Mirihi News

Dear Mirihi Friends.
Even only a short time has passed since our last newsletter, the underwater paradise has again been very kind to us.
Obviously not only we but also some of our guests have been so good this year that we received our Christmas presents early.

In spite of the bad weather we decided to go on a two tank excursion on November 23. Because we would get wet anyway a little rain didn’t scare any of our divers and they have been royally rewarded for not cancelling the trip.

Between the two dives we had the unbelievable luck to snorkel with short fin pilot whales. Shy by nature they are occasionally seen from the boat. But on that day they allowed us over and over again to share their world for short periods of time. The many grey reef sharks we saw on the first dive and the mantas on the second dive fell almost into oblivion!

This beautiful picture is courtesy of Anja and Robert. Thank you very much!

There is also a one minute video from Hassan on which you could clearly see how close we came to this lovely couple (male about 6 metres and the female about 4 metres in length). Unfortunately the film is too big to send it by email but we are more than delighted to show it to you on your next visit to paradise.

The second early Christmas present we owe once again to a dive at the southern outer reefs. Throughout the whole year we had over and over again extraordinary encounters with whale sharks. We could not only as usually follow them with our snorkel on the surface but now and then we had also during the dives rather longer lasting than short encounters. But there is nothing even remotely comparable to a dive during which nothing except a whale shark could be seen for one hour! Our divers had to take even evasive actions from time to time to avoid touching or rather being touched by the curious and playful adolescent male. Obviously he didn’t know anything about the strict “please do not touch” policy.

The grey reef shark spot briefly mentioned above by the way is brand new, is called “Oli Faru” and is not that far away from Mirihi. We do not want to reveal more at this moment, just that the dive site is a channel corner and can be dived only with ingoing currents. That means most likely that we will be able to visit this spot regularly only after the Monsoon change next summer.

This in turn fits perfectly with our summer special from 20.05. until 01.07.2012 and of which I would like to remind you at this point. In this period we offer as a very late Christmas present 20 % discount on all our courses and dives, only boat trips and equipment rental are not included.

According to unconfirmed rumors Santa Clause also delivers their well deserved Christmas presents to the residents of the underwater world.
As on land he traditionally uses a sled for delivering the presents but instead of being pulled by reindeer, the sled is suppose to be pulled by fish underwater.

The discovery of a reindeer wrasse by Daniela and Roman at the house reef seems to confirm these assumptions now.

In this sense, we wish you and your families a peaceful and Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year 2012!

Manja, Yuko, Jutta, Hassan, Juergen, Steve und Samir

 

Dear Mirihi Friends.
May I introduce myself first: My name is Juergen and I was once in charge of the dive centre in Mirihi from 2005 until 2007. Since September I am reunited with my old buddy and friend Hassan with whom I had the pleasure to work with in Mirihi for 6 months in 1996. Together with Yuko, Jutta, Manja, and Steve we dive practically the whole South Ari Atoll in search of not only whale sharks and manta rays.

Ole has returned to his “old” home Veligandu and has already settled in nicely. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him form the bottom of our heart for a wonderful job he has done in the last four years in Mirihi.

After Olllie and after a very short stint also Philipp have left, Jutta and Steve have joined and complete our team since three weeks. Jutta from Germany can already look back to several years experience in the Maldives also in the South Ari Atoll. Steve knows the Maldives only as a holiday diver so far but he has worked as a dive instructor in the not so warm and murky waters in and around England.

Since weeks the Maldives are at their best: We had only slight winds, not as much rain as usual but lots of sunshine, calm seas and many incredible dives.

The manta rays have been harder to find this summer and autumn, because they have been rarely spotted at the “normal” manta dive sites on the other side of the atoll. Instead they showed up unexpectedly at dive spots where we have never seen them before.

In August and September we were rather diving than snorkelling with whale sharks and not only for a few seconds but up to 3o minutes. In general the two tank excursions have been very successful the whole year. Almost all our guests could either snorkel or dive with the biggest fish in the sea and the absolute highlight was a dive at Bodufinolhu Thila: We were lucky enough to see a whale shark, several grey sharks, several white tip reef sharks, two giant barracudas, two even bigger tunas and thousands of yellow fin and neon fusiliers in one single picture frame. I start dreaming again just writing about it.

At Aiyabe Thila we could and still can almost give you a grey shark guarantee. Sometimes we encounter only a few single animals, on other days we see them in small or big groups but if they are there they come always really close! And even there is no grey shark in sight this thila offers such a variety and number of different fish, corals and invertebrates that not only we but almost all our guests rate this dive sites as one of our best.

Even after 16 years of diving in the Maldives there are still surprises which excite even the most experienced divers: One minute with a dolphin at Kuda Giri Thila, mating eagle rays and 4 guitar sharks at the house reef, just to name the absolute best of the best.

As you can see there are plenty of reasons to visit us again and enjoy the beauty of the underwater world of the South Ari Atoll.

And from 20.05.-01.07.2012 there is one more: we offer a 20% discount on all our dive services (dives and courses) only the equipment rental and the boat trips are not included.

The whole dive team is looking forward to welcome you again.

Sunny greetings from Manja, Yuko, Jutta, Steve, Hassan and Juergen

 

May 2011

Dear friends of Mirihi,

Easter is coming and therefore it’s time to send some greetings to our dear friends in the wide world.

Slowly the east monsum is coming to an end and we already had a first slight wind from the west. But the mantas are still present at our manta point. This dive site has just spoiled us with giant rays. Amazing dives during which we nearly cuddled these beautiful creatures. Also the walesharks did not disappoint us this season. While diving and snorkelling these giants gave us some unforgettable moments. And all this and more in excellent visibility and with beautiful weather, we had some really nice months lately.

