Maldives Hanifaru Bay Dive Trip
8 to 15 August 2022 on the MV Blue Spirit
$1790 based on two sharing - Early Bird offer 10% off, now $1610 USD
Small group trip, only 11 clients on board
Escorted by Indigo Safaris' owner and underwater photographer Christopher Bartlett.
As well as generally having a blast diving the best reefs around Baa and the Central Atolls, and snorkelling in Hanifaru Bay with, hopefully, over 100 reef mantas at a time, we will be focusing on taking ID shots of mantas and whale sharks to enlarge the worldwide databases for these species. The databases help track movement patterns of individuals, growth and behaviour. August is a fantastic time to see both species on this itinerary, with over 100 whales sharks resident in the area. Free photo coaching is provided by Christopher for those who are interested.
$1790 based on two sharing - Early Bird offer 10% off, now $1610 USD
Small group trip, only 11 clients on board
Escorted by Indigo Safaris' owner and underwater photographer Christopher Bartlett.
As well as generally having a blast diving the best reefs around Baa and the Central Atolls, and snorkelling in Hanifaru Bay with, hopefully, over 100 reef mantas at a time, we will be focusing on taking ID shots of mantas and whale sharks to enlarge the worldwide databases for these species. The databases help track movement patterns of individuals, growth and behaviour. August is a fantastic time to see both species on this itinerary, with over 100 whales sharks resident in the area. Free photo coaching is provided by Christopher for those who are interested.
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Dive sites: Baa and Central Atoll
Duration: 7 Nights Number of dives: Up to 4 dives a day - 3 day dives and 1 night dive. Snorkelling in Hanifaru Bay with manta rays. Client berths: 11 Port: Male/Male The manta ray is the largest of the rays and can be found throughout the tropical waters of the world, typically around coral reefs, and the whale shark is the largest fish on the planet. The nutrient-rich waters of the Maldives make a perfect environment for these beautiful marine creatures and this itinerary visits some of the best dive sites in the area to find these magnificent specimens. The marine protected area of Hanifaru Bay attracts reef mantas in their hundreds between May and September. August is peak time to be there. This trip is an ideal opportunity to dive with mantas, whale sharks, eagle rays, reef sharks and more. |
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Itinerary highlights:
During the cruise, you will visit a variety of sites around North Male, Raa and Baa Atolls. Please note that this itinerary will involve diving in currents. We recommend our guests have minimum 50 logged dives, Nitrox certification, and experience with diving in currents.
We wish to show you the very best diving possible, however, a number of factors determine which route the Cruise Director and Captain will choose and which dive sites we visit. Weather, tides, currents and the number of other dive vessels at a particular site all play a part in where the boat is heading to. While we attempt to ensure the number of dives we have scheduled is fulfilled, bad weather can hinder the vessel's ability to reach a specified dive site in good time. The safety of all on board is paramount and we always do our best in offering diving at alternate locations should we be unable to visit those sites listed below.
Embarkation: Male Airport
Disembarkation: Male Airport
The diving day has a typical schedule as follows:
Baa Atoll is known to be one of the best places in the Maldives for encounters with manta rays. Sharks are not common in the north, however Noonu Atoll has a magnificent site for grey reef sharks. Otherwise you can expect many Thilas and Giris featuring overhangs caves and swim-throughs, so the topography is as interesting as the marine life that swarms around it.
Nitrox : $105 USD ectra for the week.
During the cruise, you will visit a variety of sites around North Male, Raa and Baa Atolls. Please note that this itinerary will involve diving in currents. We recommend our guests have minimum 50 logged dives, Nitrox certification, and experience with diving in currents.
We wish to show you the very best diving possible, however, a number of factors determine which route the Cruise Director and Captain will choose and which dive sites we visit. Weather, tides, currents and the number of other dive vessels at a particular site all play a part in where the boat is heading to. While we attempt to ensure the number of dives we have scheduled is fulfilled, bad weather can hinder the vessel's ability to reach a specified dive site in good time. The safety of all on board is paramount and we always do our best in offering diving at alternate locations should we be unable to visit those sites listed below.
Embarkation: Male Airport
Disembarkation: Male Airport
The diving day has a typical schedule as follows:
- Light Breakfast followed by a briefing & Dive 1
- Full Breakfast, relaxation period, briefing & Dive 2
- Lunch, relaxation period, briefing & Dive 3
- Snack, relaxation period,
- Dinner-if there is a night/sunset dive, the schedule will be slightly amended
Baa Atoll is known to be one of the best places in the Maldives for encounters with manta rays. Sharks are not common in the north, however Noonu Atoll has a magnificent site for grey reef sharks. Otherwise you can expect many Thilas and Giris featuring overhangs caves and swim-throughs, so the topography is as interesting as the marine life that swarms around it.
