Hulhumalé is the fourth-largest island in the Maldives, located on the northeast coast of North Malé Atoll, about 6.5 kilometres away from the Velana International Airport. The artificial island is home to the first smart city to focus on sustainability and of course, to address the social, economic, and environmental impact posed by rising sea levels. Previously, we introduced four Hulhumalé dive sites that you can visit when you are at Maldives. Now, take a look at these three other Hulhumalé dive sites that await you!
Nassimo Thila
One of the most spectacular dives in the Maldives, this marine protected area features magnificent coral boulders that are covered with a blanket of beautiful soft and hard corals at various depth from 18 to 25 metres. With plenty of spots worth exploring between the overhangs and crevices of the broken reef, there is a wealth of fish and marine life to be seen at this site! However, this site is more suited for the more experienced divers only.
Oriental sweetlips spotted at Nassimo Thila, Maldives
Reef type: Thila
Diving depth: 8 to 30 metres
Travel time from Hulhumalé: 35 minutes
Experience: Advanced divers
Highlights: Oriental sweetlips, turtles, Napoleon wrasses, jacks
Fish Tank
Some call it Fish Tank, some call it Stingray City, but another name, Fish Factory, fits best — this dive site is right next to a tuna processing facility, and the leftovers, discarded straight into the water, attract countless species of marine life. The highlights include multiple kinds of stingrays, a wide variety of eels, schooling bannerfish, guitar sharks, and more!
Fish Tank, Maldives
Reef type: Wall
Diving depth: 4 to 30 metres
Travel time from Hulhumalé: 20 minutes
Experience: All levels of diver
Highlights: Stingrays, moray eels
Maldives Victory Shipwreck
The Maldives Victory is a 110-metre long vessel that sank on the night of 13 February 1981 in North Malé Atoll while carrying general cargo from Singapore. She now rests in 35 metres of water near the house reef of Hulhalé Island (where Malé’s international airport is situated), and has become one of the Maldives’ most popular wreck dives.
Descend to discover an ethereal carcass brought back to life by corals and sponges attracting a cornucopia of marine life, from turtles to big fish schools. The depth of the wreck means you should only attempt the dive if you’re an advanced diver, and you’ll also need to be comfortable dealing with sometimes strong currents.
Pufferfish, which can be spotted at the Maldives Victory Shipwreck
Reef type: Wreck
Diving depth: 35 metres
Travel time from Hulhumalé: 20 minutes
Experience: Advanced and expert divers
Highlights: Corals, schools of trevallies, turtles, grouper, batfish, pufferfish, lionfish, soldierfish and hawkfish
How to get to Hulhumalé: Sinamalé Bridge links the islands of Malé, Hulhulé and Hulhumalé, and there’s a shuttle bus from the airport to Hulhumalé. There are also direct ferries that run between Malé and Hulhumalé. Unlike the congested capital, Hulhumalé has wide roads and generous pavements.
Hulhumalé is a dive destination suitable for all levels of divers and has plenty of marine life that you can catch sight of! If you are interested in embarking on a dive expedition in the Maldives, be sure to consider joining ADEX Maldives Retreat taking place on 18-23 October 2022! For more information, visit www.adex.asia/adex-back2blue-maldives-retreat/. To read up more about Maldives as a dive destination, do head over to shop.asiangeo.com/product/asian-diver-issue-04-2021-no-159/ to get a copy of Asian Diver No.159!
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