Dive into the amazing underwater world of the unsurpassed Maldives. Dangerous creatures in the Maldives Interesting information about the country

Undoubtedly underwater world of the Maldives impressive and breathtaking. They are charming on land, but simply beautiful under water. The unusually clear water attracts divers from all over the world, as do the hundreds of species of fish, shellfish and other marine animals that live in these waters.

Diving in the Maldives - video

Snorkeling is available at most Maldives resorts. Diving centers welcome tourists of all skill levels. Even those who have never swam underwater before have the opportunity to try it here. Firstly, a beginner must take a special course at a diving school. Almost all schools issue an international certificate upon completion. Having received instructions from an experienced teacher who explains in detail all the details of the upcoming immersion, you need to take a theory test to check what you have learned. Once the test is passed, you can begin the practical part. Diving centers provide any type of training, as well as offer all kinds of equipment and transport. You can go to sea on a traditional fishing boat, called a dhoni here. The choice of dive sites is huge, for any level of experience. Most dive sites are located near the islands.

Rare attracts attention green sea turtle. Sea turtles migrate long distances using the Earth's magnetic field for orientation. Adult females usually lay their eggs on the same bank where they hatched. Sea turtles contribute to the development of two ecosystems - they clear the bottom of excess vegetation, and also maintain the natural balance on the seashore. The sharp decline in the number of these animals is entirely the responsibility of man. Turtle meat, shells and eggs are highly prized in many countries. Now, this species (along with 6 other species of sea turtles) is on the verge of extinction. Some divers unintentionally kill them by boarding them, not realizing that the turtle needs to surface to get air.

A flock of barracudas attracts attention gray reef shark. These sharks leave an unforgettable impression on everyone who manages to meet them. Despite the fact that these are very active and inquisitive animals, they do not attack divers without reason. Attracted by the abundance of animals that inhabit the reef, these sharks come here to hunt fish, shellfish, octopus and crustaceans - shrimp and crabs.

Usually sedentary moray eels pose a much greater danger to divers than sharks. Moray eels are attracted to shiny things and are known to jump out of their burrows to snatch a swimmer's ring or bracelet. Their large, bulging eyes are of no use here, and they rely more on their well-developed sense of smell when hunting. Adults reach about 1.5 meters in length. They swim out of their caves only to hunt small fish, mollusks and crustaceans. Therefore, divers do not often see them in the open. And for those who succeed, this is a rare chance to watch their original swimming style.

Huge cuttlefish, who looks like an octopus, is a master of camouflage. Her skin is covered with special cells that reflect light in different directions, allowing her to blend into the environment when she is lying in ambush. She also has strange blue-green blood - a real alien in the underwater world of the Maldives.

Lionfish, or as it is also called lion fish or zebra fish, covered with sharp needles that secrete poison. It will not kill an adult, but the wound will hurt for a very long time.

Words alone cannot convey how charming and fabulously beautiful underwater world of the Maldives, it’s worthy to come here and see all this splendor with your own eyes.

The Maldives (Republic of Maldives) is an island state in the Indian Ocean, located on a group of atolls south of the Hindustan Peninsula, just north of the equator. The archipelago consists of 20 atolls, which include almost 1,200 small islands formed by the skeletons of coral polyps on an underwater hill. Only about 200 islands are permanently inhabited.
All the islands of the atoll archipelago barely rise above the surface of the ocean - the highest point is 6 m above sea level.
The capital of the state is the city of Male, located on the atoll of the same name.

Underwater world of the Maldives

The climate of the Maldives is typical for the equatorial island zones. The average annual air temperature is +27 degrees. C, is little subject to seasonal and daily fluctuations - the environment is affected by the ocean.

As befits an area with numerous coral structures and reefs, the underwater world of the Maldives is extremely rich and diverse. Here you can meet a wide variety of sea inhabitants - from fabulously beautiful corals, colorful fish, graceful jellyfish and beautiful mollusks, to whale sharks and large stingrays. If you are lucky enough to see the underwater world of the Maldives while diving, this sight will never be erased from your memory.

