Dive The World #01

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| bonaire | diving with school | Maldives | sailfish | The Azores | Lembeh Strait – Indonesia | gear |

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#01•2012• # 01 • 2012 •

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Bonaire The Azores Sailfish Lembeh Strait – Indonesia diving with schools

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Maldives words jesper kjøller Photos Magnus Lundgren/Aquagraphics.se

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Azure lagoons, white sandy beaches lined with coconut palms and picturesque villages where natives paddle outrigger canoes. It’s difficult to avoid using all the usual tropical paradise clichés when describing the Maldives. But this unique archipelago in the Indian Ocean is a paradise for divers, honeymooners and anybody else who worships at the altar of sun, sand and sea.

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A narrow channel between two islands in the Baa Atoll has become one of the diving world’s newest hot spots. Here, the mantas have a habit of turning up in large numbers, although it’s impossible to predict when. the conditions can be ideal, with nary a manta in sight. Then, like a jack-in-the-box, the elegant filter feeders pop into view, and that’s when mantafest at Hanifaru ensues.

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窶［aldives Photo Henrik Jonsson

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a way, diving here can be similar to the safari experience on an African savanna. The first giraffe causes a sensation. Everyone shouts and points: Look! A giraffe!

The animal is photographed from all angles. Then the next giraffe appears, and then another. Soon, there are so many giraffes everywhere that nobody takes particular notice of them anymore (unless they do something unusual, of course, like dancing the lambada or solving a Rubik’s Cube – pretty difficult for a hoofed animal, I’m told).

But we are far from the savanna. We are in the Maldives, where the sea shines like glass and the sun pounds down from an intensely blue sky. We’re on our way back from a dive, speeding across the smooth water in our Zodiac, when a couple of large mantas break the surface. But no one in our boat can be bothered to even glance the animals’ way. The boat driver does not slow down. Nobody is begging for permission to jump in the water. I am one of several photographers in the boat, and we do not even lift our cameras. For what? One measly picture of a manta? We would rather go back to our mother ship for some lunch and, perhaps, a nap.

How can one be so blasé when seeing a manta, you ask? Well, it can happen when you’ve just spent the past two hours diving at Hanifaru with upwards of 50 of the animals – and up close and personal, at that. In the end, if you can imagine, we were almost fed up with the mantas. We were not so unlike those safari goers, in fact, with their endless parade of giraffes on the savanna.

Just two hours earlier, when I’d jumped into the water for the first time, I’d felt a bit cheated. What is this? The visibility was not great and there were nothing to see – nothing at all!

The channel was sandy and no more than 12 to 15 metres (40 to 45 feet) deep. We swam around in a random fashion. And I started to wonder: How on earth are we going to pass the time here? But soon I sensed a “disturbance in the force.” Perhaps one of the only advantages of diving as part of a large group is that you have many eyeballs keeping a look out in all directions. And when everyone is looking in the same direction and pointing and hustling with their cameras, it’s clear that something interesting is afoot.

Suddenly, the first manta was upon us, its mouth open wide.

Seemingly oblivious to the group of divers, it glided right into the middle of our ranks.

What followed was one of the highlights of my diving career.

We dived with close to 50 mantas, even if the relatively poor visibility only allowed us to see between ten and 15 individuals at a time. When our tanks were empty, we threw them into the Zodiac and continued snorkelling. Never before or since have I filled an eight-gigabyte memory card on a single dive.

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UFOs Like extraterrestrials, the mantas float around us in the nutrient-rich plankton soup, completely oblivious to our presence. There are so many, we have to be careful not to bump into them.

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Mantas feed on plankton, fish larvae, krill and the like – all filtered from the water through their gills as they swim.

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Treacherous Reefs Throughout the centuries, seafarers crossing the Indian Ocean have regarded the Maldives as a collection of treacherous reefs that were best avoided altogether. Even knowing the area’s sublime beauty, it was considered too risky to approach the Maldives and too difficult to navigate the archipelago. Even to this day, shipping traffic keeps a good distance. That’s one of the reasons that the Maldives has remained such a pristine place, and that the population has largely been left undisturbed.

It is ironic, in a sense, that these same coral reefs – which, over the years, have kept pirates and colonial powers at bay – are now considered the Maldives’ crown jewels when it comes to tourism appeal.