Nitrox : $105 USD ectra for the week.
BAA AND CENTRAL ATOLLS Dive sites
Baa
Encompassing 54 islands of South Maalhasmaddu and Goidhoo Atoll, Baa is best known for Hanifaru Bay, where huge numbers of Manta Rays congregate to feed at certain times of the year, especially around full and new moon phases when high tides and strong currents bring nutrient and plankton rich waters in to the bay. Baa has many reefs, thilas and channels providing numerous dive sites offering steep drop offs, overhangs, caves, abundant coral and fish life, sharks, eagle rays and, of course, Manta Rays.
Hanifaru Bay
Hanifaru Bay is a marine protected, uninhabited island located in the Baa Atoll of the Maldives Islands. Its size is no greater than that of a football field and yet it has become one of the hottest spots on the planet for underwater photographers.
The reason for this modern-day phenomenon of underwater diversity is because plankton blooms between the months of May and November - a very unusual phenomenon - attracting manta rays by the hundreds.
At any one time at Hanifaru Bay, there can be up to 200 manta rays feeding off the coral reefs as well as plenty of whale sharks which do the same. Hanifaru Bay has become the world's largest manta ray feeding destination.
PLEASE NOTE: Scuba diving is not permitted in Hanifaru Bay, however you will be able to snorkel in this area for a $20 fee (per person for approximately 45 mins).
Dhigala Haa
This beautiful thila in Baa Atoll is easily circumnavigated in one dive and is a favourite spot for shark sightings where you can possibly see 6 or more grey reef sharks at one time. Once heavily fished, it is now a protected marine sanctuary and the fish life is prolific and varied with blue fin jacks, fusilier, blue striped and humpback snapper, batfish, schools of barracuda and eagle rays. Caves along the reef house black coral bushes, yellow sea fans, sponges and a variety of soft corals.
Raa
Just north of Baa, and separated by a thin channel, Raa Atoll contains a high density of thilas within its lagoons with caves, overhangs and drop-offs providing stunning underwater scenes of abundant marine life with colourful corals, huge numbers of reef fish and a variety of pelagics including mantas and whalesharks in the Summer months.
Miyaru Faru - North Male
Located on outside corner of Thulhaagiri Kandu in North Male Atoll, this reef, with its overhang at 28 metres, is a great location to stop on an incoming current to watch grey reef sharks patrolling the edges or the reef into the channel, as well as large numbers of barracuda, trevally and tuna. In the centre of Thulhaagiri Kandu, the long and narrow Miyaru Thila has many large coral heads on its north-west side which attract big schools of fusiliers, napoleon wrasse, powder blue surgeon fish and eagle rays.
Okobe Thila - North Male
A spectacular dive site that comprises three large reefs with a variety of features and an abundance of different types of coral, teeming with fish. Large groups of blue stripe snapper, oriental sweetlips and fusiliers swim over the reefs while sharks, barracuda, tuna and trevally patrol the outer edges and channels between the reefs.
Lions Head - North Male
This protected marine area is another great location for spotting grey reef sharks. A deep wall with an overhang shaped like a lion's head, hence the site's name, offers exciting drift dives in the company of sharks, turtles and much more. A large cave filled with soft corals provides shelter for hundreds of smaller fish while sea fans and an abundance of corals cover the top of the reef.
Encompassing 54 islands of South Maalhasmaddu and Goidhoo Atoll, Baa is best known for Hanifaru Bay, where huge numbers of Manta Rays congregate to feed at certain times of the year, especially around full and new moon phases when high tides and strong currents bring nutrient and plankton rich waters in to the bay. Baa has many reefs, thilas and channels providing numerous dive sites offering steep drop offs, overhangs, caves, abundant coral and fish life, sharks, eagle rays and, of course, Manta Rays.
Hanifaru Bay
Hanifaru Bay is a marine protected, uninhabited island located in the Baa Atoll of the Maldives Islands. Its size is no greater than that of a football field and yet it has become one of the hottest spots on the planet for underwater photographers.
The reason for this modern-day phenomenon of underwater diversity is because plankton blooms between the months of May and November - a very unusual phenomenon - attracting manta rays by the hundreds.
