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Early mariners said the island were so numerous and the channels so narrow that the ship yards touched the trees of islands on either side. Underwater the reefs are so abundant. Divers can swim away from one reef and no sooner loose sight of it than find another one looming up ahead, like a mirage, until it clearly becomes distinguishable. Despite their proximity, each dive site has its own character and mood, just as the currents that are born of them display their own temperament and behavior.

Scuba Diving
With such amazing coral reefs and wide variety of marine life, it's not surprising that Maldives has become top of the list of the world's greatest diving destinations. Most resort islands run well equipped diving centers with excellent instructors who know their patch in Maldives like the backs of their hands. The schools offer "resort courses": three lessons that show what it's like to dive in tepid, crystal clear waters off iridescent reefs surrounded by schools of fish. To obtain a professional qualification like the PADI Open Water Course, which enables the holder to obtain air tanks and dive anywhere in the world, takes about twelve dives, along with a written and practical examination. Any able bodied person should pass it without too much effort.

Night Diving
Diving in Maldivian waters at night with lights is unsurpassed. When the sun sets, corals open up and extend their flower-like tentacles, spiders and shrimps leave their tubular sponges to search for food and moray eels, along with the other nocturnal predators, prowl the deep, dark depths. But visibility, excellent by day, is reduced to the narrow tunnel of light from your torch and bumping into a shark hunting by moonlight may be unnerving.

Reef Dives
The edges of a reef, where it slopes into deep water are the most interesting part of a reef to dive. Outer reef slopes, where the atoll meets the open sea, pften have interesting terraces, over-hangs and caves, and visited by pelagics (open-sea fish). Visibility is usually good, but surf and currents can make for a demanding dive, inner reef slopes, in the sheltered waters inside an atoll, are generally easier dives and feature coral formations and numerous smaller reef fish.

Wilderness diving
Because Maldives is so popular as a diving centre, there is no "Wilderness Diving" near the resort islands. As many as 1,000 people ten per cent of the tourist population dive each day and many sites, which are shared by several resorts which become over crowded. This means the thud of boats can sometimes be heard overhead and on some parts of the reef divers suddenly appear like a shoal of sharks. If a few stingrays are discovered lying in the sand of a little cave, over eager spectators jostle each other with cameras, disturbing the fish and damaging the coral. 

Diving Season
January - April are generally considered the best months for diving and should have fine weather and good visibility. May - June can have unstable weather, and storms and cloudy days are common until September.

October and November tend to have calmer, clearer weather, but visibility can be slightly reduced because of abundant plankton in the water. Some divers like this period because many large fish, such as whale sharks and mantas, come into the channels to feed on the plankton. December can have rough, windy weather and rain.

Diving Safety
Drift diving is the most common type of diving in the Maldives. It is easy and safe when conducted properly and give divers the opportunity to see more fish life, coral and rock formations than could otherwise be seen. The outside reefs and channels are the staging points for these thrilling dives but care should be taken when diving in a current.

Equipments
Resorts and live-aboard in the Maldives provide high quality and often the latest in diving equipment. All resort dive schools and live-aboard diving dhonis are equipped with compressors, tanks, regulators with octopus, BCD's, masks, fins and snorkels and other equipment such as dive computers, wetsuits, weights and weight belts. The equipment is well maintained and stringent safety checks are regularly made. You may bring your own mask, fins and snorkel.

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