Liveaboard Diving in Ari Atoll

Ari Atoll Liveaboard Dive Sites

Scuba divers plunge into the waters of Ari Atoll for the promise of spectacular pelagic encounters. Ari Atoll is the most reliable Maldives location for whale sharks, manta rays, and tons of reef sharks and turtles. The area's general topography is dominated by kandus and thilas. Thilas are volcano-shaped pinnacles rising from the depths of the sea and attracting lots of sea life; kandus are current-filled channels from the open ocean, where big fish ride the ripping highway to their next meals.

Ari Atoll's thilas are colonized by sea life like all Maldives pinnacles, but this area is not the best Maldives site for corals and color. Instead, Ari's main draw is the large wildlife in the water column. Various marine protected areas within Ari Atoll ensure the conservation of its incredible underwater creatures, so diving within Ari Atoll sanctuaries at sites like Fish Head and Kudarah Thila should not be missed.

The crowning jewel of Ari Atoll is Maaya Thila, which is considered one of the top Maldives dive sites for both day and night dives. This pinnacle is famous for the wild abundance and diversity of its reef life, from nudibranchs and octopuses to schools of pelagic fish. As you descend to the deeper areas, caves, and overhangs add variety to the topography.

Maaya's neighbor, Donkalo Thila, holds its crown as a premier cleaning station for mantas and sharks in the western section of the atoll. Kudarah Thila and Rangali Madivaru, both in the southern section of Ari Atoll, host high-volume manta cleaning stations, while Ukulhas Thila is the premier manta cleaning station in the north. Hammerhead Point in Rasdhoo Atoll, northeast of Ari, tops it all off. The deep water drop-off near this site allows divers to see hammerheads, the highlight of many divers' Maldives liveaboard adventures.

Within Ari Atoll's 40 km length and 105 small islands, site after site vies for divers' wonder and appreciation. However, if it's sharks you're looking for, Fish Head Pinnacle is the best place for an adrenalin-pumping dive- throngs of bustling grey and white tip reef sharks scour the reef for their dinner under huge schools of dancing fusilier. Fish Head lies in the eastern section of Ari Atoll and enjoys marine protected area status. It is known as one of the top ten Maldives dive sites, partly because of its shark abundance and reliability of sightings.

Those who want to swim with the giant of the ocean turn to Maamgili, where plankton-rich waters nourish whale sharks gliding over wrecks that host large marble rays and nurse sharks. For wrecks, Ari Atoll offers Fesdu and Halaveli. Fesdu Wreck in the north is popular with macro critter lovers for its resident ghost pipefish and many nudibranchs and flatworms. This fishing trawler was sunk to become an artificial reef more than ten years ago. Halaveli is a 33-meter-long freighter where huge blotched fantail rays provide an impressive counterpoint to the macro-life tucked into the wreck's holes and corners and can be dived day or night.

Ari can also deliver color to divers who need it. Rahdhigga Thila is crowned in its shallows with healthy branching corals and festooned on its sides with soft corals in every shade of the rainbow, not to mention other benthic organisms like sponges of many shapes and sizes. Pelagics lovers won't feel left out here because Rahdhigga hosts shark action from silver tips, white tips, and grey reef sharks.

Getting to Ari Atoll

The length of liveaboard itineraries in Ari Atoll ranges from 7 to 12 nights, with a budget of between 200 and 400 euros per night. A liveaboard bound for Ari Atoll and Rasdhoo Atoll will often include North or South Male, Baa Atoll, or the southern atolls of Meemu and Vaavu in its tour. Usually, the south-focused itineraries, which include Male, Meemu, and Vaavu, visit south Ari Atoll. North-focused itineraries visiting Male, Baa, and Raa, visit more of Ari Atoll, and include Rasdhoo Atoll.

