The rich marine of the Indian Ocean offers exquisite diving experiences in the Maldives. Almost all the resorts in the Maldives provide a range of water sports along with superb diving experiences. Snorkelling and reef diving are options to explore if you are living in the water villas. Most of the hotels have PADI certification and special dive instructors who assist through the tours and courses.
With a tropical climate and warm temperatures year round, Maldives can be dived at any time. Water temperatures range from 80°F/26°C-86°F/30°C.
August-November is considered the best time of year to see manta rays and whale sharks. Jan-April offers great visibility and welcomes the driest/warmest months.
Let us have a look at the top 10 resorts which offer the best diving experiences
This extravagant resort is built on a private island in Lhaviyani Atoll, north of Velena International Airport, Male.
The famous diving sites – Kuredu Express and Kurdu Caves, are very close to the island and they hold some of the most vibrant reefs of the Maldives. The Lhaviyani Atoll has the Shipward Site and the Madivaru Kandu, a high-energy channel with numerous pelagics.
The resort offers professional, award-winning, PADI 5-star Providers who guide you in daily excursions and courses. There are more than 50 diving sites that feature a wide range of marine life and about 15 varieties of sharks. Seasonal winds and currents from May to November attract Mantas. Whether you are hardcore professional diver or just planning for the fun and adventurous, resort will provide guide.
#2 Vilamendhoo Resort and Spa
Located in the South Ari Atoll, Vilamendhoo Resort and Spa has some of the best house reefs in the Maldives.
10 entrances and exits are marked separately on the island for access to these reefs. The diving center is run by expert Euro-Divers who guarantee professional instructions and guidelines. These divers organise diving trips and courses for beginners as well as experienced divers. A diving certification can also be obtained from the courses offered here.
The waters around the Vilamendhoo are often frequented by whale sharks. You can also schedule a trip to the First Whale Shark National Park, Mamigili. The Vilamendhoo Caves and the Kudarah Thila are among the 40 best diving sites that explore soft corals. The manta ray drive is usually held from June to October. 10 channels surrounding the island give easy access to abundant marine life.
Oblu Halengeli is located in the North Male Atoll and is known for its beautiful house reef and vibrant flora-fauna.
Oblu at Halengeli is an absolute haven for divers as it is popular for world-class diving sites, certified PADI courses, and its diving school. The excellent location of the resort links the interior lagoon with the magnificent waters of the Indian Ocean, making it a worthwhile experience for divers.
The underwaters are filled with picturesque coral and marine life that is home to silver-tipped sharks, sea turtles, and lobsters. Ample fish life includes schools of small reef fish like Indian Snapper or Lionfish to large predatory fishes like sharks, tuna, and barracuda.
The exotic Halengeli Thila’s house reef is just 6 minutes from the island. If you are living in one of the water villas, chances are that you will frequently spot sea bass, octopus, rays, and black-tip sharks. Oblu Helengeli gives you a taste of marine biodiversity with plenty of pelagic fishes like sharks, reel fish, moray eels, tuna, and jackfish.
Both beginners and experienced divers get suitable diving sites for touring underwater towers and drift diving activities.
#4 Huravalhi Island Resort
The Lhaviyani Atoll has some of the best resorts that are known for their premium diving experiences. The 5-star Huravalhi Island Resort has the world’s largest underwater restaurant amidst the blissful coral reefs of the Atoll.
The hotel has a team of star PADI instructors who provide guidance for educational dives and wreck-diving. The breath-taking adventures on the house reef offer a fluorescent night diving experience and excursions with a marine biologist. You can also visit marine workshops and get a PADI certification from their renowned diving center.
If you are visiting the Hurawalhi, diving with the charismatic manta rays should be a priority on your bucket list. The resort offers regular trips to the sandbank where the mantas come to feed on the large concentration of plankton in the bay.
Located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, The Medhufushi Island Resort offers spectacular diving facilities and programs for its guests.
The Warner Lau diving center team proposes diving in the Meemu Atoll that is hard to compete with. The sites are best for beginners as the currents are restricted by abundant coral formations. You can discover manta rays, small sharks, whale sharks, and coral gardens in the outer reefs where the strong current is available.
The diving center offers professional diving courses under expert instructors and your choice of learning for PADI training with certification. This center is sufficiently equipped with 60 sets of jackets, masks, fins, and snorkels. There is also a seperate program for kids over 8 to learn diving. Diving sites like the Mantas and More, Shark’s Tongue, Boahura Express, Happy Corner, Simply the Best are must to be explored.
The Medhufushi Thila is best known for its hard and soft corals and is home to rock cod, fusiliers, and blue-banded snappers.
