South Malé Atoll · Maldives · Reef · Night
Sexy Reef / Hoara Huraa
Macro and night diving with turtles and passing mobula rays
Area photo: Saaremees · CC BY-SA 4.0
A macro and night-diving reef with healthy coral and good fish life, dived in low current on a forgiving profile of 18 m average and 25 m maximum. Turtles are present, mobula rays pass through, and the occasional whitetip reef shark turns up — the calm counterpoint to a week otherwise spent in the atoll's channels.
Also known as Hogura Hura.
Where it is and how deep
3.9549° N, 73.4586° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
By day it is an easy reef circuit: healthy coral, good fish life, and turtles that are reliably present, with mobula rays passing through and the occasional whitetip reef shark. The current is low, under a knot, and the profile is forgiving — 18 m average, 25 m maximum — so it suits a long, slow dive spent looking closely rather than covering ground.
The site's other identity is after dark. It is rated a nice site for macro and for night dives, and the same low current that makes the day dive easy makes the night dive practical: you work a small patch of the reef by torchlight and hunt the small life the site is known for rather than swimming a route.
Marine life and season
- Sea turtles
- Mobula rays
- Reef sharks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows South Malé Atoll: The dry northeast monsoon, late December to May, is the main season; mantas clean May to August and whale sharks are reported in August on the outer reef.
Sources
- Sexy Reef / Hoara Huraa — Scubago
- wannadive.net — Hogura Hura — wannadive.net
More dive sites in South Malé Atoll
Reef
Coral blocks from 5 to 15 m above a drop-off to 30 m
Channel & pass
Collapsed reef blocks sheltering sharks in a protected channel
Manta cleaning station worked from April into November
Overhangs, small caves and swim-throughs on a low-current giri
Wreck
An artificial-reef wreck beside a hard-coral giri
Channel & pass
A channel protected for its grey reef and whitetip sharks
Cave & cavern
Soft-coral caves from 7 to 40 m along the wall above the channel
Wreck
A 45 m unidentified freighter with a chance of mantas
Similar dives elsewhere
Walk-in shore diving with a sheer wall and a garden-eel flat
Manta cleaning stations at 10–15 m, with 8–9 mantas at once on a good day
Coral plateau with fusilier shoals, turtles and passing grey sharks
One of the few places whale sharks stay all year