Where can I dive with tiger sharks in the Maldives?
Tiger Zoo or Tiger Harbor is one of two dive spots in the world with a guarantee of year-round tiger shark sightings. The dives are conducted with a number of experienced and trained instructors, who brief the divers beforehand and provide them with a safety stick for protection from the sharks.
When to dive Fuvahmulah Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo)?
Tiger sharks are seen year-round at Tiger Harbour, but the best time to dive Fuvahmulah is in the dry season from January to April, when you’ll have the best water visibility of up to 60m/197f and when you’re more likely to also see Manta Rays and Whale Sharks too.
But if you dive between late September or early October through untill December, you may also see thresher sharks and schooling scalloped hammerhead sharks too.
Why are the tiger sharks at Tiger Zoo, Maldives?
The reason why there are tiger sharks at Tiger Zoo or Tiger Harbor in the Maldives is because after the harbour and local fish market were built in 2003, all the fish waste was dumped just outside the harbour entrance into the sea, which is what still attracts the scavenging tiger sharks.
The Maldives has the Largest Known Population of Tiger Sharks
The Maldives has the largest known population of tiger sharks in the ocean, which was discovered by German scientist and co-founder of Ocean Collective Lennart Vossgaetter. Since research began in 2021 Vossgaetter has identified 266 individual tiger sharks at Tiger Zoo, and 85% are female sharks.
During the Maldives tiger shark research Vossgaetter observed that the female sharks were getting fatter, until they disappeared for several months, only to return with slim bellies. It was later confirmed these female sharks were pregnant by enlisting the help of Oregon State University’s James Sulikowski, who used an ultrasound on the end of a probe to scan the sharks.
The above information is from The Guardian Newspaper and has the following quotes:
“Making it the largest known population of tiger sharks in the ocean.”
“The embryos measure 40 to 45cm,”; “Aaya carries about 40 of them.”; “Perhaps because they are safe here from aggressive males.”
Says Sulikowski, The Guardian – The embryos are of baby tiger sharks and Aaya is one of the pregnant tiger shark females, and “safe here” means safe in the Maldives, which in this case at Tiger Zoo Fuvahmulah Atoll.
Tiger Harbor dive site description
I thought it would be easier for you to read about diving Tiger Harbor Maldives in a list, as follows:
Dive type: Reef dive, shark dive moslty with tiger sharks.
Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo) dive site is located at the harbour entrance of Fuvahmulah.
The Tiger Harbor alternative name is Fuvahmulah Tiger Zoo, which is what it was originally named.
Tiger Harbor and Fuvahmulah are south of the equator in the Southern Hemmisphere (see map below).
Dive depths range from the top of the plateau at 6-9 metres (20-30 feet), which drops off steeply at around 15 metres (49 feet) into the depths of the Indian Ocean below.
Tiger sharks visit due to the continual dumping of fish waste from the local and sustainable tuna fishery. The local fish market was built in 2003, which is when the fish waste began to be thrown into Fuvahmulah harbor entrance.
As tiger sharks are known to be the scavengers of the oceans, it makes sense why they visit to scavenge on the fish remains.
You are very (very) likely to see a number of tigers sharks on most dives at Tiger Zoo, year-round, but you may also see other sharks too, such as silvertip sharks. The biggest count of tiger sharks on a single dive was 35 animals. On average most divers see around 10 individual tiger sharks.
Tiger Harbor dive site is the ultimate opportunity for underwater photographers to get closeup shots of tiger sharks.
This area of the Maldives is known as “Maldives Deep South Diving“, where Fuvahmulah Atoll is the second-most southerly Atoll before Addu Atoll, which is roughly 56km/35m south west of Fuvahmulah Atoll.
Fuvahmulah is known as the ‘Tiger Shark Capital of the World.’
Scientists and biologist have identified 266 individual Maldives tiger sharks at Tiger Zoo or Tiger Harbor, making it the largest known population of tiger sharks in the ocean.
Are the tiger sharks fed on Tiger Harbor dive?
Tiger sharks aren’t hand-fed during dives at Tiger Harbor, but a small amount of fish waste of mostly fish heads is dumped away from the divers to attract the sharks onto the plateau. Divers experience close encounters with tiger sharks, and the sharks often stay until the dive is over.
Why is it called Tiger Zoo, Maldives?
Tiger Zoo in the Maldives was first named because of the many tiger sharks that gather at the harbour entrance to Fuvahmulah. The name was changed to Tiger Harbor instead, and is a popular dive site with resort based dive companies and Maldives liveaboards too.
Is it safe to dive Tiger Harbor or Tiger Zoo?