However, Maldives liveaboard itineraries present many choices and variations, like Carpe Diem's tour, including Baa, Rasdhoo, Ari, Male, Vaavu, and Orion's ìManta Madnessî itinerary. Most Ari Atoll liveaboards depart from Male, the capital city of the Maldives, but Carpe Diem's north-south trip departs from Baa. Most liveaboards are M/V luxury yachts, though the M/V Aggressor also has gorgeous sails.

The experience level Ari Atoll liveaboards require varies from Open Water with no logged dives to Advanced Open Water with 100 dives. Currents are strong at Ari except at slack tides, but calm water also means no fish, so experienced divers will be best able to take advantage of diving Ari Atoll.

Liveaboard departures

Many Ari Atoll liveaboards depart from Male, reachable by short flights from nearby Singapore, Dubai, and Colombo. Longer international flights from Europe, America, China, India, and Australia are readily available, often connecting through the above-mentioned airports. When Ari Atoll itineraries depart from other ports like Baa, a seaplane from Male is the best way to get there.

Best time to travel

Ari Atoll can be dived by liveaboard all year round. December to May holds the calmest seas; August through November is the best time for manta rays. Never fear, though: manta rays can still be seen reliably at certain sites during the calm season. Shorty wetsuits keep divers comfortable at 26-29º C; visibility is usually 15-30 meters. When visibility varies between sites, it's usually because of the seasons and the particular characteristics of each site location. Some of the best manta and whale shark sights are green with plankton, but catching a glimpse of these giants makes up for it.


Ari Atoll Diving Reviews

  • 9.2 Superb
  • 463 Verified Reviews
  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Donald L
  • United States United States

Spectacular the underwater aquatic diversity is worth traveling halfway around the world to photograph witness and share with friends and other Divers

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Seafari Explorer 2

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Michael C
  • United States United States

My favorite part of the entire trip with lots of pelagic life.

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Blue Force One

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Warren H
  • United States United States

Beautiful sealife, so many fish that it looked like an aquarium

Diving Ari Atoll in March on the Scubaspa Ying

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Teresa B
  • United States United States

poor viz this week. But lots of fun things to explore close up. Lots of sharks. Saw mating octopi, beautiful table coral. No mantas at the cleaning station....whale sharks were here.

Diving Ari Atoll in March on the Carpe Novo

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Whitney H
  • United States United States

Absolutely fabulous. Saw all the wildlife you can imagine including whalesharks and a beautiful wreck dive. Also anchored here and did a manta night dive with mantas feeding at night less than a foot from you.

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Emperor Virgo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • David E
  • United States United States

Fantastic! Loads of fish. Many sharks at Fish Head.

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Scubaspa Yang

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Karen J
  • United States United States

Excellent. Greak wreck dive at fesdhoo and a beautiful coral dive at 7th Heaven

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Princess Sara

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Katherine K
  • United States United States

Great - many manta rays and octopuses

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Carpe Diem

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Pauline P
  • United States United States

Gorgeous - best diving of our whole trip including manta dives

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Emperor Voyager

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Brian G
  • United States United States

Very good, lots of big fishes.

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Princess Sara

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Robert H
  • United States United States

Maaya Thila had a great variety of sea life - fish, sharks, rays, etc.

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Emperor Serenity

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Karl E
  • United States United States

Still suffering after effects of the monsoon the week before; visibility was modest but sea life abundant.

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Emperor Leo

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Thomas M
  • United States United States

Good diving. Nothing really stood out as significant.

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Carpe Diem

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Melissa C
  • United States United States

Nice, visibility could have been better on some days

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Nautilus Two

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Fernando R
  • United States United States

Plenty of life. From sharks to huge schools of fish, to beautiful reefs, every dive was memorable

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Blue Force One

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Christopher R
  • United States United States

8 dive sites were in South Ari and 2 in North Ari. South Ari is where we saw lots of mantas and a whale shark!

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Emperor Serenity

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Laura S
  • United States United States

Truly spectacular experience. Manta rays, nurse sharks, dolphins that visit the boat at night when the lights attract the plankton.

