Dive Sites

Ole and his team are looking back at 15 years of experience on the dive sites of the South Ari Atoll and know them all like the back of their hand. This knowledge combined with an extensive network of friends enables them to offer you the best dive sites in regard of the prevailing conditions during your holidays.

The approximately 40 dive sites are all visited by boat, are suitable for beginners, and experienced divers alike. The variety of our dive sites include easy to dive “giris” and drop offs with outstanding coral growth but also exciting channel dives and “thilas” unique to the Maldives with their unbelievable number of fish including sharks, rays, turtles and napoleon.

Many expert divers rate the dive sites of the South Ari Atoll as the best in the Maldives. Some of the spots like "Kudarah Thila", "Broken Rock", "Five Rocks", "Fish Head" are world famous for their fish and coral life and listed in the top ten of the world. These famous thilas, and many more, less known but as good or even better, are located in the Dhangetti channel just 60 minutes east. On full day excursions with our fast and comfortable dive boats we can even reach the wonders of the North Ari Atoll, e.g. "Maaya Thila", and "Malhoos Thila" (Blue Caves).

However, we do not have to travel far for excellent and even unique diving: Probably the best manta dive site of the Maldives for example, "Madivaru" (translated Manta Reef) lies within 15 minutes from the island and from December to April close encounters with these gentle and gracious giants are almost a guarantee. And believe it or not but there is one spot not even one hour away that nobody else knows and only the divers of Ocean-Pro Mirihi have the privilege to feel like pioneers on an untouched reef.

The "Machafushi Wreck" is another highlight less than an hour away. Sunk on purpose many years ago it is meanwhile covered in hard and soft corals and features an amazing variety of fish from lionfish to nurse sharks and turtles. If you do not like wrecks, you will love this one.

Last but not least the southern outside reefs famous for frequent whale shark sightings all year are within easy reach and we organize regularly 2-tank excursions to search for them (sometimes we see 3-5 on a single day)!

And to all of that the house reef with its own small wreck, beautiful corals and fish is a fantastic alternative and addition to the boat dives and excursions. There have been divers who spend their whole holidays at the house reef.

Here are a few more to wet your appetite:

1. Aiyabe Thila. Features amazing soft corals in all colour along an ever changing landscape with beautiful overhangs. Grey sharks and barracudas and even silver tip sharks in season.

2. Angaga Thila offers you everything from big fish hunting small fish, to corals, overhangs, turtles, small animals like nudibranches, shrimps, flatworms, and more. Also nice for sunset dives.

3. Bodu Gah Thila is the one only Mirihi knows and dives. It is packed with thousands of blue-striped snappers, sharks, eagle rays and beautiful hard corals!

4. Dhifushi outside is one of the reefs for whale sharks! other then that, big stingrays, tunas, barracudas, many turtles.

5. Halaku Thila (Broken Rock) is world famous for a big canyon splitting this thila in two parts. To dive through the canyon is just a small part of this fantastic dive spot!

6. Hudhu Kuda Thila is considered by many experienced dive guides the most beautiful thila in the whole Ari Atoll. It offers amazing coral life, colourful canyons and overhangs filled with all kind of corals, and the greatest variety and number of fish.

7. Velagali Thila is very popular with beginners, because it is easy to dive and they see everything on one
dive.

8. Vilamendhoo Thila is located in a channel and known for its big schools of batfish, nice overhangs and between August and December often mantas and whale sharks!