[Maldives] Trip Report : DEC. 1-7, 2018, Male Ari Vaavu Route Vol.1

[#Maldives] Trip Report : DEC. 1-7, 2018, #Male #Ari #Vaavu Route Vol.1

Hi guys! Here is the report from the trip on DEC. 01-07, the first week of December. The weather was kind of mixed with dry season and rainy season. The 1st dive was at Maagiri Rock in the North Male Atoll as a check dive. The regular Bluestripe Snappers’ group welcomed us near the reef. Then, Longnose Hawkfish were the center of the attraction of the underwater photographer! Besides, Garden Eels and Spaghetti Eels were seen in the sand area. We moved to the North Ari Atoll for the 2nd dive at Fish Head. This point has never disappointed us with the big number of various fish.  The Bluefin Trevallies, Giant Trevallies and also Grey Reef Sharks appeared. Some divers were checking on the slight difference between Bluestripe Snappers and Bengal Snappers. The 3rd dive was at Fesdhoo Goni for a night Manta dive. A couple of Manta Rays came and went around ! That made us very happy!

The day 2, the 1st and the 2nd dive of the day were at Moofushi Kandu in the North Ari Atoll.  This dive point is well known as a Manta Spot in the dry season. We successfully spotted 3 Manta Rays at their cleaning station at the beginning. Then, constantly 2 or 3 Manta Rays came and switched, back and forth. More Manta Rays appeared on the 2nd dive!  Total 10 Manta Rays maximum were ween at a time. It was very exciting! The 3rd dive was at Rangali Madivaru in the South Ari Atoll. We did a drift dive observing a dynamic overhang and it’s soft corals and sea fan. My favorite was the beautiful eyelashes Indian Bannerfish. The air temperature was 26-29 deg.C. The water temperature was 28-29 deg.C. To be continued…