Guraidhoo Kandu

Guraidhoo is South Malé's textbook kandu dive and a protected area for good reason. On a pushing tide, divers hook into the outer corners and watch gray reef sharks hold effortless station in the flow while eagle rays and the odd Napoleon wrasse slide past. Release the hook and the channel does the rest, funneling you over a saddle of coral heads toward the lagoon as snapper and fusiliers stream alongside. Surge and speed vary with the moon; the briefing matters, and so does staying with the group in mid-channel blue.

اللحظة التي جئت من أجلها: Hooked-in shark watching; a fast, clean drift into the lagoon

التضاريس: Channel walls and a coral-strewn saddle between two islands, dropping to the open sea

التيار: A working channel: incoming tides give clear water and shark action, outgoing tides get green and are usually avoided.

المخاطر: Strong tidal current, mid-channel blue-water sections, and boat pickups in open water.

الحفاظ على البيئة البحرية: Protected marine area; fishing is banned in the channel.

نيتروكس: يستحق هنا — تقع البروفايلات في النطاق الذي يمدّد فيه النيتروكس وقت التوقف اللاإلزامي بشكل ملموس (بشرط امتلاك التدريب اللازم لاستخدامه).