable also for snorkellers.

Current: low – strong
Depth: 2 – 20 m
Difficulty: simple, medium.