Maaya Thila dive site is in North Ari Atoll and about 13km/8miles due south of Ukulhas Island. Maaya Thila is considered one of the top 10 dive sites of the world and is best dived from a Maldives liveaboard, where you will see many whitetip reef sharks, grey reef sharks and many reef fish species.
So you can see what The Maldive’s Maaya Thila dive is like, I’ve included below three videos. Two videos diving in the day and another video diving the site at night. If you want to view these Maaya Thila dive videos, please scroll down.
The top of Maaya Thila pinnacle is roughly 6 metres (20 feet) deep below the surface.
The maximum depth of Maaya Thila dive site is around 30 metres (100 feet) deep.
The whitetip reef sharks are usually seen on the north side of the reef where the strongest currents are found.
There are a number of caves and overhangs all around Maaya Thila pinnacle
Maaya Thila has a large cave on the north side of the reef where you’ll discover a large number of fish.
You are likely to see a large variety of marine life on Maaya Thila, including white-tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, turtles, frogfish, stingrays, dog-toothed tuna, moray eels, blue stripe snapper, octopus, great barracuda, blue-faced angelfish, moorish idol, tall fin batfish, parrotfish, butterfly fish, clownfish, triggerfish, stonefish, scorpionfish, fusiliers and lionfish.
Maaya Thila is a beautiful reef made of colourful soft and hard corals, sea fans, algae, and nudibranchs.
The thila has a large rock on the south side with a meter wide (3 foot) swim-through at about 24 meters (79 feet) deep.
Maaya Thila can be a night dive too when sea conditions permit.
This dive site and surrounding area is a protected Marine Reserve by the Maldivian government.
Where is Maaya Thila dive site?
Maaya Thila (or Maayaa Thila) lies at a distance of around 13km/8miles due south of Ukulhas Island, where Ukulhas is at the northern point of North Ari Atoll. You can use the Google map below to get your bearings of Maaya Thila in relation to where it is in the Maldives.
You can also use the first image on the page above to see its location in relation to the other atolls of the Maldives, where its rough location is circled on the above Maldives atoll map.
Maaya Thila dive site map
Maldives liveaboard that dives Maaya Thila While Pearl – image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
Maldives liveaboards that dive Maaya Thila
You can Use this liveaboard comparison table to see all Maldives liveaboards that dive Maaya Thila dive site together with each of their customer review ratings. You can filter the table below by using the check boxes to search for your perfect diving liveaboard.
You can then use the filters to narrow your search to specific Maldives liveaboards to suit your circumstances too.
For example, if you want to choose liveaboards that offer scuba gear rentals, select the relevant checkbox under popular filters and click search. Be careful when you change the search criteria using the filters, as this will search all Maldives liveaboards with that characteristic, but this new search may include Maldives liveaboards that don’t dive Maaya Thila as well.
So you are best to find the Maldives liveaboard of choice that has Maaya Thila on its itinerary, and then do a secondary search to narrow down your search further.
Please select something to search for.
Total Records Found: 17, showing 7 per page
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Customer Reviews
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”Whitepearl has now set the standard by which I will measure all future liveaboards. A few firsts, night diving with Sharks, at last my first Manta’, the ease and professional organisation on the boat, the calm leadership of Tony and the luxury of the boat.” Recommended for: The Crew, the diving, the food.
”Always beyond our best expectations. In our trip in Sachika boat, everything went perfect but the weather. Giacomo and the dive masters were the best: kind, helpful, and very professional. They take care of every small problem with a smile, making us feel at home from the first day The ship is in peak condition, so clean, and taken care off that it looks new. Much better than pictures, where usually is the contrary. Cabin was big and clean, with plenty space and an comfortable individual bathroom, also carefully cleaned. And food, food was amazing. Every meal was a buffet with plenty of choices, although since all were delicious, you usually end up eating much more than anticipated. Overall, when I come back to Maldives, I’ll definitely will be back with Giacomo and his crew. Thank you very much for the best diving week of our lives.” Recommended for: Divemasters, cabin, Food.
