Vaavu Atoll · Maldives · Pinnacle · Coral garden · Reef
Coral Garden
A circular giri you can swim right round, top at 1 m and coral to 20 m
Area photo: TANAKA Juuyoh (%u7530%u4E2D%u5341%u6D0B) · CC BY 2.0
A small giri near Fulidhoo whose reef top comes up to 1 m at low tide and drops to 20 m and more on parts of the seamount. It is the calm-water dive in an atoll of channels: the currents are small, so on most days you can circle the whole reef, and it carries schools of snapper, fusiliers, trevallies and sergeant majors over the coral.
Also known as Floral Garden, Teabag-Giri, Aquarium.
Where it is and how deep
3.6621° N, 73.4200° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Coral Garden is a giri, a small reef that does not break the surface, and the dive is a circuit of it. The top of the reef starts at 1 m at low tide, so you descend beside the reef rather than onto it and drop down the side to a depth that suits the group; the seamount extends to 20 m and more on certain parts. Scubago says the currents here are small, and that most days you will be able to go around the whole circular reef in one dive.
The reef has an abundance of corals and reef life, which is where its other names, Floral Garden, Teabag-Giri and Aquarium, come from. As you work round the giri there is a high chance of diving with various schools of fish: blue-lined and humpback snappers, yellowtop fusiliers, trevallies and sergeant majors. Finish the circuit shallow on the reef top, where the coral comes up to within a metre or two of the surface, and ascend beside the reef.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Trevally & jacks
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime |
Season follows Vaavu Atoll: November to April brings the strongest channel flow and the clearest water; mantas pass through on plankton-rich currents from May to September, peaking May to July.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Coral Garden in Vaavu Atoll?+
The top of the reef starts at 1 m at low tide and the giri extends down to 20 m and more on certain parts, so it suits shallow profiles.
Is there current at Coral Garden?+
Scubago says the currents are small and that on most days you can go around the whole circular reef.
Sources
- Coral Garden - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Vaavu Atoll
Night
Hundreds of nurse sharks feeding under a resort pier at night in 3 to 5 m
Channel & pass
Schools of grey reef sharks in a channel cut with caves from 8 to 40 m
Wall
Wide soft-coral overhangs under table corals along a 4 km back reef
Channel & pass
Overhangs and cavities from 10 m to beyond 30 m on the channel's south side
Channel & pass
Sharks holding mid-channel in the drift that gave the site its name
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