Dhonfanu Reef

A reef-and-pinnacle system around Dhonfanu island in the Core Area of the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The shallow top reef begins at just 2 m and slopes to 25 m, ringed by pinnacles — among them Bodu Gaa ("Big Rock" in Dhivehi), which rises from past 30 m to a top around 11 m and holds a manta cleaning station. Depending on conditions it can be a relaxed reef dive or an extended traverse linking Dhonfanu Reef, the nearby pinnacle Kuda Gaa and the cleaning station — a longer, swim-heavy route for confident divers when mantas are scattered across the system. From May to November the cleaning stations come alive: divers settle on the reef and watch mantas circle overhead while cleaner fish work, late August and early September being the most productive, with the occasional whale shark passing through. The reef and its lagoon seagrass beds draw green and hawksbill turtles, alongside glassfish, batfish, big-eyed jacks, eagle rays, garden eels, moray and ribbon eels, leaf scorpionfish, lionfish and stingrays, with nudibranchs and octopus for macro. The adjacent Dhonfanu House Reef, or "Turtle Reef," is often folded in. Visibility runs 15–30 m, current usually mild with some surge, water 27–30°C. Boat entry.

Also known as: Bodu gaa, Dhonfanu Kuda Gaa, Dhonfanu Pinnacle Zone