Velavaru thila,

Velavaru Thila is situated in a wide channel next to Velavaru Island, only 20 min. by boat from Vilureef.

The bulky thila starts at a depth of 8 meters and at the North side, a sandy slope hosts numerous gobies, Azmee fishes, blennies, spaghetti eels and lizard fishes while butterflies, angel fishes and squirrels accommodate the coral blocks along the reef.

The South side is the haven of a great variety of pelagic and reef fishes; white tip and grey reef sharks, tunas, sail fish, jack fishes, fusiliers, napoleon wrasses and turtles alternate with box, puffer and porcupine fishes, the famous basslets and crescent tail bigeyes.

The reef on this side is covered with stony corals, while staghorn and table corals enlighten the overhangs at various depths.

This dive is a top spot and highly recommended by our diving team!

Udhdhoo reef

At the doorstep of the exotic uninhabited Island Udhdhoo a steep reef with three little thila’s at 20 of depth is a must for every photographer.

The white sandy patches between the thila’s and the coral blocks are ideal to sit down and position yourself to have a closer look at the blackfoot, yellow-tail and Clark’s anemone fishes.

A large anemone colony with pink-bulb tentacles is the home of three Clark’s anemone families from aggravated jumping around parents to quite fingernail sized children.

Stingrays or guitar sharks might be a pleasant surprise at the deeper end of the sandy bottom of the reef.

The boat trip is 20 min.

Ewes Thila

The top of the round thila is covered with big table corals and the always dancing fusiliers in the shallow part give away a mesmerizing scene.

Octopuses, lion fishes, scorpion fishes, anemones and a little pink frog fish (for people with a very good eye) can be found on the steep reef, while the caves at 20 meters of depth are gaudy with frondy and spiky black corals, host of the long nose hawk fishes.

A loony white tip reef shark might pass along and turtles happen to eat the sponches between the table corals on the top reef.

Kermitt Corner

The north corner of the channel South of Kannely Fara is the ideal place to see sharks with medium to strong incoming current.

Hard coral formations on the corner and the drop off stretch to the thila’s further inside the channel.

Napoleon wrasses, white tip reef sharks, eagle rays or mobiles hover motionless in the current while schooling jack fishes, fusiliers and emperor’s swirl around close to the corner.

Nitrox is recommended for a longer stay at the 22 meter drop off and the drift along the inside reef.

Loricanto Terrace,

One channel South of Kermitt corner, Loricanto terrace lives up to its expectations, with outside currents abundant fish life in the channel and with incoming currents large tunas, big blue and yellow fin trevallies, snub-nose Pompanos, silvertip and white tip reef sharks, friendly napoleons, snappers, mackerels and jacks all around.

Close to the corner, starting from the drop off lies a hard coral covered thila with groupers, parrot fishes, emperors and surgeon fishes and more inside the channel stretch beautiful white sand banks with spotted garden eels.

The ideal reef to do your drift dive specialty!

Ecstasy deep,

One coconut throw away from Vilureef at the outside reef, the deep drop off into the Indian Ocean delivers the deep blue feeling cherished by so many divers.

A fairly good chance to hear and see dolphins passing by, along with white tips, turtles nibbling on the reef and for the adventures diver at one particular spot, amorous trigger fishes try to kiss and tell that the breeding season has started.

Stephan Thila,

Rich with hard and soft coral at the top of the thila, densely populated with shrimps, starfish, flatworms pin cushions, sea cucumbers, angel and butterfly fishes, porcupine and banner fish, it is alive and utmost inviting to photographers and videographers.

Especially at between 15 and 7 meters of depth, the possibility for good footage is endless.

A cave at 28 meters of depth near a sandy bridge gives the necessary shadow for bigeyes, brown, oriental and giant sweet lips and hump back snappers.

Large grey reef sharks patrol the east side of the thila and with medium current a school of barracuda is always present, talking extreme large barracuda, up to 1.5 meter in length.

Wella Giri,

This giri has all the characteristics of a giri, sandy hill at the South side with baby sharks shuffling the area in search for crabs and little reef fish.

Single napoleon, turtle or grey reef shark nosing around and a steep reef at the North side with overhangs and patches of hard and table corals.

Snappers and fusiliers are tacking in the current and glass fish stay safely nearby the coral blocks, the ultimate prey for lion, scorpion and stone fishes.

Anemone City,

Large anemone colonies cover one side of the giri, while the other side is the playground of many different moray eels; we can encounter the yellow-margin, giant and white-mouth moray eels.

A large overhang with spiky black corals has a family of frisky moving long nose hawk fishes which is a challenge for any photographer.

Gentle leaf fishes are hard to discover but with help of our enthusiastic dive masters and dive instructors there is a very good chance of finding them.

Red fire and purple fire gobies is only the top of the iceberg, a variety of lagoon, reef, pygmy, and white sand bank gobies give head to any goby lover.

Manta point,

In the season from November till April we organize full day trips to manta point in North Nilandhoo Atoll 1,5 hours boat trip from Vilureef. We make 2 dives in the channel and visit the cleaning station where manta rays will come and go to clean and give away a majestic show for us visitors.

The trip is a nice break from Vilureef and when we see the mantas the first dive we can choose one of the corners of the South channels for the second dive, with the possibility to see the whaleshark. Of course we have a luxurious lunch on the boat between the dives and some time to snorkel or rest, it is possible to bring family for snorkeling along on this trip.

Around 5 o’clock we are back in the divingschool .

Shark Point!

Hulhudheli Kandu

A beautiful small channel just south of the local Island Hulhudelhi is the playground of schooling barracudas, squadrons of eagle rays, huge stingrays, thousands of skip jackfish swarming around, and in the middle of the channel to crown it all massive amounts of white tip and grey reef sharks. Advisable to dive with inside current!

This is an advanced dive and considering the depth an advanced diving license is required.

Enriched air Nitrox is strongly recommended for a longer bottom time!

The channel is about 30 meters deep and depending on the major ocean currents we jump either at the North or South corner and let us drift with the current to the middle of the channel to watch this fascinating scene.

We usually go there for a full day trip and according to the weather circumstances we choose another channel dive, for example at Hulhuvehi Kandu on the other side of the Atoll.

Don’t miss out on this high adrenaline action dive and if you are interested make a request and we can specially organize this trip for you.
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