”Excellent boat and staff with fantastic diving – you can’t go wrong here. This is a very well run dive operation with a fantastic pair of dive managers, Gabriel and Maria. They both really look after you and the experience level of the guiding I received was second to none. (Gabriel is both full cave and tech certified and very experienced). Gabriel the DM and boat manager went way above and beyond to make sure we got in the water at the right time and location to see everything we wanted to. Highly recommend this boat and crew, it was the best liveaboard I’ve done yet.” Recommended for: The dive guide, the condition of the boat, the food.
”Epic Trip! Every dive delivered amazing experiences and encounters thanks to Gabriel, Maria, Ali and Rich. The boat crew was friendly, entertaining and enjoyable to socialize with. Manta Ray night dive was a dream alongside encounters with variety of sharks and rays. Dive guides were most professional, safe and led a phenomenal adventure. Would dive with this boat and crew again!!” Recommended for: 4 dives/day, crew hospitality and care, vast area covered at sea.
”Outstanding and unforgettable! Variety of dives are excellent on Central Atolls tour…mix of deep channels with strong currents and pelagics, sheltered reefs with vibrant corals and large schools of reef fish, stingray/shark feeding dives (insane!), manta night dive, wall dives, drift dives, and snorkelling with a whale shark to top it off. Truly amazing. Trips between dives to gorgeous island and a picture perfect sandbank plus a beach bbq party which the crew make very special. Early starts every day but then dives spaced out so plenty of sunbathing and relaxing time on surface intervals. Healthiest food I’ve ever had on a holiday! Good variety and all tasty. Daily room service and super attentive staff. Highly proficient dive staff. I had a junior suite and it was HUGE! I also went as a solo traveller expecting to share and ended up having it to myself. TV in room had screen cast not that I used it much… was never bored. Lived like a King! Multiple seating areas spread all over boat, could always find somewhere for solo time. I definitely recommend this boat and would go again in a heartbeat. Teseo dive director is kind, patient, works really hard to give you an amazing trip. Perfect person for the job and like a fish in the water! My ONLY criticism is the rental fins. They’re very flimsy and do not deliver powerful kicks. For most dives, fine, but there are strong currents on some and I was really having to exert myself to keep close to the group and my buddy. Not fun. I’m in OK fitness, deeply regretted not buying and bringing a good pair. If you do the south Atolls tour this is even more important, apparently that’s mostly channel dives. I did the Central Atolls tour 13-20 January 2024. Doesn’t affect my strong recommendation for this boat though.” Recommended for: Variety of dives, level of service from staff, comfort on board.
”Truly amazing above and below the water. Truly amazing from start to finish. We seen 7 species of sharks including the infamous whale shark. We had manta cleaning stations, 4 giant mantas on our first dive, donut couldn’t have started any better. The whole trip kept delivering and there is not one thing we would change. The crewe and the guides were fantastic. Food was also amazing and plentiful. I would recommend this trip to everybody. 100% satisfied zone more.. we had been so lucky. Big thank you to Stina our guide must of all, for the incredible guidance. A must do for every diver.” Recommended for: Underwater life, the staff and the people we met.
”Outstanding liveabord experience. The Whaleshark dive is right at the top, not only did it fulfill a tick on our bucket list, it was an experience of 30 odd minutes that normally only lasts 3 or 4. All dives for us offered something different and this is what we came to do – loved every minute. Diving always makes you hungry. The food on board was excellent at every mealtime and we were very well looked after. Diving makes you tired and our cabin was a comfortable, spacious and welcome retreat with perfect view.” Recommended for: The Diving and it’s very organised set-up, food and cabin comfort, friendliness of the staff and crew.
