Maaya Thila

• A Protected Marine Area, this offers one of the best-known dives in the Maldives. There is a remarkable variety of marine life on the thila, including grey reef sharks, whitetip sharks, turtles, stonefish, frogfish, zebra morays, batfish and many, many more species. The thila is small enough - 30m (33yd) in diameter - that you can swim around it easily in a single dive but, as always, it is the point of the current that concentrates the underwater activity. Jumping  easily in a single dive but, as always, it is the point of the current that concentrates the underwater activity.
  

      Kudarah Thila

• The topography here is quite complex. The thila is divided into four large coral heads, of varying sizes, that sit on a plateau rising from 40m (130ft) to 12m (40ft). The thila is no more than 100m (110yd) in diameter, and you can swim around the whole site ina single dive. Each of the blocks is undercut from 15m (50ft) to 25m (80ft) with superb caves jammed full of soft corals, gorgonians and whip corals. On the southwest corner is an archway swim-through, and between all four pinnacles there are deep ravines that harbour a stunning amount of marine life. The centre of the thila
  

      Hukrueli Faru (Madivaru)

• Madi means �ray� in Dhivehi. In the northeast season this is a superb manta ray cleaning station. As with many good manta points, the reef slopes down gently from its top at 8m (25ft) to the atoll floor at 30m (100ft). Although there are many cleaning stations along this 1km (� mile) reef, the area where the mantas are most active is midway along the northern side. A deep basin, almost 100m (110yd) across has formed in the coral, and, as the currents flow out of the atoll, the waters eddy in the basin. This attracts the mantas, which hover like great spaceships in the current. To
  

is hollowed out, with a base at 20m (65ft), and thousands of blue-lined snapper school in the gullies that have been created. Watch out for yellow trumpetfish shadowing the snappers while hunting on the reef. Grey and whitetip sharks can be seen on the current points. This is a Protected Marine Area.

the east of the basin the reef forms a wall which drops steeply down to the sand floor at 30m (100ft). At a depth of 25m (80ft) there is a large cave running along the reef for 200m (220yd).

Jumping onto the top of the thila at 8m (25ft), and swimming due north you come to the edge of the thila, where there is a large coral overhang full of bright orange Tubastrea corals. At this point, looking out into the blue, you will see a satellite rock which is worth exploring. The top of the rock, at 15m (50ft), is covered in colourful soft corals. The vertical side sof the rock drop down to the atoll plate at 40m (130ft). In this channel between the satellite rock and the thila, grey reef sharks often patrol and we have seen guitar shark here on a number of occasions.