At any one time at Hanifaru Bay, there can be up to 200 manta rays feeding off the coral reefs as well as plenty of whale sharks which do the same. Hanifaru Bay has become the world's largest manta ray feeding destination.
PLEASE NOTE: Scuba diving is not permitted in Hanifaru Bay, however you will be able to snorkel in this area for a $20 fee (per person for approximately 45 mins).
Dhigala Haa
This beautiful thila in Baa Atoll is easily circumnavigated in one dive and is a favourite spot for shark sightings where you can possibly see 6 or more grey reef sharks at one time. Once heavily fished, it is now a protected marine sanctuary and the fish life is prolific and varied with blue fin jacks, fusilier, blue striped and humpback snapper, batfish, schools of barracuda and eagle rays. Caves along the reef house black coral bushes, yellow sea fans, sponges and a variety of soft corals.
Raa
Just north of Baa, and separated by a thin channel, Raa Atoll contains a high density of thilas within its lagoons with caves, overhangs and drop-offs providing stunning underwater scenes of abundant marine life with colourful corals, huge numbers of reef fish and a variety of pelagics including mantas and whalesharks in the Summer months.
Miyaru Faru - North Male
Located on outside corner of Thulhaagiri Kandu in North Male Atoll, this reef, with its overhang at 28 metres, is a great location to stop on an incoming current to watch grey reef sharks patrolling the edges or the reef into the channel, as well as large numbers of barracuda, trevally and tuna. In the centre of Thulhaagiri Kandu, the long and narrow Miyaru Thila has many large coral heads on its north-west side which attract big schools of fusiliers, napoleon wrasse, powder blue surgeon fish and eagle rays.
Okobe Thila - North Male
A spectacular dive site that comprises three large reefs with a variety of features and an abundance of different types of coral, teeming with fish. Large groups of blue stripe snapper, oriental sweetlips and fusiliers swim over the reefs while sharks, barracuda, tuna and trevally patrol the outer edges and channels between the reefs.
Lions Head - North Male
This protected marine area is another great location for spotting grey reef sharks. A deep wall with an overhang shaped like a lion's head, hence the site's name, offers exciting drift dives in the company of sharks, turtles and much more. A large cave filled with soft corals provides shelter for hundreds of smaller fish while sea fans and an abundance of corals cover the top of the reef.
Maldives general diving info
This stunning group of atolls is host to an underwater paradise brimming with marine wildlife. Located south west of Sri Lanka in the warm, tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are made up of over 1200 tiny, low-lying coral islands surrounded by white sand. The abundance of marine life in the Maldives can be attributed to the ideal growing conditions the waters provide for coral reef. These coral reefs are home to more than 700 species of fish, many of which are sadly endangered. In the lagoons you can find whale sharks, turtles, octopus, manta rays and the giant Napoleon Wrasse to name just a few.
The Maldives is tropical all year round and water temperatures range from 27°C to 29°C. Visibility is not season dependent and ranges between 10-30m. Currents vary but are usually manageable by all standards when diving within the atolls, rather than in the channels.Divers have the opportunity to see a huge range of beautiful hard and soft corals as well as the famous manta rays, whale sharks, sharks, turtles, barracudas, jacks and tuna. Diving is conducted from a dedicated "dhoni", a smaller vessel that accompanies the Blue Voyager with onboard compressors and dive gear storage, leaving the mother ship decks free for our leisure and relaxation.
This stunning group of atolls is host to an underwater paradise brimming with marine wildlife. Located south west of Sri Lanka in the warm, tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives are made up of over 1200 tiny, low-lying coral islands surrounded by white sand. The abundance of marine life in the Maldives can be attributed to the ideal growing conditions the waters provide for coral reef. These coral reefs are home to more than 700 species of fish, many of which are sadly endangered. In the lagoons you can find whale sharks, turtles, octopus, manta rays and the giant Napoleon Wrasse to name just a few.
The Maldives is tropical all year round and water temperatures range from 27°C to 29°C. Visibility is not season dependent and ranges between 10-30m. Currents vary but are usually manageable by all standards when diving within the atolls, rather than in the channels.Divers have the opportunity to see a huge range of beautiful hard and soft corals as well as the famous manta rays, whale sharks, sharks, turtles, barracudas, jacks and tuna. Diving is conducted from a dedicated "dhoni", a smaller vessel that accompanies the Blue Voyager with onboard compressors and dive gear storage, leaving the mother ship decks free for our leisure and relaxation.