The saturation of the reefs with life could not go unnoticed by sea predators - there are many sharks in these places, and of a wide variety of species. Experts say that 26 species of sharks are found in the Maldives archipelago, but most likely this is not the limit. After all, many species of gray sharks are so similar in appearance that even an ichthyologist specialist can hardly recognize individual individuals of different species.

Among the predatory “celebrities” found in the local waters, it is worth noting tiger sharks and the long-finned oceanic shark - longimanus, as well as hammerhead sharks. These predators are considered dangerous sea creatures for humans, and world statistics know many cases of tiger shark attacks on people.
Longimanus are no less dangerous, but these sharks prefer to stay in the pelagic region and almost never appear in coastal waters. Hammerhead sharks are not so bloodthirsty - only the giant variety of this fish can pose a threat to humans, however, it is recommended to stay away from them.

From April to November, whale sharks swim to the eastern regions of the Maldives, completely safe for people, despite their impressive size. These giants of the sea are protected by conservationists, so any harm done to a whale shark is against the law.
However, the same can be said about other types of predators - in the area of many Maldivian atolls, hunting and fishing for any sharks is strictly prohibited. There are fewer and fewer sharks every year - this is due to man’s ancient “love” for these predators, the ecological situation in the coastal waters of many seas, and the Asian fascination with shark fin soup.

The remaining species of Maldivian predators are represented by small species of sharks, and reef species are most often caught by divers. These fish do not reach impressive sizes - even a one and a half meter reef shark is considered large. According to the stories of divers who visited the coastal waters of the Maldives, such “large” specimens of sharks are now a rarity. If you are lucky, you will meet predators measuring about a meter or a little more.
You can also meet some bottom predators, including squatinids, cats, mustelids and other types of sharks.

Sharks are one of the attractions of the Maldivian coastal waters, a unique element of the tourism business. In order to give curious people the opportunity to gaze at the mistresses of the sea, bait is specially scattered in many places to attract flocks of predators. For those who want to admire the marine life without diving into the depths, excursions are organized on small vessels with a transparent bottom.
The water in these places is surprisingly clean, despite numerous and strong currents, so you can gaze at the underwater fairy tale without fear.

Despite the wide species and quantitative range of the shark community in the Maldives, this area of the ocean is considered one of the safest resorts in the world in terms of the number of known incidents between humans and marine predators. For all the time that the ISAF center in Florida has been keeping statistical records of such cases, only one confirmed case of a shark attack on a person has been known since 1580, which did not have any serious consequences for the victim - a minor bite from a small shark.

This statistic is also unusual because the Maldives is one of the world’s most popular beach resorts, attracting hundreds of thousands of swimmers to its shores every year. Perhaps the main reason lies in the fact that the Maldivian surf has little appeal for surfers and other fans of such sports, who are most at risk of experiencing the sharp jaws of sharks? Or do the shallow coastal waters of coral islands not attract large and dangerous predators, such as tiger sharks?
One way or another - if you are going to relax in these paradisiacal places, you should not be afraid of toothy sea predators - shark attacks in the Maldives are less likely than a pike attack on a fisherman in the Volga region. However, there is no need for carelessness either - scuba diving and swimming in the sea are always fraught with danger. Indeed, in addition to sharks, other dangerous creatures live in these places - moray eels, poisonous mollusks and bottom fish, stingrays, jellyfish, etc. Therefore, you should not neglect the general safety rules when traveling under water and swimming - a cut from a shell fragment or a prick from a sea ruffe - scorpionfish also do not give pleasure during rest.

Underwater world in the Maldives- one of the richest and most colorful.

The Maldives has long been considered a Mecca for scuba divers. It's rare to see such an abundance of marine life. Even with a simple mask and snorkel you will be able to immerse yourself in a fantastic underwater jungle: see with your own eyes in a natural environment habitats of a giant sea turtle, fish of all shades of the rainbow, an octopus, an elegant small reef shark, a moray eel, a barracuda pike, a graceful stingray... And most importantly, for this there is no need to go on additional excursions, all this can be enjoyed every day while swimming snorkel around your island hotel.

