Baa Atoll & Hanifaru Bay · Maldives · Blue hole · Cave & cavern · Reef
Amilla Blue Hole
A vertical chimney through the reef with a cave exit
Area photo: Abllo · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Amilla Blue Hole is a chimney in the house reef at Amilla Fushi in Baa Atoll: a vertical hole cut down through the reef that divers descend and then leave through a cave mouth at the bottom. Maximum depth is 25 m, access is by boat, and PADI lists Advanced Open Water as the recommended certification for it.
Also known as Blue Hole.
Where it is and how deep
5.2360° N, 73.1078° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The feature is a vertical hole in the reef and it is dived top down: you drop into the chimney, follow it through the reef, and come out of a cave mouth at the bottom rather than turning round and swimming back up the way you came in. Maximum depth is 25 m, so the overhead section is short — but it is a genuine overhead, entered at the top and left through the cave mouth below.
Out of the cave mouth, the dive continues on the Amilla Fushi house reef, with the swim-through behind you and the rest of the time spent over coral: turtles are on PADI's list for the site. Because the chimney sets the shape of the dive and it is the deepest part of it, groups usually run it at the start and work the reef shallower as gas allows.
Access is by boat. That matters for planning the entry, because the descent into the chimney is the first thing that happens on the dive and it wants to be done in an orderly line rather than as a group all arriving at the top of the hole together. Sort out the order on the boat, agree who leads and who follows, and treat the drop as the briefed part of the dive rather than something to work out at the surface.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
Season follows Baa Atoll & Hanifaru Bay: The Hanifaru aggregation runs May–Nov on the south-west monsoon and peaks Aug–Oct; Dec–Apr is calmer and clearer but the mantas disperse.
Know before you go
- The chimney is an overhead entered at the top and exited through the cave mouth at the bottom: carry a light, keep off the walls, and go through one at a time in an order agreed on the boat.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Amilla Blue Hole?+
PADI lists a maximum depth of 25 m for the site, which covers the chimney down through the reef and the cave mouth divers exit from at the bottom.
What certification do I need for the Amilla Blue Hole?+
PADI recommends Advanced Open Water. The chimney is a vertical overhead that is entered at the top and left at the bottom, so buoyancy control and comfort in an enclosed descent matter as much as the depth.
Sources
- Blue Hole dive site — PADI
- Blue Hole — Scubago
- Amilla Fushi — Scubago
More dive sites in Baa Atoll & Hanifaru Bay
Reef
Coral slopes and a vertical wall between 5 m and 30 m
Reef
Canyons and overhangs from 12 to 30 m, with a shark nursery
Pinnacle
Four coral pinnacles 30–50 m apart, from 10 m down to 30 m
Turtles and whitetips resting under a quiet 10 m pinnacle
Pinnacle
Endemic sponge snail on a protected thila topping out at 7 m
Pinnacle
A 400 m ridge from an 8 m top down to about 35 m
A narrow swim-through and mantas on a current-split point
A shore-entry slope from 3 m down, with 20–25 m visibility
Similar dives elsewhere
A chimney from 5 m to an opening on the reef near 30 m
One of the first dive sites ever found in the Maldives
An 80 m rock tunnel and a collapsed sea cave, both entered on foot
Wide soft-coral overhangs under table corals along a 4 km back reef