Dive Sites at Kandooma Island | Maldives
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Dive Sites near Kandooma Island by Kandooma Island Resort
| Name of dive site | Description | Distance from Kandooma |
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| Kandooma Thila | Thila shaped like a teardrop between 16 and 30m deep. About 250m long – one of the most spectacular dives of this atoll, for scenery as well as prolific fish life. West and north coast are covered with soft corals and schools of red bass or even big-eye trevallies. Top reef is about 20m. There are some outcrops and overhangs where the soft coral outgrowth is very good, but the nicest feature there is the nearly sure meeting with grey sharks, white tip sharks and eagle rays that should be found on the north east of the reef, along with tuna and barracuda. To finish in style on the top reef where the hard coral is still intact, green turtles and maybe a school of batfish might accompany. | 5 minutes |
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| Kandooma Corner | Caves and overhangs. Plateau with white-tip sharks among other marine life. | 5 minutes |
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| Kandooma Caves | These huge caverns are among the largest and the nicest of all the Maldives’ tourists’ atolls. Two big caves close to one another are just 50m from the corner, one at 20m, the other one at 16m, and the latest one is 70m long and has a curly overhang. Inside the pass, there is a cave at about 10m with a hole going all the way to the top reef at 5m. Inside the caves, we will see yellow sponges, seafans, blue soft coral, small tube corals and often giant morays, as well as squirrelfish, and many groupers. Along the reef we should see clown triggerfish, napoleon, sweetlips, and angelfish, and this is a great site to spot many turtles, especially green turtles. | 5 minutes |
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| Manta Point | Only during South-West monsoon. Small block of corals at 16m depth with plenty of small critters. In season, it is a “cleaning station” for manta rays. | 10 minutes |
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| Waagiri | Sheltered reef home to many interesting small marine creatures and soft corals. | 10 minutes |
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| Cocoa Corner | Reef located on the north side of the Kandooma channel. The wall of the channel is steep and we can find many caves and overhangs, whereas the outside reef slopes more gently. Inside the channel 200m from the corner, is a large outcrop of reef 20m long at the depth of 30m. The outside corner offers a great diversity of fish life. School of sweetlips, snappers, fusiliers, many groupers are very often seen. We can even spot on the corner at 30m some white tips reef sharks, eagle rays, grey reef sharks. There is also a great quantity of colourful soft coral after the corner in-between 10 and 20m. Some beautiful caves and overhangs at the end of the dive with an in-going current or at the start with an out-going. | 10 minutes |
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| Guraidhoo (Protected Marine Area) | South side of the channel of Guraidhoo (Local Island). The reef slopes from 6 to 30m on the outside and from the surface to 30m on the inside. It has a very abundant fish life, as well as overhangs and caves. Can be dive with an in going or out going current. The site offers schools of bannerfish, fusiliers, tuna, rainbow runner and more. Under the caves and overhangs we find beautiful seafans, sponges, as well as a lot of groupers. Deeper we should come across grey sharks, white tip sharks, eagle rays, sting rays. A big napoleon seems to have taken place there and often comes to see the divers. If there is small current we could enjoy looking for the small, such as nudibranchs, shrimps, moray eel getting cleaned, turtles are often found on the top reef. You can also meet dolphins in the blue during winter time. | 15 minutes |
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| Losfushi Canyon | Little channel on the North side of Guraidhoo channel. This channel has a very shallow, narrow sandy canyon, separating the inside from the outside. The channel deepens inside to a sandy bottom at 30m, and the reef slopes from 6m to 30m on the outside. There is plenty of fish life inside the channel and especially inside the canyon. School of sweetlips, snapper, fusiliers, butterflies are very common. At the entrance of the canyon, with an in going current, white tips reef sharks are very often spotted as well as napoleon. The canyon is the high light due to the quantity and diversity of fish and also to the reflection of the light on the sandy bottom. | 15 minutes |
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| Maafushi Corner | 30m deep. Another popular site for eagle rays and white tip sharks. 30 minutes | 30 minutes |
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| Maafushi Caves | One spectacular cave on the north side of a small reef. Eagle rays are often seen. | 30 minutes |
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| Kuda Giri Shipwreck | Home to many small fish and a large school of batfish. Numerous caves and overhangs. | 40 minutes |
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| Gulhi Thila | A very long thila with magnificent soft corals and plenty of overhangs. White tip sharks, zebra sharks, eagle rays and in season, mantas. | 40 minutes |
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| Miyaru Faru | Nice terrace at 26m depth. With in-going current, easy to see white tip sharks, eagle rays and stingrays. | 40 minutes |
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| Donmiyaru Thila | A long thila starting at 5m depth. Easy to find nurse sharks. West side of the atoll. | 40 minutes |
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| Rannalhi Kandu | Sandy channel with a thila in the middle at 25m depth. With in-going current, easy to see white tip sharks, eagle rays and napoleon wrasse. Easy to find bat fish and nurse sharks on top of the reef. West side of the atoll. | 40 minutes |
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| Vaagali Thila | A very nice thila starting at 5m depth with a sandy terrace at 30m depth. With in-going current, easy to see grey reef sharks, white tip sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, schools of barracuda and napoleon wrasse. Plenty of overhangs with many life inside, such as lobsters and honeycomb moray. The rare red anemone can also be easily seen here. West side of the atoll. | 40 minutes |
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| Ranikan | The reef is on the west side of Rihiveli. The top reef is between 5 and 10 m, and is dropping slowly to a sand patch at around 30 m. Overhangs can be found in at all depths, but some lovely caves around 12m offer a great variety of coral, white tip shark, turtles, lobster. Whether at 12m, 20m or 30m, Ranikan has abundance and a great diversity of marine life. All kind of tropical fish are there, butterfly, sweetlips, angel or trigger, but we can also see the white tip sharks either in the caves around 12m, or down on the sand at 25m, lobsters and big groupers are hiding in those caves, as well as turtles. Great site to spot torpedo ray or stingrays, leaf fish are not rare there if we look well enough, lionfish are very numerous, and the coral on the overhangs are very delicate. Big Napoleon as well as mantis shrimp or ribbon eels can also be seen. In wintertime, the visibility is great, at least 30m, which makes the relief of this spot and its life unforgettable. In summer, the visibility is affected by plankton, bringing it down to a mere 10m, but it is during this season that we might spot manta rays, or even a whale shark. | 50 minutes |
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| Embudhu Kandu | Channel with an inside small thila. With in-going current, easy to see many grey reef sharks and eagle rays. | 60 minutes |
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