[Maldives] Trip Report : JAN.25-FEB.01, 2020, Male – Ari -Vaavu Trip Vol.2

[#Maldives] Trip Report : JAN.25-FEB.01, 2020, #Male – #Rasdhoo – #Ari – #Vaavu Trip Vol.2

Day 3, the 1st dive of the day was at Fish Head in the North Ari atoll. A big wall of False Moorish Idols welcomed us in the water. And some Black Pyramid Butterflyfish were hidden among them.  About 7 Grey Reef Sharks were seen offshore. The bluefin Trevallies and Giant Trevallies were hunting Fusiliers with roar. On the other hand, the Hawksbill Turtle was asleep in the overhang. It was cute that he was too big to be hidden in the hole. The 2nd and the 3rd dives were at Moofushi Kandu in the South Ari atoll. The current was incoming to the atoll. We hopped in from the outreef.  We could observe Whitetip Reef Sharks and Grey Reef Sharks. Then, settled at the cleaning station. Luckily there were 3 Manta Rays appeared after we waited for a while.  The current changed to stream outgoing but the three Manta Rays were still there, at the cleaning station.  We finished diving for the day. However, we tried to see Whale Sharks night time. We enjoyed snorkel with two Whale Sharks, which were having plankton snack around the boat next to our boat.

Day 4, the 1st dive of the day was at Rangali Madivaru in the South Ari atoll. We had heard of the appearance at this point for both of the Manta and Whale Shark in the morning the day before. So our expectation was super high! Indeed, there were three Manta Rays getting cleaned at the top of the reef. One of them was very friendly that hovered above us for a while. The 2nd dive was at Bodufinolhu Out aiming for Whale Shark. As we almost gave up on the search of Whale Shark and were about to start our safety stop, a Whale Shark showed up from behind! It was very exciting! The 3rd dive was at Maamigiri Out. We could see a Whale Shark at the shore from the dhoni, however, it was too hard for us to get in because of the raging wave on the surface. After the dinner, we had a nice and romantic beach BBQ dinner. The water temperature was 26-31 deg.C. The water temperature was 28-29 deg.C. The visibility was 10-40 meters. To be continued…