Maldives- one of those few places where everyone, from beginner to expert, will find excellent conditions for scuba diving. The resorts operate special schools for both those preparing for their first dive and experienced scuba divers. Even beginners can dive in areas with soft corals, gentle slopes and plenty of tropical fish. Experienced divers have the opportunity to dive at night and drift in the underwater current, as well as many steep walls, caves and even sunken ships.

You can swim underwater in the Maldives everywhere - both in the lagoon near the resort and on remote reefs.

In the Maldives– 26 atolls consisting of many small coral islands. Each atoll is surrounded by a large lagoon with a depth of 40 - 90 m. The calm water in the lagoon creates favorable conditions for the formation of branching and reef-building corals, where about 900 species of tropical fish are found.

The underwater world of the coral reefs of the Maldives is striking in its beauty- many tropical reef fish live here: angelfish, groupers, scorpion fish, clown fish, wrasses, butterfly fish. You can see huge moray eels and sea turtles. But the most vivid memories for divers remain from meetings with other inhabitants of the Maldivian waters: tuna and barracudas, huge Napoleons, nurse sharks, reef and whale sharks, manta rays.

The lagoons have channels that cut through the outer reefs, and straits behind the lagoons that separate the atolls. In both channels and straits there is a strong current, providing a wealth of marine flora and fauna, and the gentle slopes with ledges serve as a refuge for many fish, crabs and lobsters. The straits offer excellent drifting opportunities; The depth of the straits is more than 200 m. The channels can be both shallow and very deep.

The water on the outside of the atolls is very clean, and the marine life is extremely varied and full of colour. Some reefs on the western side of the Male Atolls are favored by starfish, which, unfortunately, cause significant damage to the corals.

Each island is fringed by a so-called house reef, giving excellent snorkeling opportunities at almost all resorts. Visibility in the lagoons near the islands is usually good (up to 40 m).

When the plane tickets were already purchased, while I was choosing an island and a hotel, I read a lot about the rich underwater world of the Maldives. I began to worry about the idea that some of the underwater inhabitants could be dangerous. I found a forum thread dedicated to the dangers that await an unlucky tourist in the paradise Maldives. My husband and I read this forum for two days (there was a lot of information there, and even more emotions that everyone expressed), and I became frankly scared to go to the Maldives! A couple of times before the trip I even had terrible dreams that I was swimming in the water, and a huge stingray was floating up next to me - it was very scary!

So that you are not afraid to go to the Maldives and do not spend several days reading forums about various dangers, I will formulate everything in this article briefly and to the point (I hope).

Everything stated below will concern the underwater world, since on land nothing can threaten you at all!

Do not pick up cone-shaped or other shells from the bottom (especially with your bare hands!), do not touch the corals, and in general it is better don't touch anything underwater ! Sea urchins, moray eels, starfish ("crown of thorns") and a bunch of other creatures can be dangerous, but no one will touch you until you start grabbing them with your hands!
If you are swimming in a coral reef area, wear appropriate footwear. shoes(swimming slippers with rubberized soles, also known as coral slippers). If you swim with fins, have a conscience, do not break coral reefs with your fins, do not stand on them and try not to damage them while swimming. If the coral reef “comes” very close to the surface of the water, it is better not to swim there - you can easily scratch your thighs, stomach, etc. (if you are not in a suit).
Be careful (especially at dusk and in the dark) and on sandbanks - stingrays like to bury themselves in the sand, and if you step on them, it will hurt. That's why after sunset at all It's better not to get into the water . At night, anyone can swim into shallow water (not just stingrays).
There are all sorts of poisonous, unsightly fish that disguise themselves as stones (warts, etc.), and it’s also better not to step on them - that’s why watch where you step . It is not difficult. Don't walk on stones without slippers - that's all. The almost perfect transparency of the water allows you to understand what is under your feet.
If you are snorkeling, and some fish begins to behave clearly aggressively - it quickly swims up to you, turns around and swims up again - calmly move : Most likely, she has a “nest” there.
While swimming don't try to feed animals!

