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 | 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.
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
In The Logbook
- Where to see reef sharks on your first divesBig animals · 14 min read
- Where to dive in DecemberTrip planning · 10 min read
More dive sites in Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls
Wreck
40 m supply boat at 20 m, sheltered enough for night dives
Wall
Wall from 4 m to past 40 m, straight off Kuramathi
Channel & pass
Advanced channel drift with sharks between 22 and 30 m
An early-morning drop into the blue for hammerheads
Mantas at a cleaning station from December till April
Mantas swooping past a reef cut with shelter channels
A small arch and two sea-fan overhangs on a channel-swept thila
Reef
A canyon cut diagonally through the middle of a channel reef
Similar dives elsewhere
Collapsed reef blocks sheltering sharks in a protected channel
Drift the channel corner on either tide, 5 to 25 m
An overhang whose ceiling opens to a window at 10 m
Sharks, jacks and eagle rays on the channel-mouth current