GHALIA'S TRAVELS
DIVING IN THE MALDIVES
DIVE WITH ST REGIS VOMMULI
I went on this single tank dive in March, 2017 while staying at the St Regis Vommuli island in the Noonu Atoll.
The visibility was good and sea was calm as we jumped into the sea at the Hulhudheli Kandu dive site. During the dive we encountered schools of colourful fish, stingray, shark and something else. Read more to find out.
DIVE WITH VELAA PRIVATE ISLAND
My first dive trip to Christmas Tree Rock was in May of 2015 during my stay at Velaa Private Island. We swam around this Christmas Tree shaped rocky formation and explored its overhangs and coral reefs. Visibility was near perfect and we swam with schools of hundreds of colourful fusiliers and banner fish.
DIVE WITH FINOLHU
I went on a couple of dives with the awesome Dive Butler team at Finolhu. The first dive was to Dharavandhoo, a manta cleaning station, where we saw a manta and lots of tuna. The second dive site, known as Mufafushi Thila, was rich in coral, and known for its resident baby eagle ray, We also encountered huge schools of snappers and fusilier as well as moral eels, octomus and lobsyer.
DIVE WITH CHEVAL BLANC RANDHELI
I visited Christmas Tree Rock for the second time in December 2015 while staying with Cheval Blanc Randheli Island. This was my first deep dive where I descended to the sea bed tot a depth of 28 meters. To my delight not only did I see a school of barracuda but was fortunate to see a stingray, eagle ray and a huge school of red snapper.
BLUE HOLE DIVE AT AMILLA FUSHI
Amilla Fushi has a spectacular reef and I was lucky to go on a few dives here. The one that stands out the most has to be the Blue Hole. The entrance lies at just 3 or 5m from the surface and the coral lined blue hole with its many 'windows' is a dive I won't forget. We were met with a school of glass fish and a sleeping sting ray as we exited at the bottom.