Dive Site Overview
Site Name: Kunaavashi Kandu
Location: It’s located in Vaavu Atoll, west of Fulidhoo on the west house reef of Kunaavashi island which houses the Noe resort.
Depth Range: 5-35 m
Difficulty Level: Advanced open water diver or it’s equivalent.
visibility: 20-30m with incoming current and similar conditions with outgoing current on good days .
Current Conditions: Moderate to extreme on a spectrum.
Best Time to Dive: January to April , The site is usually dived in incoming current but is good to dive with an outgoing current as well
Marine Life Highlights: big fish, soft corals, spotted eagle rays, big marbled stingrays, grey reef sharks, and schooling barracudas
Site Description
The south side of the channel has large overhangs shaped like a staircase,while the North side has a steep drop from the house reef of Kunavashi island towards a sandy bottom spotted with rock/hard corals . This site is suitable for PADI advanced open water and PADI enriched air certified divers. The visibility is good and the marine life and corals are exceptional.
This dive site is a must for anyone visiting Vaavu Atoll
Points of Interest
- The plateau on the south side has a lot of soft corals and is great for observing macro life
- In outgoing current the end of the plateau is usually where you can find sharks patrolling towards the open ocean
- In incoming current you can find sharks towards the north side of the channel
- Diverse marine life with something for everyone with macro sighting including grey reef sharks , Napoleon wrasse’s , Eagle rays , feather tail rays, sting rays , Schooling baracuda and so much more while macro life includes common sighting of nudi branche’s and super cool soft corals
Safety & Considerations
⚠ Entry & Exit: A boat is highly recommended while diving this site as currents and make you drift very far very fast
⚠ Hazards: Not recommended to dive in a very strong currents , safety risks include drifting too far on the surface hidden from sight of your boat crew
⚠ Dive Buddy: always dive with a buddy , perform a thorough pre-dive safety check with you buddy at the surface and on the boat before you enter the water. Maintain buddy contact throughout the dive and return safely.
⚠ Recommended Equipment: Dive light, DSMB, reef hook, nitrox, drift speciality.
⚠ Important: please be mindful of diving with strong current in tropical reefs without proper training can lead to underwater incidents . always keep a reference before you decend and dive within your training limits.
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