Maayafushi diving centre is located within the resort of  Maayafushi, a wonderful island in the North Ari Atoll.

Since December 2006 the diving centre is directly managed by Albatros Top Diving, a company with a big wealth of experience coming from 20 years working in Maldives.

Our diving centre is kept on a human scale, with a staff composed of 4 instructors, 1 divemaster and 1 land service staff.

High quality of service, professionalism and good organization is our goal, as well as the attention to the needs of the individual guest and an “easy” atmosphere.

Being far from the chaotic multitude of divers one will find in other destinations, we can allow ourselves the luxury of working in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and to spend some nice chill out hours with our guests talking about diving and more…

We try to personalize the weekly plan as much as possible, to satisfy the needs of everybody: to please everyone 100% is an ambitious objective, but we do our best to achieve it. We are driven by the desire to feel wonderful emotions underwater and to share them with the other people.

Diving in a fabulous location like Maldives is an invaluable privilege, and also a professional should still appreciate it as such…

Our centre is very spacious and comfortable, with a nice veranda to survey the lagoon of Maayafushi. The jetty our excursions living from, is located just in front of the centre. We have a well ventilated wetroom, where our guests can leave their equipment for the entire holiday, and a classroom equipped with all needs for courses.

Boat diving

We organize boat diving excursions twice a day.

In the morning we do one or two dives, according to the request of the majority of the divers, and we are back for lunch time.

In the afternoon we usually do only one dive and we are back about 5:30 p.m.

We organise also wonderful sunset dives and night dives in Maaya Thila, not to be missed.

For the boat excursions we use our comfortable big diving dhoni, the typical Maldivian boat, about 15 m long and well equipped for diving.

Our boat can travel at a cruising speed of 10 knots, giving us the possibility to reach easily all the dive sites in North Ari atoll and also on the nearby Rasdhoo atoll.

Due to the need of a proper current assessment and management when diving in Maldives, tasks that can be correctly performed only by a professional guide experienced in working in Maldives, all our dives are guided, no matter the diver’s level of certification.

To assure the best quality of the dive to everybody, the groups during our diving excursions are kept small, generally maximum 6 divers per guide, very often even less, according to diver’s experience. Experienced divers and beginners can dive in distinct groups.

All our prices for boat diving excursions include the boat trip.

Package prices are available for the divers doing at least 5 dives.

The dive packages are not prepaid or prebooked, we just count the number of dives done during your holiday and apply the proper package price, decreasing with the increase of the number of dives.

The dive packages are not cumulative with other divers.

Course dives and night dives are not included in the dive packages.

Diving in Ari Atoll

Ari Atoll is since ever one of the most renowned Maldivian atolls for diving.

Diving in Ari Atoll offers the most variety here in Maldives, capable to satisfy all the taste and expectations.

photo by matteo montanari

Ari Atoll is characterized by these thilas, a Maldivian word used to indicate a shoal, i.e. an underwater reef not rising up to the surface.

Here we can enjoy amazing corals and rich reef life, together with white tip sharks, eagle rays, trevallies, tunas and sometimes grey sharks.

On the right season is possible to see manta rays, sometimes also in huge schools of even 40 individuals, or hammerhead sharks in Rasdhoo.

photo by matteo montanari

Every dive is different from the others here, assuring our guests will never get bored!

Our dive sites

The strategic position of Maayafushi, located in the centre of North Ari Atoll, allows to reach most of the dive sites of the area within 30 to 40 min by dhoni, diving in Hafusa Thila, Madivaru Beiru, Kari Beiru Thila, Bathala Thila, Bathala Maaga Kan Thila, Kandholudhoo Thila, Ellaidhoo Thila and many more…

The famous protected area of Maaya Thila, one of the most famous dive sites in Maldives, is our highlight and is located just in front of our island, at only 10 min by dhoni.

Within one hour cruising time southward it’s also possible to reach the famous Thila called Fishhead, also a marine protected area, with his wonderful family of Napoleon fish, while northward in one hour we can reach the north tip of the atoll to dive in the channel of Gangehi Kandu, well renowned for encounters with leopard sharks and grey sharks.

Our special excursions

We organize weekly special trips to the west coast of Ari Atoll (70 min cruising) to visit the two marvellous dive sites located there:

- Donkalo Thila is an amazing manta point where on season is possible to admire groups of up to 40 mantas;

- Malhoss Thila is one of the most renowned dive site all over Maldives, a Thila with wonderful overhangs completely covered with colourful soft corals.

This excursion has a surcharge on the package price due to the longer distance.

It is possible to leave at the usual time in the morning, after the breakfast, no need for an earlier wake up.

We organize also early morning excursions to the nearby small Rasdhoo Atoll, looking for the hammerhead sharks. This trip is leaving at 5 a.m. in the morning to have the possibility to dive at the sunrise, the best time to spot the hammerheads.

This is a dive “in the blue”, suitable only for experienced divers

On request, we organize full day excursions, featuring a first dive in the morning and then lunch on board our dhoni; afterwards snorkelling and chill out on a beautiful unspoilt desert island, and then a second dive in the afternoon, being back at about 5:30 p.m.

This excursion is suitable also for non divers accompanying our guests.

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photo by matteo montanari

Our night dive in Maaya Thila, just 10 min from our base, is the highlight of our weekly program.

Maaya Thila is one of the best night dives in Maldives, if not the top one.

Clouds of fusiliers and other fish are swimming around on top of the thila after the dusk while white tip sharks, giant morays, big feather tail stingrays and sometimes grey sharks are hunting among them, in an amazing feeding frenzy. On top of that… Jack, the giant barracuda, often coming eye to eye with the divers!

A dive full of action and fun, not to be missed!

