Farikede

The submerged reef reaching out from the southern tip of Fuvahmulah, a Protected Marine Area and one of the island's great pelagic dives — famous for the chance to see several shark species in a single dive. Fuvahmulah is a solitary oceanic island in the far south of the Maldives (Gnaviyani Atoll); here the top reef sits at 10–15 m before sloping into a deep plateau at 35–60 m and beyond, dropping away into the blue. It's a drift dive in strong, often shifting currents — the very flow that draws the pelagics up the slope — so it's an advanced site for AOW divers, sometimes entered negatively, with guides reading the current to pick the line. The headline is sharks: silvertips, whitetips, grey reef sharks, pelagic threshers and tiger sharks patrol the plateau, with oceanic mantas, hammerheads, whale sharks, oceanic whitetips and mola molas as seasonal visitors. Around them hunt giant trevallies, barracudas, groupers, snappers and schools of skipjack, dogtooth and yellowfin tuna. Visibility is often superb, sometimes beyond 50 m. Boat entry.

Also known as: Farikede Plateau