Air Temperature: 86
Skies: Sunny
Water Temperature: 86 degrees F
Seas: Calm
Visibility: 60+ to 100+
Route: Southern
Dive Highlights:
The conditions were perfect for our FAM Trip. We would like to thank the following dive shops for participating: Divers Depot, TX, Scubadelphia, PA, Azimuth Scuba, IL, Dive Winnipesaukee, NH, Kalipso Dive Shop, RI, and Aquatic Escapes, NH.
• Nurse Shark Night Dive: Schools of nurse sharks and rays made for an amazing dusk and night dive.
• Manta Cleaning Stations: We had great manta sightings this week. One cleaning station had four mantas putting on a great show for the divers.
• Snorkeling with a whale shark: The whale shark stayed shallow for a while so we could get some great shots before it headed deep.
• Four of baby eagle rays
• School of eagle rays at Shark Channel
• Small white tip sharks were so cute
• Shark Channel had numerous grey reef sharks
• Our last three dives on the Peninsula were amazing. Loaded with marine life. I have never seen so many fish in one area.
• Large school of bat fish
• Crown Jellyfish floated by at our manta cleaning station
• Black and blue ribbon eels
• The anemones were so colorful and loaded with clownfish
• Soft corals on the great white wall were amazing
Check out our photos on our Facebook page. Photos by Mark Potter and Moosa Hassan.
Air Temperature: 86
Skies: Sunny
Water Temperature: 86 degrees F
Seas: Calm
Visibility: 60+ to 100+
Route: Southern
Dive Highlights:
Thank you to our friend Scott from Wilderness Experiences and my friend Ben who made his return to celebrate his birthday with us. Also other trip participants: my friends Peter and Sheryl, Dee and Diana from N. Carolina, Dale, Lisa - it was nice to seeing you at the shop before the trip, my friend Natan, Scott and Natalie diving with us. Hope to see you all again.
• Multiple sightings of honey comb eels - on one dive two three together in one crevice.
• Nurse Shark Night Dive: Schools of nurse sharks and rays made for an amazing dusk and night dive.
• Pristine coral reefs in combination with soft corals
• Manta Cleaning Stations: We had great manta sightings this week especially the dive on Ben’s birthday. One cleaning station had six mantas putting on a great show for the divers.
• Four of baby eagle rays
• School of eagle rays at Shark Channel
• Shark Channel had numerous grey reef sharks
• Our last three dives on the Peninsula were amazing. Loaded with marine life.
• Large school of bat fish
• Black and blue ribbon eels
• The anemones were so colorful and loaded with clownfish
• Special to see mantas at a feeding station as we hovered in 20 feet of water more than 60 minutes. They just danced around us.
Water Temperature 82-83 degrees
Air Temperatures mid-80’s to mid-90
Seas Calm
Weather blue skies and sunny, no rain.
Day 1
On the first two dives we saw huge napoleon wrasses, white tip and grey reef sharks, and schools of fusiliers, hundreds of travellys, and hawksbill turtles.
Day 2
We dove Felidhu Atoll at Shark Channel and we saw as many as 50 plus grey and white tip reef sharks. We hovered over the reef ledge on reef hooks where we saw tunas and sharks attacking fusiliers which is unique to see at this site. During our dusk dive, we dove with schools of nurse sharks along with sting rays and jacks. When we returned from the night dive, there were a bunch of nurse sharks that had gathered at the back of the main boat.
Day 3
We dove again in Shark Channel and saw as many shark encounters as the day before. On this dive we were welcomed by a huge school of big eye jacks. Then we crossed over to South Ari and made two dives where we saw devil rays, eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, leaffish and very healthy hard corals.
Day 4
We stopped at South Ari searching for whale sharks. We saw a small school of devil rays, turtles, a school of oriental sweet lips, and crescent tail big eyes. By mid-day we sighted our first whale shark and snorkeled with it for approximately ten minutes. Then we went back in on scuba where we saw a whale shark again as well as our first manta of the trip. As we moved to Rangali Madivaru, we dove at a manta cleaning station where we saw 5 mantas at once.
Day 5
We cruised the western side of South Ari heading north and dove on another manta point where we saw as many as 7 mantas at a cleaning station. We were fortunate to see mantas on all 3 dives!
Day 6
We dove with more mantas. These gentle giants were everyone’s favorites. Then we headed to the Malhos Region. In the afternoon we dove on a pinnacle near Fesdhoo, and we saw a really cool octopus which made for nice photos. The most thrilling moment of the dive was a school of devil rays that soared right above us. I was able count as many as 40 plus! At night mantas appeared doing loops at the back of the boat while we were having our dinner. They put on a great show for us!
Day 7
We moved to Fish Head. This is the dive you don't want to miss! There was an abundance of fish life and a cool friendly turtle munching on the reef. This is a dive that is worth diving twice. The marine life is so abundant. Then we moved near Maaya Thila where we saw silver tips along with small schooling grey reef sharks, a great barracuda and five stone fish piled up together inside a coral head.
Day 8
My 9000th dive day! We dove at Makaru Tila where we met the friendliest octopus. The group spent at least 20 plus minutes with it as it was crawling over the reef top, changing colors and skin textures. As we continued the dive, we encountered more sharks, dog tooth tunas and schools of blue fusiliers that you could count in the thousands. We anchored at Rasdhoo and dove at Rasdhoo Peninsula, which is my friend Mark's all-time favorite dive site.
Day 9
We dove two dives at Rasdhoo Peninsula, where we saw gray reefs, white tips, napoleons, jacks, blue trigger fish, and huge dog tooth tuna that was large enough to feed the whole population of Rasdhoo. We also saw batfish, leaffish, and a tiger mantis shrimp. There were so many fish on this dive site it would take years to count them all. This site was a great way to end the trip on a high!
"Through-out the whole nine day of diving is one of the best diving I have ever done in my life" by Mark Potter, President, Massdiving.com
" I have never seen so many fish in per cubic feet of sea water" by Mark potter.
massdiving.com
For trip photos, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Manthiri-Maldives-208084405874236/”
Thank you for reading.