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Princess Sara

  • 8.4 Very good
  • andre V
  • Netherlands Netherlands

great! one on the best: great visibility, All the big stuff(mantas and (whale)sharks and 7 days of good weather.

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Sachika

  • 8.4 Very good
  • andre V
  • Netherlands Netherlands

great: all the big stuff(mantas and whalesharks and good reef- and channeldives

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Sachika

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Amay K
  • India India

Beautiful dives even in off season

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Carpe Diem

  • 7.6 Good
  • juan I
  • Spain Spain

Nice. We saw a lot of life except mantas.

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Adora

  • 7.2 Good
  • Jeremie T
  • France France

very nice but pretty rough sea conditions even if we had also good weather, visibility was a little bit poor not only in ari but for all the trip

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Carpe Vita

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Beatriz C
  • Spain Spain

It was very good with lots of options in the north and south.

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Scubaspa Ying

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Michael A
  • Denmark Denmark

Great even though the visibility was not the best but that is to be expected this time a year.

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Horizon 3

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • andre V
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Great with all the big stuff and good conditions.

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Carpe Novo

  • 8.4 Very good
  • andre V
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Very good as most of the times. more crowded after Covid... Visibility pretty good(20 m) and a lot of fish since the Maldives is one of the few places that is not overfished(yet).

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Carpe Vita

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Fernando R
  • Italy Italy

Eventhough that we couldn't dive with whale sharks, the experience with Manta and Sharks was incredible. Big turtles too!

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Horizon 3

  • 7.2 Good
  • Tamara T
  • Denmark Denmark

Great, but unfortunately not enough current so visibility was bad

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Horizon 3

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • MARIANO H
  • Spain Spain

The best one , a lot of Manta Ray and whale shark

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Carpe Diem

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Ronnie F
  • Germany Germany

Good, besides no whalesharck when we were there

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Blue Force One

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Sabine E
  • Germany Germany

Whaleshark experience and nice/colourful thilas

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Soleil 2

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Bjoern L
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Very good, we saw a whale shark!

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Carpe Novo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Claire B
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

This was amazing. We spent a lot of time here and saw an abundance of sea life especially sharks

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Blue Force One

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Richard C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Loved the diving here. The site of our night dive. I’m not generally a fan but diving at sunset and watching the reef change was a fabulous experience

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Emperor Serenity

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Gil S
  • Israel Israel

It was challenging because the currents were quite strong and the visibility was not so good but we so many mantas at manta point and it was the best

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Emperor Leo

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Scott W
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

We visited most of the well known sites in Ari and revisited a number of them which threw up different marine life each time. We dived Maaya Thila twice and on the second dive we were accompanied by a guitar shark. Alot of us had never seen one. Our dive guide and us were buzzing! Fish head dive site was also a great site. Not tons of coral but lots of big stuff. Plenty of shark action!

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Conte Max

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Andras M
  • Hungary Hungary

Very good dives, however some of the sites were a bit crowded.

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Conte Max

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Yannick B
  • France France

Mantas, sharks and beautiful reefs

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Amba Liveaboard

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Susan C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Excellent, visibility was very good and saw a good number of mantas and sharks.

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Scubaspa Yang

  • 8.0 Very good
  • paula L
  • Taiwan Taiwan

Awesome! Awesome! AWESOME!

Diving Ari Atoll in February on the Emperor Virgo

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Ella C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Great diving, although some dives were full of underwater life and others a bit sparse

Diving Ari Atoll in February on the Carpe Vita

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Henrik S
  • Sweden Sweden

Beautiful with lots of Mantas and sharks. We did not see the Whale shark while diving but got to see it feeding at the back of the boat one evening. The night dive with the Mantas in Feshdoo lagoon was epic.

Diving Ari Atoll in March on the Carpe Novo

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Ahmad B
  • France France

Amazing dives with nurse sharks.

