Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls · Maldives · Channel & pass · Pelagic & blue water
Moofushi Kandu
More than 100 grey reef sharks can patrol the channel mouth
Area photo: John Hepburn · CC BY 4.0
A channel on the western side of Ari Atoll and one of the prime Maldivian kandus for grey reef sharks: on good days more than a hundred patrol the water in front of the mouth. Mantas and eagle rays use the same flow. The channel entrance falls away to between 40 and 50 metres, and crossings are only run when the current is moderate.
Where it is and how deep
3.8846° N, 72.7106° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is built around the channel mouth, where the entrance falls away to between 40 and 50 metres. The plan keeps you along the upper edge of that drop rather than down in it, facing the open water where the flow arrives. On good days more than a hundred grey reef sharks patrol in front of the channel, holding station in the current, and on the best of them you are looking down on the pack from above rather than out at it.
Mantas and eagle rays work the same water, so the open side of the dive matters as much as the reef edge. Crossings into the atoll are only made when the current is moderate, which is the limit the site is dived to rather than a preference. Nothing here is a slow reef tour, and the dive turns on holding a position and letting the traffic come past you rather than on covering ground.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Manta rays
- Eagle rays
| 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.
Know before you go
- The channel entrance drops to 40-50 m and the dive is run on moving water, so depth and gas want watching from the descent onward.
- Crossings are only made at moderate current; in a stronger flow the crossing is dropped rather than attempted.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Moofushi Kandu?+
The channel entrance is the deep part, at 40 to 50 metres, and that is the only depth published for the site. The dive is worked along the upper edge of that drop rather than on the bottom, which is why it is an advanced dive.
What sharks are at Moofushi Kandu?+
Grey reef sharks are the draw, with more than a hundred patrolling in front of the channel on good days. Mantas and eagle rays are also seen in the same flow.
Sources
- Moofushi Kandu — Scubago
More dive sites in Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls
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Ocean-facing pinnacle at the mouth of Bathala channel
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South-side overhangs with gorgonian fans and black corals
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An estimated sixteen resident grey reef sharks
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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
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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
Similar dives elsewhere
Collapsed reef blocks sheltering sharks in a protected channel
A year-round manta point at 19-25 m inside the channel
Drift the channel corner on either tide, 5 to 25 m
An overhang whose ceiling opens to a window at 10 m