Travel 53
finds you interesting, it will come and have
a good, close look.
These days the fishermen’s offerings
are augmented by a shark-feeding
operation started by local
Fuvahmulah divers, who
oversee visiting groups.
Boarding our dive
dhoni, the shark
wrangler gave us a
detailed brief and
issued us each
with aluminium
poles as a (purely
visual) deterrent.
Tiger sharks are
thought of as
one of the four
supposedly danger-
ous shark species, but
experts agree that it can
be safe to dive with them, if
you’re careful not to attract
predatory behaviour. It may not have
been a coincidence that the chilled-
out strains of Debussy’s Clair de Lune
emanated from the Explorer.We entered the water with masks, fins and
snorkels, feeling a communal reverence
for this huge fish. Everyone allowed it
space to feed. After 35 minutes our visitor
swam off into the dark expanse of
the ocean beyond, not even
pausing for a lemon-
scented towel.
Further south, be-
yond the Equator,
we arrived at
lonely Fuvahmu-
lah, the south-
ernmost point
of our 280-mile
odyssey. The
standout dive took
place right in front
of Fuvahmulah’s
harbour, where for
generations local fisher-
men have cleaned their
catches, thus attracting tiger
sharks. And the wonderful thing about
tiger sharks is... they aren’t frightened
of divers. So it’s not like a fleeting
encounter with a timid reef shark; if a tiger
We entered the water, descending to
10m and swimming along a wall of pristine
coral towards the feeding zone. There
were five or six adult tigers milling around
— 3.5m long and bulky, they dwarfed the
grey reef sharks we’d been diving with in
the atoll passes.
Our group settled on the coral rubble, as
directed by the Explorer dive guides, but
the Fuvahmulah shark guide beckoned
us closer. I yearned to get nearer still.
Eventually a beautiful female moved away
from the baiting zone and towards our
group. Fathomless black eyes rolled in her
head as she sized us up. We knew we were
safe, but I could sense a communal adrena-
line spike among our group. Scientists or
moneymakers, it didn’t matter — here was
our reminder of where we really stood in
the food chain.more Maldives dive trips
Filitheyo Island
Resort
Filitheyo is ideal
for a first-time
diving holiday
in the Maldives.
Larger than
most Maldivian
islands, it has
a shady, wooded
interior crossed
with cycle
tracks and
pathways. The local
marine scene offers some
lovely channel dives, where
you can swim alongside
billowing schools of blue-lined
snappers, an Indian Ocean
signature fish. Filitheyo itself
has a decent house reef, so
you can enjoy a blissful dawn
or sunset snorkel from your
beachside or water villa —
the coral wall is just a few
metres away. Seven nights’
half-board in 2021 costs from
£2,195pp, including flights,
seaplane transfers and
unlimited diving
(diveworldwide.com)Oblu by Atmosphere at
Helengeli
Affordable luxury is the name
of the game at Oblu, above,
an island resort that has a
range of beach villas and
overwater villas. Up in North
Malé Atoll, Oblu has much
to offer divers, with resident
silvertip sharks among the
megafauna regularly
encountered by visiting divers.
Silvertips are quite rare, so it’s
a huge privilege to see these
muscular predators, which are
now protected in Maldivianwaters. If sharks aren’t your
thing, there are thilas (coral
pinnacles), where you can
watch the big green turtles
as they chomp greedily on
sponges. Seven nights’ all-
inclusive in 2021 costs from
£2,970pp, including flights,
transfers and ten dives
(originaldiving.com)Carpe Novo live-aboard
On the “Best of the Maldives”
trip on the mid-range boat
Carpe Novo, you’ll take in
shark-rich channels in Ari Atoll
and possibly even find a manta
ray cleaning station — areas
of reef occupied by cleaner
wrasse, which peck parasites
from the skin of larger fish.
Diving alongside a line of 4m
rays queueing for a spa
treatment from a few pencil-
sized fish is quite something.
The boat has 12 cabins for a
maximum of 22 guests, and a
shady area outside that’s good
for dolphin spotting. Seven
nights’ full board costs from
£1,995pp, including transfers
and three dives a day
(scubatravel.com). Emirates
flies to Male from £6503
ALAMY; THOMAS ALEXANDER/FOUR SEASONScalFuvahmula
oversee
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dhon
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supp
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experts
bbbbe safe to d
you’re careful
predatory behaviour.not even
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for
sher-
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acting tiger
nderful thing aboutThe Four Seasons
Explorer