 The team looks a bit different after all this beautiful time. Kana has left us and we want to thank her for the great work she did during the past years. Yuko stepped in her place. She worked for years in Australia before she came to our small, lovely island. Also Oscar has decided to leave Mirihi, a big thank you to him as well for 6 months of excellent work. In his place Olli from Germany seems to enjoy his new home very much. And also Jill wants to go back to her beautiful Swiss home in a few weeks time. A big thank you as well to Jill for the excellent work she has delivered. She will be replaced by Manja, Ocean Pro fans might know her from Helengeli.

 Once more we want to remind you about our summer special: 20% discount on all dives and courses in the time from 15.5. - 25.6. 2011. Not included are boat fees and rental equipment. Also we can not offer the discount of the member cards additionally.

 We wish you a Happy Easter and send you sunny greetings.

 Your Ocean Pro dive team from Mirihi, Kana, Jill, Hassan, Oscar and Ole

 

May 2010

These picture were taken by our instructor Pieter on the 24.5.10 at Omadhoo Thila.

When we approached the dive site we could see a big school of dolphins but we could not imagine seeing them under water as they are very shy. So we jumped in to do our dive and after a few minutes they came towards the reef and we were able to dive with about 40 dolphins for about 10 min. This was a dream come true we wanted to share with you.

 

Dear friends of Mirihi.

Slowly but surely the strong winds and currents in the beginning of every year decrease more and more, the visibility improves and the main manta season has begun. For many weeks our favorites please us already by meeting us without shyness, letting us come very close and allowing us to observe them at several cleaning stations along the outside reefs.

At the outside reefs this year has begun as the old one has ended with whale sharks galore. But not only the big but also the small rare ones like grass ghost pipefish, leaf- and frogfish can be seen everywhere and conjure a smile on the face of our underwater photographers.

And there is another reason to visit the jewel in the Ari Atoll this summer, because we offer a 20 % discount on all our dives and dive courses without boat trips and equipment from 06.06. until 17.07.2010.

We are looking forward to welcome you in paradise and show you the beauty and excitement of the South Ari Atoll.

Your Ocean-Pro dive team Mirihi

 

Dear friends of Mirihi.

It is christmas time and we would like to use this opertunity to wish you all the very best and to let you know about the dive team im Mirihi:

Sigi' s heart is pulling him back to his austrian homeland, thank you very much for the great work during the past year. He will be replaced by Pieter. Many of you might remember the friendly dutch man from the time when he was working with us in 2008. He will complete the team in the coming 6 months.

So it is decided who is lucky enough to get to dive with the Mirihi divers in the south of Ari Atoll. The first Mantas have shown up at our manta point already and that makes us optimistic that these giants will present their "flight show" again this winter. And if not we still have some beautifull alternatives like walesharks in the south and thilas full of fish.

What ever will happen, we are looking forward to some amazing dives with the best guest of the Maldives whom we want to wish a mery christmas and a happy new year.

Your Ocean Pro dive team of Mirihi: Bernarda, Kana, Hassan, Pieter and Ole

 

Dear friends of Mirihi,

the summer montsh are coming to an end, and we would like to let you know what is new in Mirihi.

We did some amazing dives in the east of the Atoll where we have seen big groups of Mantas a couple of times. We could watch up to 30 animals while they were feeding. When they swim directly towards you with the mouth wide open and even do loopings, it guarantees an excellent atmosphere on the boat. But also small things found on dive sites close to Mirihi made us very happy: ghost pipe fishes at Mirihi Thila and a yellow frog fish at Mirihi Corner made many divers stop to swim.

We would like to use this opportunity to say thank you to the hotel for the great cooperation and help to improve our services. Since the beginning of this month they provide us with coffee, tea and soup on all trips that take 30 min or longer. We have increased our services in small details too to make your favorite time of the year even more convenient. Lets see if you can find out what it is on your next visit...

We would love to see you guys again, because well known and happy faces are so nice to dive with.

All the best in to the whole world from Mirihi

Bernarda, Kana, Hassan, Sigi and Ole

 

 

Dear friends of Mirhi,

It is almost Christmas and there is one thing for sure; it will be not a white one here in Mirihi. But knowing the hospitality of the whole Mirihi team we can live that.  They will set up a breath taking buffet on the beach and we are certain it will be again a memorable experience. The dive team is already looking forward to it.

The team has changed slightly. Cyrill and Pieter have left to go home and we would like to thank them for the great work they have delivered, it was a pleasure to have them in the team. Since 4 weeks Bernarda from Switzerland and Sigi from Austria are the new team members. They have settled in already and are just amazed by the beautiful island and the awesome dive sites. Everybody who has been to Mirihi before will understand that easily. Knowing they have seen already many Mantas and Whalesharks nobody wonders about the constant smile on there faces anymore.

We are looking forward to the month ahead and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Your Ocean Pro dive team in Mirihi

Miki, Bernarda, Hassan, Sigi und Ole

New dive dhoni in Mirihi!

The latest acquisition in Mirhi is our brand new, fantastic dive dhoni, the "Handhu" (the moon). This fibre glass boot is very comfortable and features as all our other dive boats a toilet and fresh water shower. The sun deck is very spacious and invites you to sunbath and to dream about the dives you have just made. It is equipped with a much stronger (250 hp) engine and therefore we can reach our dive sites faster than ever before.

Of course we will use Handhu for our popular 2-tank excursions to the southern outside reefs in search for whale sharks. The last couple of months we were really successful and saw lots of them. There have been so many sightings that we could collect pictures of every dive guide with a whale shark. Thank you very much to all our guests taking these pictures.

Sunny greetings from Mirihi

Miki, Hassan, Pieter, Cyrill and Ole.