Diving courses for kids offered by resort diving centre
Junior Diver: (minimun age 8 /maximum depth 2 m/3 course dives)
Junior Scuba Diver: (minimun age 9/maximum depth 5 m/3 course dives)
Junior Open Water Diver: (minimun age 10/maximum depth 10 m/6 course dives)
The Angaga Island Resort is located right in the middle of the South Ari Atoll which is best-known for its diving sites and tranquil marine beauty. Diving in this Atoll is famous for the discovery of brilliant corals and beautiful pelagic species.
The diving center is run by the SUB-AQUA Divers of the Maldives and they offer daily trips and PADI-certified courses of different levels for the guests. The best part is that Angaga is in the most suited location for visiting the best sites of the South Ari Atoll. The Manta Point is in the west and the channels and thilas are to the east. The Angaga Thila, Barabaru Thila, Coconut Thila, Dhigurah Thila offer views of sea turtles, stone fishes, lobsters, moray eels, tiger, and parrotfishes. Apart from these, it is also surrounded by uncountable other thilas, corners, and caves.
Two boats are always in service and each boat carries up to 17-18 passengers, leaving plenty of space thereafter. One of the boats also offers a freshwater shower head, a toilet, and a sun deck.
The Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu rests in the astounding waters of the Bay Atoll. The PADI-certified diving centers have instructors from all over the world who offer training courses and modules in multiple languages.
Apart from English, you can also get training books in German, Dutch, Korean, Italian, French, etc. The region has over 35 diving sites like the Muthfushi Thila, Maavaru Kuda Thila, Maavaru Kandu, and the Muthafushi Caves. You can spot some grey reef sharks, manta rays, and schools of tuna near the Thilas. The rich and vibrant coral life of the Thilas is juxtaposed with green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and napoleon wrasse.
Packages of up to 15 dives are available at different rates along with masks, optical masks, fins, snorkels, regulators, wet suits, and other necessities.
Located in the Rasdhoo Atoll, the pristine warm waters of the Indian Ocean provide some of the most adventurous diving sites in the Maldives.
The advanced and experienced Rasdhoo divers offer professional, multilingual support for the courses under the diving center. Beginner-level divers will be provided special SSI or PADI support to discover the underwater.
Experienced divers can opt for more testing dives with sharks, mantas, barracuda, turtles, and other smaller species of the reef. The popular Shark Point is just 8 minutes from the main island and if lucky, you can also find the glorious Hammerhead sharks at sunrise. An average boat ride is of 15 minutes and it can cover up to 20 or more diving sites. The fast, modern boats are used to maintain the satisfaction and comfort of the guests.
The Kuramathi Medical Center and the Hyperbaric Chamber is well equipped to handle any kind of diving emergencies. It has all the basic devices and equipment needed along with two highly professional German doctors.
#9 Reveries Diving Village
Unlike other resorts, Reveries Diving Village is Laamu Atoll’s first guest house located in the heart of the atoll.
The Reveries Diving Village is located on Gan Island at the northern end of the Thundi village in the Laamu Atoll and it offers a gateway to the immaculate lagoon, sandy white beaches, and the delightful coral reefs. The corals in this region are fairly new and untouched, offering a wide diversity of macro marine life and other pelagics.
The period from December to June is the calmest season to witness tranquility both in the land and in the water. The expert PADI-certified Reveries Divers assist with diving trips and drift-driving to over 11 diving sites around the island. The presence of relatively few channels makes diving near the Reveries Village a bliss for photographers. However, the north of the island experiences strong currents that create great channels and drifts.
Experienced divers will love an adventurous trip to this region to find big eagle rays, giant trevallies, and majestic mantas. Reveries Scuba Zone is a PADI Diving Centre equipped with the latest diving equipment. Here’s some useful diving information.
- Depth: 5m – 30m
- Visibility: 20m – 30m
- Water Temperature: 27°C – 30°C
- No. of Dive Sites: 11
Located in the North Male Atoll of Maldives, One And Only Reethi Rah offers an unparalleled trip to the Maldives.
The professional PADI instructors guide you through the process and help in making your diving experience better and effortless. The active coral reefs in the waters of the North Male Atoll are home to whale sharks, stingrays, anemones, wild turtles, sea-stars, and other vibrant marine creatures.
During the Manta season, December to April, the Hanifaru Bay Marine is the perfect place to see flights of rays swim and soar underwater. Sometimes you can even encounter groups of 200 rays creating a formation that is almost up to three and a half meters long.
The diving center also offers an underwater odyssey with sea turtles where you can swim with 5 of the world’s 7 sea turtles. You can also spot the highly endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle here.