All in all, don't touch anything underwater , and everything will be fine!

I was also afraid of stingrays, fish and sharks that might suddenly start chasing me! In most cases, these fears are unfounded! Any creature under water usually quickly begins to run away when it sees increased attention from you. So, we saw turtles several times, and they tried to quickly hide. One day, a rainbow cuttlefish swam within a meter of us, looked at us for a few seconds, and then instantly disappeared. Once we were swimming along the edge of a reef that went into the depths and saw below us, at a distance of several meters, the recognizable silhouette of a shark. Not very big, about human height. She somehow very leisurely, but very quickly swam under us, without paying the slightest attention to us! If you encounter a manta ray underwater, you will likely be able to watch it for a while, but once your presence becomes too intrusive, it will quickly slip away.

So it’s us, tourists, in the Maldives who usually swim after all sorts of underwater creatures, and not they after us!

I've heard stories of people being scared to death when they were surrounded by small sharks in the water. But don't be afraid, they are not dangerous!!! There are no dangerous sharks in the Maldives. There have never been cases of shark attacks on people. No one. Never at all.

No, the Maldives is not dangerous! (if you behave normally;)

The only thing I’ll write again is beware jellyfish. If there are a lot of them, even small specimens can sting you very unpleasantly and painfully. Do not approach large jellyfish at all. In the Maldives there are encounters with “Portuguese ships” (described in reviews). We encountered jellyfish only once when we were snorkeling. We saw that there were a lot of small jellyfish ahead, but we decided to rush through - we should have stuck our heads there! As a result, already in the middle of their crowd we had to turn around and still swim away as quickly as possible, they stung us very painfully.

We saw turtles

The planet has such picturesque corners, after visiting which tourists will not disappear the feeling that the natural beauty of the sea and land is trying to compete with each other. The Maldives can rightfully be noted as one of these places. They attract travelers with their green tall palm trees, white sandy beaches, but most of all, beautiful coral reefs. As you know, the Maldives is the best diving destination in the world. Among the inhabitants of the oceanic underwater kingdom of the Maldives you can see incredible colors and shapes of seaweed, coral reefs, large fish and much more. All these delights of nature paint the ocean with different colors.

Interesting information about the country

The Maldives are islands in the Indian Ocean, which scientists have proven were inhabited 5 thousand years ago. Europe learned about the islands thanks to the travel of Marco Polo, who nicknamed them “the flower of the Indian Ocean.”
The official name of the state is the Republic of Maldives. The country is located southwest 700 km from Sri Lanka.
The Maldives is a country in the entire world with only one city. The capital Male is a port city, which is located on the islands of Vilingile and Male, and is the most densely populated place in the country.
The Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands (atolls), but only 200 islands are inhabited by people, 80 have tourist resorts. Some of the islands are uninhabited. The total area of the country is 90 thousand km2. The population of the Maldives is about 393 thousand people.
The country has the flattest territory in the world. The average elevation of the Maldives above sea level is 1.5 m. The highest point is 2.4 m above sea level.
The climate on the islands is subequatorial monsoon, the average temperature throughout the year is 25-30 °C. The rainy season runs from June to August.
The length of the Maldives from south to north is 823 kilometers, and from west to east it is 130 kilometers. There is not a single river or other source of fresh water on the islands of the country.
The Maldives is a Muslim country, so compliance with local laws and traditions is mandatory for guests.
Tourism and fishing are the main industries that support the country's economy.
Motor and sailing boats are the main transport of the Maldives. Also, a huge part of transportation is carried out by air.
Approximately 2,000 species of fish have been found in the coastal waters of the Maldives, of which 300 are reef fish. The largest whale sharks are 20 m long.
The Maldives is a paradise, clear ocean and tropics that open the way to a completely different world. If you look at the Maldives from a bird's eye view, the picture will blow your mind; the blue surface of the ocean and the green islands look like a fairy tale.

