411 Dive Log Australasia April 2025

Only Big Things Please! text and photos by Ken Hoppen

D ive guide Safdhar gently uses proximity to turn a tiger shark away from the main group. Amazing to watch.

www.kenhoppenphotography.com.au A fter forty years of dive travel it’s a rare thing to find a place that is so different that it changes your outlook on diving, but Fuvahmulah in the Maldives has done it. This is a dive trip unlike any other. Maps of Fuvahmulah which include the large underwater reef that heads off from the southern end of the island look like a giant nudibranch. Though whilst I’m sure there are plenty of nudibranchs around the island, I am also sure that very few divers here have spotted one. They will have been much too busy looking at other things. But first! There are two main ways to get to Fuvahmulah. The most direct are the daily flights from the Maldivian Tigers aren’t the only thing to see on the drop-offs. There is a healthy turtle population around the island.

capital of Male. The other is a ferry ride from Addu Atoll some ninety or so minutes to the south-west. These very modern ferries leave twice a day, weather permitting. Fuvahmulah is only about 4.5km long and 1.2km wide, but it has just under ten thousand residents, making it the third most populated island in the Maldives. It is an island of winding backstreets, mosques, beaches and mud baths! The harbor at the southern end of the island is the centre of all of those activities that we hold dear. Typically, a dive day here with Fuvahmulah Scuba Club starts early. Breakfast and pickup and on the boat. Whilst they have a couple of boats, the large dhow that I was on is now a favourite. Great width, a brilliant camera table, tonnes of room and easy exit and entry. What more can you ask for? And only a two-minute cruise to the number one dive site.

Fuvahmulah is all about sharks and other big stuff. Shark Point is just outside the entrance to the harbor. This is one of the most spectacular shark dives in the world. Dropping into the water after our briefing, we were escorted to the centre of the channel heading to the harbor. With the huge drop off at our back, and plenty of guides/handlers both behind and to the front of us, we already had had a good look at the trio of tiger sharks that were milling around awaiting our arrival.

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DiveLogAustralasia #411 April 25

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