Shore diving

It is possible to dive from the shore on our house reef. Usually we advice to do an acclimatization dive on the house reef to all the divers not diving since more than 3-6 month, depending on their level of experience.

For the divers not diving since longer time or anytime on request, it’s also possible to follow a “refresh” program: you will repeat the basic diving skills with one of our instructors in shallow water in the lagoon, and then go for an easy dive from the shore under close supervision.

Same as for the boat diving, we do not organise any unguided house reef diving in buddy team without the supervision of one of our staffs.

Our PADI diving courses

We teach the full range of PADI Courses, starting from entry level to divemaster course.

The logistics for the courses in Maayafushi is the best you can find in Maldives: right in front of the diving centre there is a sheltered lagoon with a gently sloping sandy bottom, perfect for the shallow water sessions.

All our prices for PADI courses include the certification fee and the manual.

The PADI Discover Scuba Diving program gives the possibility to try diving for the first time under close supervision and in absolute safety. This program lasts half day and includes a brief theory lesson, a shallow water session where the students get confidence with the dive equipment and learn the basic skills necessary for their first dive, and then an open water dive among the colourful marine life of Maldives.

This program doesn’t lead to a certification but can be credited toward the PADI Open Water Diver certification.

PADI Open Water Diver Course: the most well-known entry level course, a certification recognized all around the world. It allows the diver to dive independently in buddy team until a depth of 18 m.

The course takes 3 to 4 days and consists of:

- knowledge development sessions, a funny and effective way to give to the students the necessary knowledge;

- skills development session in shallow water in our lagoon, to learn all the skills required to dive

- 4 open water dives, in which we will enjoy the breathtaking underwater landscapes of Maldives!

All activities are under the close supervision of our patient and experienced instructors, always available to give advice and help to solve any difficulties during the learning process.

PADI Scuba Diver course: for those individuals with time constraints, this is the solution! The Scuba Diver course is a subset of the Open Water Diver course.

The duration is 1 and half days and it leads to a certification that allows to dive until a depth of 12 m under the supervision of an instructor. It’s a good way to start the diving career in a short period of time, and on one of the next holidays the diver can upgrade to the Open Water Diver certification.

PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course: after the Open Water Diver level, the diver can deepen his knowledge with this course, that will allow him to dive until the depth of 30 m. The course consists of 5 open water dives, with lots of fun and adventure.

We offer also PADI speciality courses like Nitrox Diver, Deep Diver, Digital Underwater Photography, Underwater Naturalist...

Ask for more detailed info.

Our diving equipment to rent

The diving centre has a full set of diving rental equipment: BCD, regulators, fins, wetsuits shorty and long 3 mm, dive computers.

The rent fees are per day and include only the diving days.

Reasonable package prices are available for the guest renting the equipment for 5 days or 2 weeks. See the attached price list.

A special mention goes to the package including BCD, Regulator and Wetsuit, for 5 days or 2 weeks. This cheap package gives the possibility to the divers willing to reduce the weight and the size of their luggage to rent from the diving centre the bulky equipment and to bring with them only the small gear like computer, mask and fins.

A digital u/w camera is also available for rent. For the divers willing to learn how to get the best from a camera, a Digital Underwater Photography course is available on request. See rates on our price list.

Our diving cylinders

Our guests are diving with a 10.5 litres aluminium tank, big enough for most of the needs.

When needed, also 13.5 litres aluminium tanks are available without surcharge.

Our cylinders are suitable for both the DIN or Yoke (INT) regulators.

Nitrox for free

Starting from July 2008, Nitrox fills are available to all our Nitrox certified divers without any surcharge.

For the non Nitrox certified divers, Nitrox courses are available. See rates on our price list.

Diver’s medical suitability
(medical statement)

We do not require any medical certificate from the certified divers; they are requested to sign a self statement declaring they did the necessary medical examinations in order to verify they are fit for scuba diving.

The students of the diving courses are required to sign the usual 3 PADI forms according to PADI standards: "Liability release and assumption of risk agreement", "Standard safe diving practices statement of understanding" and "Medical statement".

On the Medical statement form the student can find a list of questions concerning his medical history. This form works as a “self test”. If the student can answer “No” to all the questions, he doesn’t require any further medical examination and he is fit for scuba diving. If the student should answer “Yes” to at least one of those questions, is required a medical examination by a physician to verify if he is fit for scuba diving or not.

If you are planning to join a diving course during your holiday here, better to check before your departure if a medical statement is required, as it is not possible to receive an in-depth medical examination on a small island on Maldives.

You can download the PADI Medical statement form from the address

www.maayafushidiving.com/download/medicalstatement.pdf

and read the questions on it.

When a medical statement is required, it should state that the student is “Fit for scuba diving “

Diving computers

Considering the features of diving in Maldives, it's mandatory for everybody to dive with a dive computer.

The computer can be rented by the centre. See rates on our price list.

Diving insurance

For safety reasons, it is mandatory for everybody, certified divers and students, to have a diving insurance. In case of need, the expenses for any recompression treatment and medical transportation are not covered by any public assistance in Maldives.

If the diver doesn't have his own insurance, we will activate a temporary one with DAN Maldives that will cover for 3 weeks. See rates on our price list.

Emergency

Emergency oxygen and a Medic First Aid box are always on board our dhoni and all our staff is trained on diving related emergency management.

The diving centre has a big stock of 50 litres of emergency Oxygen.

The closest recompression chamber is only 30 min by dhoni from Maayafushi.

Languages

Among our staff, we have multilingual instructors speaking the most common European languages:

English, Italian, French, German and Spanish.

Our price list

It’s possible to download our complete price list in PDF format from the web address