Maaya Thila dive site price depends if you dive the site from a Maldives resort or from a Maldives Liveaboard. The price to dive Maaya Thila by Liveaboard starts as low as £168 (US$212) per day, which is an all-inclusive price for diving, board and meals. The cost of flights to The Maldives is extra.
Are there Sharks in Maaya Thila?
The most common shark seen at Maaya Thila are whitetip reef sharks, which are seen during the day and on the night dives. This is especially true on the north side of the Thila where the currents are strongest. Other sharks seen on Maaya Thila include grey reef sharks and silvertip reef sharks too.
In addition to the above sharks, other shark sightings at Maaya Thila include blacktip reef sharks and nurse sharks.
To confirm the sharks of Maaya Thila, please watch the following video:
The description from YouTube: “Dive Safari with Topclasscruising, Sachica Yacht at Mayya Thila site…So many sharks and sea life, it’ s amazing.”
Please see below for more videos of diving on Maaya Thila, Maldives.
Are there eagle rays in Maaya Thila?
Spotted eagle rays are sometimes seen at Maaya Thila, as these beautiful creatures visit North Ari Atoll and swim through the channel to the main Atoll.
Are there manta rays in Maaya Thila?
There is always the chance to see manta rays at Maaya Thila, as mantas visit Ari Atoll mostly from October to March each year.
Are there whale sharks in Maaya Thila?
There is always the possibility to see whale sharks at Maaya Thila, as these large sharks are around Ari Atoll throughout the year, but whale sharks are seen more frequently at Ari Atoll from October to March each year.
Can beginners dive Maaya Thila?
Maaya Thila is a great first-time dive in The Maldives for beginners, as the top of the reef starts at just 6 metres (20 feet) below the surface. Below the top of the pinnacle (Thila), there are several terraces, with the first one at 8 metres (26 feet), making it the perfect dive for beginners.
The language of the Maldives is Dhivehi, and the direct transaltion of Maaya Thila to English is “Illusion Underwater Pinnacle“. Maaya translated from Dhivehi to English is “Illusion“, and Thila translated from Dhivehi to English is “Underwater Pinnacle“, or an underwater seamount or island.
More than likely, before sea levels rose to where they are today, Maaya Thila was another island of the Maldives that was above sea level and the Indian Ocean.
When you consider that the highest point above sea level today is only 2.4 metres (7 feet 10 inches), and the top of Maaya Thila is just 6 metres (20 feet) below the surface, and that sea levels rose by about 60 metres (197 feet) in the early Holocene sea level rise between about 12,000 and 7,000 years ago, this would have been an island obove sea level.
When is the best time to dive in Maaya Thila?
The best time to dive Maaya Thila is from December to May when the seas are at their calmest, although Maaya Thila is a year-round dive site.
The sea temperature remains faily constant in the Maldives from season to season and is 26-29°C/79-84°F throughout the year.
Alternative names for Maaya Thila
Maaya Thila is firstly located on Google Maps as Maayaa Thila,
The funny thing about using the Maayaa version for the name of this thila is that Maayaa with four a’s means “Maybe“, which would translate Maayaa Thila to “Maybe Underwater Pinnacle“.
I hope you enjoyed this article about Maaya Thila dive site (North Ari Atoll)
I’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below. Please also share your photos. Either from your underwater cameras or videos from your waterproof Gopro’s!
If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about Maaya Thila dive site (North Ari Atoll)), please comment below with your questions.
There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.
Have fun and be safe!
Maaya Thila Dive Site (North Ari Atoll) Maldives
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Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been a scuba diver since diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 1989. After his first dive he trained as a BSAC diver in the UK. He attained his Diver Leader certification with BSAC. He then went on to become a scuba diving instructor, teaching others how to dive and was voted as Diving Officer and Treasurer for the Saffron Walden BSAC club too. Russell has dived all over the world, including the UK, on liveaboards in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, South Africa and the USA. Russell is experienced in all dive types, including drift diving, deep dives that involved decompression stops and recreational dives too.
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