DIVE EXCURSIONS

MV KUDI MAA WRECK

Level: Advanced Open Water

Location: Just 10 minutes from the Dive Centre

Resting on the Machchafushi Island Resort & Spa Maldives House Reef, the MV Kudhi Maa is a 51-meter Japanese freighter that serves as a hauntingly beautiful sanctuary for marine life. Purposely sunk in 1999, this 1,200-ton vessel features a vast main hull, a large deck crane, and a remarkably intact bridge area. Today, it is a thriving artificial reef: resident nurse sharks and stingrays frequent the sandy bottom, while the structure itself is draped in shoals of glassfish, snapper, and trevally. Peer into the crevices to find moray eels and shrimp, or test your eyes against the camouflage of resident frogfish and stonefish. For the lucky diver, a whitetip reef shark may even glide past this historic wreck.

KUDA RAH THILA

Level: Advanced Open Water

Distance: 30 minutes by traditional Dhoni

Situated within the Dhigurah Channel, this legendary submerged pinnacle is a jewel of the South Ari Atoll. Though compact in size measuring just 45 by 30 meters, Kudarah Thila offers an explosion of color, with its terrain draped in brilliant soft corals. Divers can explore two dramatic overhangs where golden daisy corals carpet the ceilings and delicate sea fans sway along the seabed. A picturesque, coral-encrusted archway marks the edge of the reef, while massive schools of blue-striped snappers create a living curtain around the thila. Keep a watchful eye for visiting sea turtles, majestic Napoleon wrasse, and the occasional grey reef or whitetip shark patrolling the depths.