Snorkelling in the Maldives: Sharks, Stingrays, Manta Rays & More

#snorkelingmaldives #indianocean #maldivestravel

I had no idea that the Maldives offered such good snorkelling. Perhaps I was mislead by the typical image of crystal clear water, white sand beaches and expensive resorts.

Boy was I wrong. I ended up going on two different snorkelling trips in the Maldives, specifically the Northern Atolls. I was staying on a small island called Thulusdhoo and whilst I was there to surf, I've made the mistake of letting surfing be too much of a focus before!

It was reasonably easy to find a boat that would take you out. I say 'reasonably' because you need a minimum of 5 people for most of the trips. Being a solo traveller, that does complicate things but I did manage to find people.

The first trip cost $35 and laster 2-3 hours. Our first stop was a place called shark point which was close to Male (the capital of the Maldives). Whilst the black tip reef sharks were great, we ended up being really lucky as a 10ft hammerhead shark came out of the deep and across the reef.

The second stop (on the first trip) was the real highlight. It's called the fish tank and is right next to a fish factory. It would seem that whatever fish waste goes into the water attracts a lot of stingrays and other fish. When you get there it's pretty obvious why they call it the fish tank....it's like swimming in an aquarium.

The Maldives are fairly well known for the amount of Manta Rays. As such, considering I didn't manage to see any manta rays on the first trip, I decided to go out on my last day. This time with a dive company called Sea Star Diving. Whilst the swim along the reef yielded less fish than the first trip, we did see a lone Manta Ray. It was the first time I'd seen one of these animals and it did not disappoint.

Thulusdoo is a popular surfing destination in the Maldives and a lot of the people that I spoke to there hadn't gone snorkelling. I personally think they were missing out. Sure, the coral on the reef is almost all bleached but the amount of fish, sharks and rays is incredible.

0:00 - Intro
0:52 - Snorkeling at Shark Point, Maldives
1:24 - Hammerhead Shark
3:09 - The Fish Tank, Northern Atolls
4:30 - Leopard Moray Eels
4:48 - Swimming with Sting Rays in the Maldives
7:49 - Searching for Manta Rays in the Maldives

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