Scuba diving is the main attraction of the Maldives

Favorable climatic conditions and the distinctive geological properties of the islands have created the conditions for the best dive sites in Asia. All over the world it is believed that the Maldives is the best place for diving. Coral reefs are ready to reveal their secrets to an attentive and leisurely swimmer who has an exciting desire to see the underwater beauty of the ocean. The amazed diver, carried away by the undercurrent, will slowly drift past majestic jellyfish, vibrant corals and fish, who are also watching him. The impressions from the amazing spectacle, from the fantastic beauty of the fauna and flora will be stunning, and often after the first dive the whole picture seen will merge into a general feeling of delight, admiration and peace.

Inhabitants of the underwater world of the picturesque Maldives

The underwater kingdom of the Maldives is so beautiful and rich that a few meters of depth is enough to see a lot. If you obey the current, which drifts slightly to the side, a panorama of underwater grottoes and coral thickets will unfold before your gaze. Swimming along the reef, in the bushes of coral gardens you can meet slow turtles, luxurious tropical fish, fabulous stingrays, evil moray eels and dangerous sharks. The bright palette of colors and outlandish shapes will inspire any scuba diver, but corals are as fragile as they are beautiful, so you need to be extremely careful and careful not to destroy a natural work.

The ocean at night will give you breathtaking panoramas and unforgettable experiences. Under the water at sunset, inhabitants appear that are impossible to see during the day. Most of them feed on plankton, which rises to the top at nightfall. And here the hunters show themselves in all their glory: starfish, extraordinary anemones and corals set their amazing traps, and crabs use their claws to separate shells from their prey. Taking advantage of the fact that the sharks' victims cannot see anything, they also perk up. The parrot fish avoids danger in a very interesting way - it releases a bubble and rests inside, but as soon as someone touches the shell, it wakes up and runs away.

Features of diving in the Maldives

Every tourist will be able to feel like an amphibian. The islands have everything you need for exciting diving. Most hotels have diving schools on site that issue certificates. Large diving clubs offer a very wide program: training for beginners, improving the skills of already advanced divers. The set of programs also includes training in snorkeling.

In order to immerse yourself in the underwater world, it is not necessary to take a full course. A one-time dive after short preparation is carried out to a depth of 2 to 12 meters. If you have found a common language with the abyss of the sea and are drawn deeper, then you need to begin serious preparation and take a course of study. Experienced divers should remember that they may be asked for a dive diary and a valid medical certificate before any dive.

In the Maldives, diving is possible all year round. For beginners, diving sites with gentle slopes and soft, colorful corals are suitable for diving. And experienced divers can take advantage of night dives and the opportunity to swim in the underwater current among many caves and sunken ships.

There are scuba diving centers on ships that sail between the atolls. Cruise ships are an excellent opportunity to visit different islands of the archipelago, fishing and uninhabited islands, which is difficult to do if you stay in a hotel.

A diving safari represents a journey across the ocean on an equipped yacht, which has everything you need for relaxation. If you choose a diving safari, you can get the opportunity to take a break from the huge number of divers who dive in the most accessible places. During the safari you can see uninhabited islands, complement the palette of sensations in ocean fishing and try cooked fish that you have just caught.

The inhabitants and coral reefs of the islands are a real natural phenomenon, which is located in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is a place where magical landscapes and solitude are prized, especially for scuba diving enthusiasts. Not only professionals, but also those who put on fins and a mask for the first time can enjoy an amazing array of shells, bright corals, and colorful fish. As you know, the Maldives are famous for the diverse, vibrant, amazing shapes and sizes of marine fauna and flora. Diving enthusiasts can see a huge whale shark and microscopic plankton. You can get the impressions of a lifetime if you see the amazing and colorful underwater kingdom of the amazing Maldives.

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