Matthias Hoeller
Registered
We have recently been "island hopping" on three Maldives local islands: Fulidhoo, Dhigurah, and Rasdhoo.
First of all, we found that all of these local islands are ready good for diving, you can't really go wrong.
Dive shops generally are good quality, and dive sites range from interesting to spectacular. The locals were overall extremely pleasant people, we had zero negative experiences. We respected the religious constraints (no alcohol, no walking around in bikinis), but to us it appeared that the locals were quite relaxed about it and it wasn't really a big deal for anybody.
We did about 30 dives and never got bored. Typical dives would feature lots of reef sharks, sometimes nurse sharks; often turtles, eagle rays, stingrays, octopus etc. The coral is generally in not too bad shape, less bleaching than we had feared. Not exactly like the red sea but still beautiful in many places.
That said, there are a few specialities to each island:
If we had to rank the three, we would put it this way:
1st place: Dhigurah, it was easily the best, both in regards to the diving and also to the excellent Boutique Beach hotel.
Very close 2nd place Fulidhoo, it was also amazing due to the nice small island vibes.
3rd place Rasdhoo - it was also nice but more of a cheaper budget feeling.
Best,
Matt
First of all, we found that all of these local islands are ready good for diving, you can't really go wrong.
Dive shops generally are good quality, and dive sites range from interesting to spectacular. The locals were overall extremely pleasant people, we had zero negative experiences. We respected the religious constraints (no alcohol, no walking around in bikinis), but to us it appeared that the locals were quite relaxed about it and it wasn't really a big deal for anybody.
We did about 30 dives and never got bored. Typical dives would feature lots of reef sharks, sometimes nurse sharks; often turtles, eagle rays, stingrays, octopus etc. The coral is generally in not too bad shape, less bleaching than we had feared. Not exactly like the red sea but still beautiful in many places.
That said, there are a few specialities to each island:
- Fulidhoo is really small and has great "small island"/village vibes, very chill and relaxed, only two dive shops (both excellent), and only about 200-300 people live there. Diving was very nice. Our accomodation was Luau Beach hotel, which is excellent and we very much recommend.
- Dhigurah is much larger, and specially located at one of the world's whale shark hotspots, which is why many people go there (we were lucky enough to encounter a whale shark underwater on our last day diving, a once in a lifetime experience that we will never forget, see image attached). Furthermore there are really spectacular dive sites (Thilas, coral gardens etc). We were in the "Boutique Beach" all inclusive diver hotel, which is excellent and really worth every penny. They claim it's run by divers for divers, and it shows.
- Rasdhoo has more of a backpacker/hostel vibe, feels a bit "cheaper"/ less rich population. Prices are much lower than on the other two islands - so this is more of a budget option. The island is also quite densely populated. Regarding the tourists: younger crowd, beach cafes with music etc. Also no real hotels, only cheap guest houses. Choose one wisely, our first one (which I shall not name) was cockroach infested and we had to move to a different place. That second place was much better: Brickwood Veli - which we very much recommend as accommodation! Diving is very good, comparable to Fulidhoo.
If we had to rank the three, we would put it this way:
1st place: Dhigurah, it was easily the best, both in regards to the diving and also to the excellent Boutique Beach hotel.
Very close 2nd place Fulidhoo, it was also amazing due to the nice small island vibes.
3rd place Rasdhoo - it was also nice but more of a cheaper budget feeling.
Best,
Matt
