TRAVELSPECIAL
Welcoming turquoise waters, a Maldivian specialty
PHOTOS: PASH BAKER
Peaceful palm groves fringe the beaches
Every sunset seems different
Setting the bait
Fuvahmulah, located in the far south of the Maldives, has a long history of tiger sharks in its local waters. For decades, local fishermen have discarded the guts and other undesirable parts of their catch into the water at the mouth of the harbour. This practice attracts a large number of tiger sharks to the harbour entrance to scavenge a free meal.
As the island is 300 miles from the capital Malé, a seaplane or speedboat isn’ t a viable option.
Once on the island there are plenty of places to stay, and of course several dive centres offering tiger shark dives.
I dived with Pelagic Divers Fuvahmulah, owned and run by a local man, Inah Shark( yes, it’ s a nickname). The dive centre has a couple of traditional wooden dhoni boats for daily diving, plus a speedboat for private charters. The island’ s dive centres agree on a daily schedule to ensure no one site gets crowded, and the signature sites are shared fairly.
Dive centres typically get a 45-minute to one-hour slot at the dive site in the mouth of harbour, known locally as Tiger Zoo. Typically, divers are dropped off a short swim from the harbour entrance, descend away from the dive site and swim underwater to the feeding zone. Once the previous
group has vacated the area dubbed‘ the pit’, the guides will move their group of divers into position. Divers are positioned lying or kneeling in the sand behind a row of small rocks( to hang onto), around a central of rocks at a depth of around 10m.
When everyone is in position, an appointed dive guide signals to the boat by free-flowing their regulator to mark their position in the water. The dhoni manoeuvres into position above the pit and drops a fish head, often tuna, into the water. What follows is a race between shark
58
A school of bluelined snapper