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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”Magical Experience with Mantas. Amazing experience onboard with the team of the Maldives Aggressor. The boat was well maintained, the cabins spacious and the service thoughtful and friendly. The dives were well planned and underwater, the dive masters took care of the guests in terms of spotting creatures big and small and ensured all guests had a wonderful and safe time. The diving was very good with a variety of pelegics including manta rays, eagle rays, reef sharks spotted on nearly every dive as well as plenty of colorful reef fish of different varieties. A magical exprience with plenty of highlights that guests will remember for a long time!” Recommended for: Crew, Diving, Pelegics.
”Great dives and value! The diving was more advanced than I expected (I only have 30 logged dives) and the food was better. We had a great time. Do note that the seas and currents can be pretty rough in the Maldives (depending on the time of the year). But I would definitely recommend the Maldives and the Carpe Diem to my diving friends!” Recommended for: Great diving, food and value for money.
”Great trip. Overall, i had a great trip despite not seeing any of main draw cards (Mantas & Whalesharks) but i went in the low season and with the wrong type of moon. I was also lucky to have a boat that wasn’t full and a great group. All the staff were excellent from the dive guides to the chef. I want to go back already!” Recommended for: Shark dives, dive boat and.
”Awesome trip, saw everything I wanted to see! Whalesharks Manta’s Spinner sharks Thresher shark.” Recommended for: Great diving, very comfortable liveaboard, great group of divers.
”Awesome unforgettable leaving planning and wishing to return. Manta Cleaning statio Stunning abundance and diversity of marine life The mall deviant cultural experience on the last night with the traditional dinner and gastronomic cuisine prepared for royalty.” Recommended for: The attention the guides placed on safetyThe mall deviant cultural experience on the last night with the traditional dinner and gastronomic cuisine prepared for royalty security of clients in the water during the dive and return to Dhoanni.
”Best liveaboard. Roy was so awesome and such a good guide. The crew was very hard working and kept the boat very clean. Food was the best liveaboard food i’ve ever had. 10/10 favorite liveaboard i’ve ever been on. The crew was so amazing.” Recommended for: Crew, Boat cleanliness, diving.
”EcoPro’s newest offering. Seascape is the newest addition to the EcoPro fleet. Bad weather and rough conditions made diving less than ideal but this was outside the control of the operator.” Recommended for: Excellent Service. Roomy cabins and lounge areas. Excellent hosts/divemasters.
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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