TRAVELSPECIAL
One of Fuvahmulah ’ s beefy tiger sharks
A chain of natural wonders
Before we catch up with Shaff ’ s progress , let ’ s consider the Maldives in the context of Covid-era dive travel . As a nation whose main source of income comes from tourism , the Maldivian government was at the vanguard once people were able to travel . Bespoke quarantine hotels were set up and , in a way , it paid off . Today , the Maldives and the Red Sea are by far the biggest tickets in dive travel , their popularity consolidated while rival destinations such as Indonesia languished behind prohibitive quarantine rules .
What keeps us coming back to the Maldives ? In the current market , it ’ s seen ( and priced accordingly ) as a step up
A hawksbill turtle is fascinated by Shaff ’ s full face mask from the Red Sea , with an emphasis on affordable and top-end luxury . Despite air fares being higher than ever , people have flocked back in search of the desert island idyll .
Underwater , much remains the same . The most rewarding dive sites are the ‘ kandus ’ – channels between islands and reefs in the atoll chains . The hard corals of the reef tops have suffered environmental degradation over the past three decades , but below 10 metres the Maldives is still incredibly beautiful . There are caverns and overhangs festooned with colourful soft corals and gorgonians ; there are current-blasted walls favoured by shimmering schools of jacks and snapper .
Travel to the far south of the Maldives ’ chain of atolls and you arrive at the island of Fuvahmulah , where Shaff and I spent some time relaxing in the buildup to his marathon dive . Fuvahmulah , renowned for its tiger sharks , is what is described as a ‘ local ’ island , so Maldivian villages sit alongside a few internationally owned resorts and mostly locally run guesthouses .
Until the harbour was built in 2005 , transit to the island was incredibly difficult . The new harbour not only made it easier to bring goods and people to the island but it also provided a new home to the local fishing fleet . The fish waste was routinely dumped over the harbour wall until someone noticed that sharks were attracted to the free meal , and so Fuvahmulah shark diving industry was born .
It ’ s now regarded as one of the best places in the world to see tiger sharks up close , but a lack of regulation as resulted in multiple dive businesses opening there in recent years .
The Mayor of Fuvahmulah , Ismmail Rafeeq , has said he hopes to prevent a glut of unregulated shark diving operations on the island . Certainly , our tiger sharks dives were thrilling , as these large , intelligent predators have little or no fear of divers , and go about their business hoovering up leftovers from the fishing industry .
55