December: North or south atoll for big fish?

[sinetwo]

Hi all,

I'm wading through the vast expanses of maldives islands. I'm going in December, but I was wondering which was better of North or South atolls?

I'd like to see large pelagic, like mantas, eagles, whalesharks, dolphins etc. if possible! Beautiful coral reefs / good snorkeling would be a great bonus.

According to divereport, there's quite a few different Atolls, whereas I thought it was mainly just north/south: Maldives Diving Guide

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Patricia A]

Hey... I am coordinating LOB in the Maldives in December 2016.. Let me know if you are interested. I can send more details.

 

[tarponchik]

In general, better reefs in the North but more big stuff in the South. Though we saw dolphins in the North and some sharks too. Some sites in the South were crowded, up to a dozen LVBs, and most reefs were in poor condition. So if you go South there is price to pay.

 

[Freewillow]

DEEP south is the place to see big stuff. In contrats to what is said above, I have NEVER seen another dive boat on the site we were diving. But beware deep south is quite far away from Male. You need a plane in order to get to GAN island. Pretty close to the equator.

The north is less dived so corals are better but you will see mainly amntas.

I made one XXL central cruise of 10 days and saw: mantas, sharks, whale shars and dolphin.

To see big things is a matter of luck and a good and experience operator that will dive where you have a better chance to see wonders.

 

[tarponchik]

I wasn't talking about DEEP South, just South

 

[Freewillow]

I wasn't talking about DEEP South, just South

Sorry if I sounded arrogant. I just wanted to make it clear that what most people call south.........................is in fact south central. That archipelago is so Huge. 1000 km ( +/- 650 miles )., very few people realize that .

 

[tarponchik]

Sorry if I sounded arrogant. I just wanted to make it clear that what most people call south.........................is in fact south central. That archipelago is so Huge. 1000 km ( +/- 650 miles )., very few people realize that .

I do but getting there is way too complicated

 

[Freewillow]

Not too difficult to reach: less than one hour by propeller plane . And the flight is gorgeous, so many atolls to see from a rather low altitude.

But frankly, I have done it a few years ago. I was dissapointed. Mainly passes with pretty strong current @ 35/40 m ( 110/130 feet) and not seen too many sharks. In fact i have seen more sharks and mantas on an XXL center dive cruise. But again, you gamble and mother nature gives you what it has in the drawer at a given time