Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls · Maldives · Pinnacle · Reef
Kudarah Thila
A small arch and two sea-fan overhangs on a channel-swept thila
Photo: Emanuele Santarelli · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kudarah Thila is a pinnacle inside South Ari's lagoon that sits directly in line with a channel opening to the ocean, so incoming currents sweep it. Overhangs hung with sea fans, a small arch and two massive coral blocks give it shape, and schooling fish and hunting jacks give it life.
Where it is and how deep
3.5579° N, 72.9218° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The shallowest part is a 12-meter plateau where numerous pink anemones grow. Below it the thila has two large overhangs decorated with sea fans, a small arch to swim through and two massive coral blocks, all wrapped in schools of five-lined snappers and fusiliers. Jackfish hunt around the pinnacle and white-tip reef sharks patrol the area, with the deepest part of the dive at 30 m (98 ft).
Marine life and season
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef sharks
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls: The seas are calmest from December to May, but manta numbers peak from August to November.
Photos from Kudarah Thila
Emanuele Santarelli · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Kudarah Thila - Diving Maldives - November 2021 クダラ・ティラ モルディブ 2021年11月 · a field of blue - underwater video on YouTube
Sources
- Ari Atoll diving — Dive The World
- Kudarah Thila dive site — PADI
Photo credits
- One fish with black and white stripes, a yellow head and yellow fins with black spots, swimming over pink and red encrusted rock by Emanuele Santarelli, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- One orange starfish covered in pale round bumps, lying on coral rubble and white sand among red and pink encrusted rock by Emanuele Santarelli, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls
Pinnacle
Ocean-facing pinnacle at the mouth of Bathala channel
Mantas at a cleaning station from December till April
Reef
A canyon cut diagonally through the middle of a channel reef
Pinnacle
South-side overhangs with gorgonian fans and black corals
Glassfish packed into the wheelhouse of a sunken trawler
Pinnacle
An estimated sixteen resident grey reef sharks
Pinnacle
A pinnacle eroded into five separate pieces, 12 m to 40 m
Grey reef sharks hunting in the blue around a tiny volcano-shaped top
Similar dives elsewhere
Caves and overhangs north, a wall past 60 m east
Turtles and whitetips resting under a quiet 10 m pinnacle
Endemic sponge snail on a protected thila topping out at 7 m
A swim-through tunnel packed with sweetlips and groupers