North Malé Atoll · Maldives · Reef · Wall
Bandos Rock
House-reef wall with caves, table corals and a canyon
Area photo: Genet (Diskussion) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bandos Rock is the house reef of Bandos Island Resort. The top reef starts at 3 to 5 m and drops rather steeply to a sandy bottom past 30 m, and the wall between holds several caves and overhangs, large table corals, a pinnacle and a canyon — a full dive without leaving the island.
Also known as Bandos Reef.
Where it is and how deep
4.2696° N, 73.4886° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The top reef starts at 3 to 5 m, then drops, rather steeply, to a sandy bottom at more than 30 m. The wall in between is the dive: several caves and interesting overhangs cut into it, and the route takes in large table corals, a pinnacle and a canyon, so there is structure to look at across the whole depth range.
Being a house reef, it is dived straight from Bandos Island Resort, and the profile lets each diver pick a level — shallow reef on top, wall below. wannadive logs a medium current of 1 to 2 knots and visibility excellent at better than 30 m; with the sand not arriving until past 30 m, depth discipline on the wall is the one thing to mind.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows North Malé Atoll: The dry northeast monsoon (Dec-May) is the calm season; currents from November bring pelagics to the channels. Late May to July is the weak window - most liveaboards relocate elsewhere.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Bandos Rock?+
The reef top starts at 3 to 5 m and the wall drops steeply to a sandy bottom at more than 30 m, so the dive can be as shallow or as deep as your training allows.
Sources
- Bandos Rock — Scubago
- Bandos Reef — wannadive.net
More dive sites in North Malé Atoll
Reef
The standard check dive, an hour from Malé City
One of the first dive sites ever found in the Maldives
Mantas cleaning and feeding from December to April
Reef
Stingrays and morays drawn to a fish-factory outflow
Seamount
Blue soft corals and dense fish life on a swim-through thila
Seamount
The 'fish soup' pinnacle — two thilas packed with life
Mantas on the cleaning stations, May to October
Wreck
A cargo ship lost in 1981, coral-encrusted in 35 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Coral slopes and a vertical wall between 5 m and 30 m
Deep crevices at 16 to 30 m with hammerheads on the drop-off
A coral flat to 20 m, then a wall from 20 down to 40 m
A shore entry in the marine reserve, 4 m to a small drop-off