Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls · Maldives · Pinnacle · Reef
Hohola Thila
Blue sponges and black-coral overhangs on a small pinnacle
Area photo: John Hepburn · CC BY 4.0
A small thila in Ari Atoll whose appeal is colour rather than size or depth. The top reef lies at around 6 metres and the sides fall away past 30 to a sandy bottom, carrying blue sponges, brown hard corals and overhangs full of black corals and orange basslets. The source rates it for divers from beginner to advanced.
Where it is and how deep
3.9617° N, 72.8081° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The thila is small enough to lap, and the profile does the planning for you: the top reef sits at around 6 metres and the flanks run down past 30 metres to sand. A usual shape is to drop to the deeper part of the pinnacle first, circle it once while depth allows, then work steadily up the sides, which puts the shallowest and brightest part of the reef at the end of the dive when you have the most time to spend on it.
What holds the attention is the colour range on a single lump of reef: blue sponges against brown hard corals, and overhangs undercut into the flanks where black corals grow with orange basslets swarming in front of them. Those overhangs reward stopping and looking in rather than swimming past, and because the site suits divers from beginner to advanced they can be worked at whatever depth the group is set up for.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Prime |
Season follows Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls: Dry NE monsoon (Dec-Apr) brings the calmest seas and clearest water; the SW monsoon (Jun-Oct) lowers visibility but pushes plankton onto the western sides, the best manta months.
Sources
- Hohola Thila — Scubago
More dive sites in Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls
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Ocean-facing pinnacle at the mouth of Bathala channel
Pinnacle
South-side overhangs with gorgonian fans and black corals
Pinnacle
An estimated sixteen resident grey reef sharks
Pinnacle
A pinnacle eroded into five separate pieces, 12 m to 40 m
Wreck
Upright cargo wreck, deck at 21 m and sand at 28 m
Pinnacle
Shallow top reef from 5 m, with anthias over the safety stop
Cave & cavern
Two swim-through caverns, at 18-20 m and 28-30 m
Wreck
40 m supply boat at 20 m, sheltered enough for night dives
Similar dives elsewhere
Turtles and whitetips resting under a quiet 10 m pinnacle
Endemic sponge snail on a protected thila topping out at 7 m
Caves and overhangs north, a wall past 60 m east
Healthy hard coral from a 5 m top down to about 30 m