Hi, this is Rena! I am reporting about the fantastic trip we had for the Baa Atoll, which was the 1st time of the season. The 1st dive was at Fish Tank in the North Male Atoll for a check dive. I always wonder why the regular Morey Eels here would like to get into the one hole squeezing. The other regular here is the attack of the Pink Whiprays. They come from the deep side and pass right before us. They are surprisingly big, I should mention. The 2nd dive was at Maagiri Rock. We had to deal with a strong current to get to the reef. But Longnose Hawkfish, the school of Bluebanded Snappers, Tall Fin Gobby and the beautiful Nudibranches rewarded all our efforts. The 3rd dive was at Finger Point, which was the dive spot available only with this Baa route. There unexpectedly was no current at all. It was the first time for me to dive here with no current. However, we could see the Bluefin Trevallies attacking to the Fusilers. Besides, we saw Whitetip Reef Sharks sleeping and a big Napoleon as well.
The day 2, we moved to the Baa Atoll to have the 1st dive of the day at Dhonfanu Thila. This point is famous about its swim through. After the swim through we had the encounter with Grey Reef Sharks, Fusiliers, Bluefin Trevallies and Giant Trevallies. The 2nd dive was at Dharavandhoo Thila, which was a hidden reef point we could enjoy both wide and macro dive. We saw many Dracula Shrimp Gobbies, Aurora Partner Gobbies and Black Shrimp Gobbies. Plus, the Whitespotted Garden Eels were fabulous. Right after the 2nd dive, we had this buzz that there were 20 to 30 Manta Rays in the Hanifaru bay. Indeed, I saw many boats getting around. We immediately reacted, jumped in the water with snorkel, but we only saw 5 of Manta Rays at a time. I was disappointed not to see many Manta Rays frenzy around. The 3rd dive was at Dhonfanu Rock for a twilight dive! The big Loggerhead Turtle was hiding. I liked it here for seeing many kind of Shrimps. Even Red Reef Lobster was found!
The air temperature was 26-33 deg.C. The water temperature was 28-29 deg.C. To be continued…
