Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls · Maldives · Pinnacle · Pelagic & blue water
Ukulhas Thila
Manta cleaning station on a pinnacle facing the open ocean
Area photo: John Hepburn · CC BY 4.0
Ukulhas Thila is a long, narrow pinnacle on the north-eastern outer rim of Ari Atoll, facing the open ocean. Around 300 m (984 ft) long, it holds one of the best-known manta cleaning stations in the Maldives, and the current running past it is quite strong.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Ari & Rasdhoo Atolls and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The dive usually starts up-current, where divers drop in and descend and let the current carry them to the pinnacle. The thila has a flat top at 15 m (49 ft) and slopes to 30 m (98 ft), with steep drop-offs along its sides.
Only around 30 m wide, the pinnacle is home to moray eels, large schools of snappers and a vast ball of glassfish in the soft-coral overhangs. Mantas come to the cleaning station on the pinnacle to be cleaned.
Marine life and season
- Manta rays
- 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.
Know before you go
- The current is quite strong and the pinnacle has steep drop-offs.
Sources
- Ari Atoll diving — Dive The World
- Diving in Ukulhas Thila Maldives — Divebooker
- Ukulhas Thila Dive Site — YachtCharterFleet
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
Barracudas hunting over a pinnacle top carpeted in blue triggerfish
Grey reef sharks off the thila's ocean step on the incoming tide
Up to 30 manta rays reported over one cleaning-station boulder
A narrow swim-through and mantas on a current-split point