[Maldives] Trip Report : NOV.16 – 20, 2019, Male – Ari Short Trip Vol.2

[#Maldives] Trip Report : NOV.16 – 20, 2019, #Male – #Ari Short Trip Vol.2

Day 2, the 1st dive was at Fish Head in the North Ari atoll. Even this popular dive site can be only for  us if we go very early morning. We did it in the early morning, of course it was exclusive to us. The Grey Reef Sharks were found as a school with Whitetip Reef Sharks at the place where the currents met. The incredible number of the fish here always surprise me. We moved to the South Ari atoll for the 2nd dive of the day at Moofushi Kandu. This was the first try for the season, because the site was well know as a Manta spot in the dry season. The visibility was great! We could see the 40 meter depth of the bottom. A big Napoleon and the juvenile of Spotted Eagle Ray appeared. And there were many of Whitetip Reef Sharks resting at the bottom. it was odd, but so many of them were there at about 10 meters intervals. Finally we saw a Manta Ray while our safety stop. Thanks!! The 3rd dive was at Kudarah Thila. We normally dive here in the early morning but it happened right before sunset that day. The Bluestriped Snappers and Humpback Red Snappers were very crowded at the reef.  Some guests worried about the big Camouflage Grouper underneath of the overhang was stuck there! We could see the male Indian Frame Basslets trying to court with opening their back fin wide to the female. And we also see some of them had nuptial coloration. After the dive we had a romantic BBQ dinner on the sand beach. The air temperature was 26-31 deg.C.  The water temperature was 28-29 deg.C. The 3mm or 5 mm wetsuit was recommended. The visibility was 10-30m. To be continued…