Maldives Ari Atoll

Ari Atoll is located in the west of the Maldives, about a 30 minute seaplane flight from the capital Malé. It is divided into two administrative regions, Northern Ari Atoll and Southern Ari Atoll, with a total of 105 islands. More than 20 islands are designated as resort islands, making it among the most popular tourist areas in the Maldives. Ari Atoll is considered one of the best areas for scuba diving in the Maldives, and the waters here are famed for large pelagic species such as hammerhead sharks and manta rays.

In the usual Maldivian fashion, each resort island is a self-contained paradise with lush tropical forests and and coconut palms, idyllic white sand beaches, and clear warm waters filled with corals and sea-life. The most recent resort developments tend to be the most luxurious, and most have extensive facilities for guests such as tennis courts, fitness centres, health spas, swimming pools and poolside bars. By Maldivian policy, the resorts are sited only on islands with no native populations, so each resort has the entire island to itself. As a result the local night-life is limited to low-key live music, discos and cabarets in the open-air bars of the resorts. And that is just the way most visitors like it.

Daytime activities are centred on the beaches and water activities such as sailing, windsurfing, snorkelling, fishing trips and scuba diving. Traditional dhoni boats ply the channels between the islands, carrying visitors to remote picnic spots on the more isolated beaches, and occasionally to nearby island villages where visitors can experience traditional Maldivian culture and village life. Most local people who do not work in the resorts make their living by fishing. Some villages are famed for their skills in coral carving, and make souvenirs for the resort shops and markets of the main cities. Many of these islands have been inhabited since ancient times, and a few - such as Thoddoo Island - have noted archaeological remains dating from the Buddhist period, before the conversion of the Maldives to Islam in the 12th Century.

The popularity of Ari Atoll with tourists is thanks in part for its fame as a scuba diving destination. Many divers consider these waters to be the best in the Maldives, and the premier dive sites of the atoll feature on the routes of many live-aboard dive-boats.

The underwater terrain of Ari Atoll differs from much of the rest of the Maldives, which have long stretches of barrier reef and are best known for their colourful coral gardens. Instead, diving in Ari Atoll centres on submerged pinnacles (known as thilas) scattered throughout the lagoon and in the channels around the atoll islands.

The pinnacles serve as an aggregation areas for marine life, and the abundance of food species attracts many larger pelagic species, such as hammerhead sharks, manta rays and occasionally even whale sharks, the largest of all fish species. Ocean currents can be strong around the pinnacles, however, and so these diving locations are generally not recommended for inexperienced divers.