Diving Ari Atoll in March on the Carpe Novo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Adil G
  • United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

Lots of manta rays at the cleaning stations

Diving Ari Atoll in March on the Scubaspa Yang

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Elisa Analia M
  • Chile Chile

Good diversity of fish and always some sharks around

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Emperor Leo

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Marion S
  • Switzerland Switzerland

North Ari: nice wreck, deep dives, Manta Reys at night South Ari: many sharks and rays

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Emperor Serenity

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Amit L
  • Israel Israel

Great dives. Many big fish- mantas, rays, sharks... beautiful schools of fish and many turtles

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Horizon 3

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Rindra R
  • Madagascar Madagascar

strong currents, lots of sharks on Fish Head

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Emperor Serenity

  • 9.2 Superb
  • sean C
  • Canada Canada

Good for late season diving

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Sachika

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Zinaida B
  • Sweden Sweden

Fish Head alone can be a reason to visit Ari Atoll

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Amba Liveaboard

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Christoph P
  • Switzerland Switzerland

fantastic, so much to see, full of life

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Emperor Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jolene H
  • Singapore Singapore

Great for mantas, whale shark search and chase was an experience

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Adora

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Steven R
  • Germany Germany

Sadly the viz was not great this time (beyond human control of course).

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Carpe Diem

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Camila F
  • Brazil Brazil

Great!! We saw there lots of fish, wreck, turtles, sharks..

Diving Ari Atoll in June on the Emperor Leo

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jeffrey T
  • Singapore Singapore

Very good. We have see a lot of fish with the help of the dive master

Diving Ari Atoll in June on the Scubaspa Yang

  • 7.2 Good
  • Stephen S
  • Australia Australia

reasonable, with poor visibility

Diving Ari Atoll in June on the Carpe Vita

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Josje A
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Perhaps our favourite. So many sharks.

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Princess Sara

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Karen W
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Excellent many sharks and beautiful reefs

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Carpe Novo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Naseef V
  • India India

Excellent. Lots of sharks and manta rays.

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Sachika

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Michael B
  • Germany Germany

Amazing! We had most of the dives there, with Mantas, Whaleshark, sharks etc

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Emperor Virgo

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Michael A
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Ari Atoll was good - we saw a whale shark while diving and also had a nice dive on Fish Head

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Carpe Vita

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Mohamed Y
  • Bahrain Bahrain

Beautiful but I wish that we spot the whale shark

Diving Ari Atoll in August on the Blue Force One

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Michael H
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Disappointing visibility and challenging currents at some dive sites - not suitable for inexperienced divers. But plenty of eagle rays, turtles, mantas and loads of sharks. Pity that corals on mot reefs have been badly affected by bleaching

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Princess Dhonkamana

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Frank Z
  • Germany Germany

The shark spots are amazing

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Blue Force One

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Daniel A
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Very Good, sometimes challenging with medium to strong current and the visibility was ok.

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Horizon 3

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • guest 1
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Strong currents but loads of sharks

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Sunseeker

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Patrice B
  • France France

Very good on North Ari, too crowded in South Ari

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Emperor Leo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jinal T
  • India India

Some of my favorite dive sites were in Ari Atoll. Got a whale shark spotting and great manta action along with some nurse sharks.

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Emperor Voyager

  • 8.0 Very good
  • LAN W
  • China China

Visibility is not the best of the season, but you will NOT feel disappointed.

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Princess Dhonkamana

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Georgia W
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Absolutely amazing despite the rainy weather!

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Sachika

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • sofia A
  • Sweden Sweden

Beautiful coral! Shark aquarium!!

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Carpe Diem

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Amanda R
  • Australia Australia

great, reasonable visibility

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Emperor Voyager

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Cheuk Min C
  • Hong Kong Hong Kong

Amazing. We saw whale shark, mantas and dolphins. We also did a wreck dive which was another great experience.