Have a look at Google Earth. You’ll have to zoom in very close before you spot any land here at all. The Maldives consist of little more than one thousand coral islands, grouped into a double chain. The chain runs from south to north and is divided into a total of 26 atolls. The archipelago covers 90.000 square kilometres, a mere four percent of which is actually land, and is one of the most sparsely populated nations in the world.

While we’re on the subject of records, the Maldives is the smallest country in Asia and the world’s smallest Muslim nation.

The coral reefs mean everything to the Maldives – the country is built on them, and the houses are built from them. Moreover, the living coral reef forms a natural barrier that protects the islands from the sea. The large lagoons inside the atolls are accessed by narrow channels that

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are often washed with very strong currents. The tide brings nutrient-rich water up from the depths and pushes it through these channels. The atolls themselves are one large, living and vibrant organism, abundant with diverse life. Home to around 2.000 different species of fish (virtually the Indian Ocean’s entire repertoire), the Maldives also has many endemic species that exist only here.

The beach Some of the best beaches in the world are found in the Maldives. The white sand here consists of finely ground coral,

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with the water in the lagoons

In the Maldives, tourism is king. The country has about 150 tourist facilities and resorts, with 85 percent of the national revenue stemming from tourism. All travel to the Maldives starts and ends in the capital, Male – or rather, in the international airport on the island next to Male. And if you don’t board a boat directly after arriving at the airport in Male, you’ll most likely be boarding a seaplane for an onward flight.

Maldivian Air Taxi runs the world’s largest fleet of De Haviland Twin Otters, which are equipped with pontoons so they can land and take off any place there’s water. And in the Maldives, water is everywhere. Pilots dress in immaculate white, freshly pressed uniform shirts and shorts. Their feet, however, are bare.

Resort-based diving in the Maldives has a few advantages.

You can enjoy the luxurious facilities of your hotel between dives, and this is obviously a good solution if you’re travelling with family members who don’t dive. Often, you’ll return to the resort between each dive, so you can schedule your day’s activities exactly as you wish – perhaps a dive in the morning following by kite surfing in the afternoon, and then a spa visit before a candle-lit dinner on the beach. Sounds like a tolerable way to spend a day, now, doesn’t it?

protected by the surrounding barrier reef.

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M a n ta r ay s Manta rays (Manta birostris) are the biggest of all rays. The largest known specimen was more than seven metres (22 feet) from wing tip to wing tip and weighed about 2.300 kilos (6.100 pounds). Mantas are found worldwide in tropical waters, typically around coral reefs.

In proportion to body size, they have the largest brains of all sharks and rays.

Mantas feed on plankton, fish larvae, krill and the like – all filtered from the water through their gills as they swim. Mantas catch small prey on flat, horizontal slabs of spongy tissue in their gills. Water enters their mouths via two flaps at the front which, from the surface, may resemble horns – it is these curious body parts that have given the peaceful mantas their somewhat misleading nickname, devil rays.

Mantas often frequent cleaning stations where cleaner fish weave in and out of their gills and across their upper body, removing parasites and dead tissue. Mantas might show either indifference or curiosity toward people, and often like to swim close to divers or break the surface near boats.

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Maldivian Glossary To better understand diving in the Maldives, it’s well worth learning a few local words that describe the underwater conditions.

Herewith, a small Maldivian glossary: A thila is an underwater reef that is so deep you can sail over it. A giri is a thila that comes so close to the surface that you cannot sail over it. A faru is a reef that surrounds an island or runs alongside an atoll. And a kandu is a channel, often riddled with strong currents.

You’ll see these local words used in the names of many of the dive sites in the Maldives, giving you an idea of what kind of dive to expect. Still, having a good dive guide along is essential for success when diving here. If you exit the boat in the wrong place to start your dive, read the conditions incorrectly or time your dive poorly when it comes to variables such as season, current, daylight and visibility, there is great risk of ending up with a messy dive that would otherwise have been fantastic.

A change of colour The juvenile emperor angelfish sports a completely different colour pattern than the adult.

It takes about 24 to 30 months for an emperor angelfish to acquire its adult colouring.

They grow to a length of 40cm.

(15.75in.).

