The day 3, the 1st dive of the day was at Maalhos Thila in the North Ari atoll. There was very strong current in the water. We immediately moved to the overhang to avoid getting swept away by the current. The inside of the overhang was covered by the beautiful blue soft corals. It was very fantastic scene with the blue soft corals, the yellow Bluestriped Snappers and the big red sea fan all combined. The 2nd and the 3rd dives were at Moofushi Kandu in the South Ari atoll. Yes! We got in first for this famous Manta spot. After us, other groups of scuba divers kept coming! We ended up sharing the spot and the two Manta Rays with about eighty scuba divers. For the 3rd dive we skipped the cleaning station and went to the deep side. Guess what we encountered with? It was a Bowmouth Guitarfish! Then, bunch of Grey Reef Sharks, about a half dozen of Spotted Eaglerays and Manta Rays were seen as well. Hooray! The 4th dive was at Radhdhiggaa Thila. It had to be a relax diving with going through the overhang. The inside of it was colored by the yellow soft corals. The huge schools of Blacktipped Squirrelfish, Sabre Squirrelfish and endemic Indian Bannerfish surprised us by their number. After dive we had a nice BBQ on the beach!
The air temperature was 26-33 deg.C. The water temperature was 28-29 deg.C. The 3mm wetsuit was recommended. To be continued…