Diving Ari Atoll in November on the Carpe Diem

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Ingemar H
  • Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia

Great, sharks and mantas of all types

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Princess Sara

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Rafael M
  • Brazil Brazil

Nice dive with lots of coral and plenty of sealife

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Maldives Aggressor II

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Mark R
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Fabulous diving in this area. Loved the coral gardens and whale sharks. More diving in this area for future trips please!

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Emperor Serenity

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Pei Li Y
  • Singapore Singapore

Strong currents but beautiful sites

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Amba Liveaboard

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Jody H
  • Malaysia Malaysia

love it with all the sharks action

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Carpe Vita

  • 7.6 Good
  • Leandro S
  • Brazil Brazil

Amazing dive with mantas and snorkel with whale shark

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Emperor Explorer

  • 6.4 Review score
  • Chaoyan H
  • China China

Awesome to see mantas and sharks

Diving Ari Atoll in February on the Sunseeker

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Benoit A
  • France France

Great dives with huge mantas and a whale shark

Diving Ari Atoll in February on the Emperor Virgo

  • 6.8 Review score
  • Bruce L
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Wide variety of marine encounters but often with many other divers from other boats making sites rather congested

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Sachika

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Ella C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Saw whale shark, octopus, rays, grey sharks, turtles, mantis shrimp. Manta rays at Moofushi cleaning station. Night dive with Mantas under the boat

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Blue Voyager

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Hussam G
  • Canada Canada

Enjoyed the dives, even when the currents were a little strong or visibility was not ideal

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Sachika

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Javier L
  • Spain Spain

Awesome. A lot of life big and small.

Diving Ari Atoll in April on the Carpe Vita

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Tan A
  • Malaysia Malaysia

Good. Whale shark was swimming under me . Many manta at cleaning station

Diving Ari Atoll in May on the Carpe Diem

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Fabienne M
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Very nice. We saw a many many fishes, moraines, sharks, mantas and many other amazing marinelife

Diving Ari Atoll in June on the Horizon 3

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Catriona G
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

10/10 - Pelagics and macro life

Diving Ari Atoll in June on the Scubaspa Ying

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • michael T
  • Botswana Botswana

great divespots, and amazing encounter with whalesharks

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Theia

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Paul C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Very good - range of interesting encounters with rays & others.

Diving Ari Atoll in July on the Maldives Aggressor II

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Ofir H
  • Israel Israel

Great. No whale sharks but we saw mantas on the night dive and during the dat

Diving Ari Atoll in September on the Sachika

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Melissa R
  • Canada Canada

Beautiful. Some nice corals, variety of wildlife

Diving Ari Atoll in October on the Princess Sara

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Ryan R
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Was where the best dive sites were located, mainly for manta rays and whale sharks

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Princess Sara

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Christian L
  • Germany Germany

awesome - lot of manta rays

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Princess Sara

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Bernard S
  • Singapore Singapore

Kuda Rah Thila was a beautiful dive site but overly crowd. The search for whale sharks at Dhigurah left much to be desired.

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Princess Sara

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Kee Wee T
  • Singapore Singapore

Fantastic with lots of rays and eels and sharks.

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Princess Sara

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Daniele T
  • Italy Italy

Very good, a bit of current but manageable for a Padi AOW

Diving Ari Atoll in December on the Adora

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Derek N
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

very nice coral Thila dives and some good Manta action on cleaning stations

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Emperor Serenity

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Ai Qi Esther T
  • Singapore Singapore

The itinerary was great! There were easy dive and challenging dives but the view of the sharks and rays were perfect!

Diving Ari Atoll in January on the Conte Max

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Ahmad R
  • Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia

Excellent dive sites with a lot of aquatic life, reef mantas, sharks, turtles and more. Medium to string current sometimes, use of reef hooks is highly recommended. Water temperature is at 29C.

Diving Ari Atoll in February on the Emperor Explorer