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On a typical thila dive, the guide will often go in the water first to read the current and ensure that you are in the right place. The trick is to descend to the exact point where the current hits the reef and splits. Large schools of fusiliers are often found in this area – they like to stay where the current splits so they don’t have to work too hard. If you can see the fusiliers from the surface and enter the water where they congregate, you’ve found the right place. Perhaps you’ll want to linger a little while here before you let the current push you around the corner, where it gradually decreases. Or maybe you prefer to hang around for some current action. And that term “hang around” has quite a literal interpretation here, too, where it’s common practice to use reef hooks (or rock hooks, if you want to sound more politically correct) to tether yourself to the reef.

A reef hook is a very simple concept – it’s one metre (three feet) of line with a hook at one end and a carabiner or bolt snap attached to the other. You attach the hook to a piece of dead coral and the other end of the line connects to a D-ring on your equipment. Once you’re hooked onto the reef, inflate your BC a bit and, presto – you are hanging in the current without any effort and with both hands free to operate your camera.

Supermodel The clown fish is, without a doubt, the supermodel of the coral reef. A white sea anemone is always a favourite subject for underwater photographers searching for a photogenic background.

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Every night, the parrotfish builds a nest in a suitable crevice. The fish secretes a sticky substance and builds a transparent mucous cocoon around it. The cocoon hides the scent of the fish and protects it from predators.

The sleeping parrotfish lets the photographer move in close with a macro lens to capture the amazing abstract patterns and colours.

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T h e M a l d i v e s TRAVEL All international flights arrive in Male, with trips between the individual atolls made in Twin Otter taxi planes with pontoons. These planes are capable of landing wherever there is water.

DIVING Liveaboard diving or day trip dives aboard shorebased boats are the norm here, but many resorts also offer land-based diving at local house reefs. Water temperature is usually around 27 to 30 degrees Celsius (80 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit), but can be colder below the thermocline, which usually lies below 20 metres (66 feet). A thin wetsuit is recommended. maldives • SEASON The Maldives have good diving year round. The driest period occurs during the northeast monsoon, between January and late April. Other months bring more plankton to the water, increasing your chances for seeing mantas and whale sharks.

CLIMATE The average water temperature is around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), year round. The country has two distinct seasons: the dry season falls between January and May (during the northeast monsoon), and the wet season is from May to November (during the southwest monsoon).

HEALTH Decompression chambers are found at many of the larger resorts and in Male. Dive with care and drink plenty of water.

LANGUAGE The native language of the Maldives is called Dhivehi. People working in the tourism industry usually speak passable English.

CURRENCY The Maldivian Rufiyaa is the national currency, although US Dollars are the most widely used currency in hotels and on boats.

ELECTRICITY 220 V, European plugs.

WEB www.visitmaldives.com

Last Call If it’s sharks, mantas and lush coral reefs you’re looking for – and, quite often, that special alone-at-the-dive-site-feeling, too – the Maldives offers it all. This is the lowest country on the planet, with an average rise above sea level of just a few metres.

Wherever you are in the Maldives, in other words, you’re very, very close to the ocean. And if the oceans continue to rise at the rate at which scientists fear, the country will have literally disappeared underwater by 2100. To save its population, the government is stashing away money to purchase a piece of land in Sri Lanka where all of the roughly 300.000 inhabitants can reside in the future. And that means one thing for divers and anyone else with a perfectly clichéd vision of paradise in their minds – there is literally no time like the present to visit the Maldives! ¨

profile: Jesper kjøller – words Originally a professional musician, Jesper fell in love with diving 20 years ago – an experience that changed his life. He became a PADI Instructor in 1994 and a PADI Course Director in 1999. Since 2000, he has been the editor in chief at DYK – the Scandinavian Dive Magazine. Jesper is a prolific writer and underwater photographer and his articles and photos have appeared in books, magazines and websites all over the world. He is as happy on a tropical reef as he is on a deep, technical wreck dive in Scandinavia, and still finds time to do PADI Instructor Courses and GUE Fundamental Courses once in a while, too.

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Whip coral goby†The spiraling whip coral grows to a length of several metres.

Often, it hosts one or more whip coral gobies. This is a tiny fish that lives only on the whip coral, hanging onto it and often darting to the opposite side to hide when something or someone comes close.

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