Safety is a priority for Tiger Zoo dives, where each dive has several safety divers following strict rules who have Shark Speciality and Shark Expert certifications. All divers must follow the safety rules and procedures after a pre-dive breifing, and they are given a safety stick for protection.
Where is the best place to dive with tiger sharks?
The best places in the world to dive with tiger sharks are Tiger Harbor in the Maldives and Tiger Beach in the Bahamas. Whilst nature can never be a guarantee, if you want a high probability to see tiger sharks, both Tiger Harbor and Tiger Beach are the places to dive, which is almost guaranteed.
Maldives liveaboards that dive Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo)
This table of dive liveaboards that include Tiger Harbor dives in their itinerary are in customer review order, with the best reviewed liveaboard at the top of the list.
Total Records Found: 28, showing 7 per page
Customer Review
Discover Liveaboard
Customer Reviews
Price Per Day
”Very nice cabin and great dive sites an guide! The dive sites are awesome and the crew is well organized. Diving at night with nurse sharks was great again and we could see a lot of other sharks and Mantas. The cabins are very nice with much place and everything is well orgnized.” Recommended for: The dive sites the cabins and much place on liveaboard.
”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.
”Thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. The Manta and Shark dives. The uncrowded and relaxed atmosphere around the large dining table, that seated everyone together for lunch and evening meals. Many interesting conversations, with interesting people.” Recommended for: 1. Sea Spirit being smaller boat, with smaller compliment of divers, meant no crowded dive sites, 2. I enjoyed the diverse choice of dive sites. 3. The attentive staff and crew,
”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.
The closest Maldives resorts for diving Tiger Zoo or Tiger Harbor
There are a few resorts and hotels on Fuvahmulah Atoll, which include Playa de Fuvahmulah cerca hotel, Ataraxis Grand, Spa and Vieni Qua Grand, Equator Retreat, Isle Royal Inn and Silver County. The nearest hotel to Scuba Butler Fuvahmulah and Fuvahmulah Dive School is the Isle Royal Inn.
This is a video taken and shared by Fuvahmulah Dive School of thresher sharks.
TIGER ZOO / Explore the best We are diving with the tiger sharks everyday all year round. Present movie is the result of everyday underwater adventure in 2017.
But remember you can also dive Tiger Zoo and Fuvahmulah Atoll from a Maldives dive liveaboard, which is also likely to take you to the amazing dive sites of Addu Atoll as well.
Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo) videos
Here are a few taster videos of what it’s like to dive Tiger Harbor:
Tiger Sharks at Fuvahmulah Island, Maldives – April 2022 At Fuvahmulah Island, there are tiger sharks that visit the harbor entrance, where fisherman have historically dumped the day’s waste. This turned into frequent sightings, and thus a dive opportunity. Tiger Zoo is the dive site run by local dive operators; it’s quite an experience to be that close the tiger sharks.
Tiger Shark Dive got too excited in Fuvahmulah, Maldives Experience tigers, and thresher sharks.
In the second video of Tiger Zoo, the tiger shark attacks the diver’s dive tank from behind.
Where is Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo) Fuvahmulah Maldives?
If you search on Google, you still need to search for “Tiger Zoo”, as Google has yet to be updated for the new name Tiger Harbor.
Please note that Google maps show “Tiger Zoo as permanently closed“, but this is not the case. Tiger Zoo only shows as permanently closed because the name has changed from Tiger Zoo to Tiger Harbor, which is still open for divers to dive with Tiger Sharks.
The following Google Map gives you the precise location of Tiger Zoo (Tiger Harbor).
Tiger harbour diving maldives reviews
The reviews for Tiger Habour (Tiger Zoo) include superlatives or expressions such as, “wow. I could do this dive over and over” and “Absolutely the main draw at diving FVM.” on Scubaboard, where FVM is an abbreviation of Fuvahmulah of course.
Fuvahmulah’s Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo) dive site is one of the few spots in the world where you will 100% see tigers sharks at close range. The other spot being Tiger Beach in the Barhamas.
Reviews from Liveaboard.com include:
“Great to see the tiger shark” Diving Fuvahmulah in February on the Carpe Diem
“Lots of Tiger Sharks – a very exciting experience!” Diving Fuvahmulah in February on the Carpe Novo
I hope you enjoyed this article about diving Tiger Harbor (Tiger Zoo) Maldives
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 diving Tiger Harbor Maldives), 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.
Liveaboard Diving In Maldives + Best Time To Dive… The Maldives is one of the top dive destinations in the World. If you're a scuba diver the best way to enjoy diving in the Maldives is from a liveaboard.…
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.
