Where the sharks are, and when.
From the only resident tiger shark aggregation in the country to the largest documented grey reef gathering — the atolls with real, assessed shark science behind them.
7 atolls have published science we can cite for this. The others are not missing — nobody has studied them.
Gnaviyani
A single oceanic island with no lagoon and deep water at its edge — which makes it unlike anywhere else in the Maldives, and the only place in the country with a resident tiger shark population.
Year-round, and the only known aggregation of its kind in the Maldives. Over 230 individuals have been identified and the population is strongly female-biased (around 84%), with adult females staying about two months at a time and returning year after year. It appears to be a reproductive area, not a passing-through spot.
Year-round, mainly September to March, at what is the only known thresher cleaning station in the western Indian Ocean.
Two windows: roughly February to May, and again October to December.
South Malé
Channel sharks rather than mantas — and present in both monsoons.
Guraidhoo Kandu holds grey reef sharks through both monsoons, with counts somewhat higher in the southwest — a difference of degree, not a season.
Emboodhoo Kandu, in both monsoons.
North Ari
The most densely documented manta atoll in the country — five separate sites assessed, and they do not all run to the same calendar.
Year-round at Maaya Thila and Hafza Thila, which hold a documented grey reef aggregation.
Lhaviyani
Manta cleaning on the northeast monsoon, and the largest documented grey reef shark aggregation in the Maldives.
Fushifaru Kandu holds the largest grey reef shark aggregation documented anywhere in the Maldives.
Malé Atoll
The country’s busiest atoll. Its documented wildlife sits in the North and South Malé assessments — manta areas on both flanks of North Malé, channel sharks in the south.
Recorded in the southern channels through both monsoons.
Laamu Atoll
A documented grey reef shark cleaning area on the western edge, working year-round.
Laamu Maavah Kandu is a year-round cleaning area, recorded across several hundred surveys, and also holds an aggregation of silvertip sharks.
Shaviyani Atoll
One assessed site, for a critically endangered ray most visitors will never have heard of.
Recorded year-round at Maroshi Thila over more than a decade — a critically endangered species, with courtship possibly running August to February.