Okobe Thila

A marine-reserve thila (submerged pinnacle) in North Malé (Kaafu) Atoll, near Bandos and Thulhaagiri, reached by boat from Malé and the central resorts. Also spelled Okkobe and known as Barracuda Thila. It's a thin, roughly 80 m-long pinnacle in three sections, with a reef top around 10–12 m sloping to 25–32 m, its walls blanketed in colourful soft corals, sea fans and gorgonians. What sets it apart is the sheer density of fish: clouds of colourful small reef fish swarm the pinnacle, and when conditions are right they pack into a swirling "fishbowl" that can surround divers, aquarium-like. Among them are a dense school of bannerfish, blue-striped snappers, oriental sweetlips, barracuda, trevally, napoleon wrasse and tuna, with scorpionfish, lionfish, moray eels and groupers in the rock and nudibranchs and shrimp for the macro shooters. Currents can run medium to strong and shape the dive, so it's best for experienced divers and worked as a drift. Boat entry.