Joali Maldives, Raa Atoll

With calm, relaxing reefs, plunging walls and underwater pinnacles, Raa Atoll diving offers something for everyone. Liveaboards visit the region, and most luxury resorts have their own dive centres and house reefs, making for easy diving from shore and boat. Within the lagoon there are plenty of interesting thilas to explore, but the best diving is on the outer reef. The western edge of Raa Atoll faces the open sea of the Indian Ocean, while the eastern side is almost a straight line from north to south, with deep channels providing some exciting dive sites. The eastern side faces Lhaviyani and Noonu Atolls, providing extra shelter from wind and currents.

Diving in Raa Atoll means an impressive diversity of marine life, from macro to massive. Expect schools of reef fish, sharks, napoleon wrasses, rays and turtles, as well as colourful soft and hard corals and other reef life. In the currents, divers can enjoy manta ray encounters and sightings of large pelagics. The best dives are in the south of the atoll and popular sites include Reethi Thila and Fenfushi Giri in the south, and the area around Vandhoo on the eastern side that is frequented by manta rays during the southwest monsoon. Kottafaru is also a good spot for manta rays during the wet season. In the dry season, the manta rays move across the atoll and are often sighted at Sola Corner. Other fantastic dives include the Labyrinth, an interesting thila with an abundance of marine life, Bathalaa Kandu, Ghost Island, and Beriyan Kuda Thila.