February / March 2024
After island hopping around the island of Phuket in the south of Thailand and a 10-day stay at Hiriketiya surf beach in Sri Lanka, I wanted to get to know the southernmost atolls of the Maldives. This is my 7th trip to the Maldives. The first two were in the 1980s when resort tourism just opened in the Maldives. You can find the reports of the last trips here, here, here and here.
Table of Contents
Sri Lankan Airlines flew directly to the 2nd largest city in the Maldives, Addu City.
Addu Atoll
The western islands of Gan (with the airport), Feydhoo, Maradhoofeydhoo, Maradhoo and Hithaadhoo are connected by an 18 km long road with bridges between the islands. This atoll does not offer a picture of the dream destination Maldives with palm trees and white beaches. The whole atoll was a huge construction site. The roads had been torn up to extend the sewage system, new roads and bridges were being built and heavy excavators were busy with land filling.
I stayed on the island of Hithadhoo, where there is also a marine reserve: The Addu Nature Park. I cycled the few kilometers to the entrance of the park on the bike rented from the hotel, where I paid the entrance fee of 105 Rufiyaa (approx. USD 7). The varied snorkeling area stretched over several hundred meters.
Addu Nature Park
A shoal of bigeye trevally or bigeye jack
Leopard flounder
After just 30 minutes I came across this group of eagle rays!
Raccoon Butterflyfish
The green humphead parrotfish is the largest parrotfish species. As a snorkeler, it is very rare to see these animals. I last encountered them in Raja Ampat in Indonesia.
Bluefin trevally
A male daisy parrotfish or bullethead parrotfish
Corals
A few days later, I snorkeled again in Addu Nature Park.
The large humphead wrasse or napoleon wrasse is always an impressive sighting.
A peacock rock cod
A blacksaddle filefish
A hawksbill sea turtle
A female of the yellow boxfish
House reef of the Equator Village Resort
Another snorkeling area was the reef of the Equator Village Resort. Unfortunately, heavy rain soon set in, so I retreated to the room I had rented for the day.
Yellowfin goatfish
Messmate Pipefish
Violet soldierfish or lattice soldierfish
An indian orange-spine unicornfish
An orange-lined triggerfish
A humpback unicorn fish
An Englishman was staying at my hotel who had visited the Addu Atoll countless times and even had his own boat on site for his fishing trips. Once he took me to interesting snorkeling areas in the middle of the atoll, from where the following pictures were taken.
A regal, royal or empress angelfish
Convict surgeonfish
A magnificent specimen of a turbinaria coral
A meyer’s butterflyfish
A loggerhead sea turtle
A freckled hawkfish
On another day, we waded knee-deep at low tide to the small island of Maahera, where we came across these two crabs.
I have the bigger one!
We snorkeled from Maahera back to the main island of Hithadhoo. There were several turtles grazing in the shallow water with lots of sea grass, but they quickly disappeared before I had my camera ready.
A young snowflake moray eel
Lined rabbitfish
A sea cucumber
Fuvahmulah
I reached my next destination, the island of Fuvahmulah, about 50 km away, in 1.5 hours on the local ferry. The island is the only atoll in the Maldives that consists of just one island. It is 4.5 km long and was voted the most beautiful island in the country by the people of the Maldives. For divers, it is a tiger shark paradise. Snorkelers are therefore better off not venturing into the water. As the island is too big to explore on foot, I rode a small rental bike. Here I met a friend of a friend who flies drones for a living.
In my accommodation, I sat on this golden throne.
A house wall built in the traditional way with coral.
Ancient gravestones
A mosque financed by Saudi Arabia.
A road on the island
When the island was formed from an atoll, two lakes were created from the lagoon. The picture shows Lake Bandaara Kilhi, taken from Moodige Restaurant.
I love this pastry that the Maldivians import from India.
Thoodu Bisaaveli beach
In the very north of the island is the most beautiful beach with lots of palm trees.
I traveled on the state ferry from Fuvahmulah to the island of Vaadhoo in the Huvadhu atoll, about 60 km away, in around 1.5 hours.
Vaadhoo
Vaadhoo is only a little more than 2 km long. The island is inhabited by friendly people who were happy to show me, as the only tourist, the few sights on their motorcycle.
I stayed at the ‘Avanti Vaadhoo’, which I cannot recommend. I received a below-average accommodation for a high price. Unfortunately, I only discovered the ‘Laguna Retreat’ hotel when I was on the island, as it only appears on Google Maps at a very high magnification. It is a modern hotel and the management is flexible with the price.
The island gets busier between May and October when surfers hit the high waves in the north-east of the island.
The old mosque with the Islamic purification fountain that was dug for the mosque.
The new mosque financed by Saudi Arabia
In contrast to those in Fuvahmulah, these historic gravestones are rounded at the top.
A paradise!
Snorkeling
The drop-off of the reef is inaccessibly far from the island. The best place for snorkeling was off the southwest corner of the island. It is a shallow area, which made snorkeling at low tide more difficult. I didn’t see any big fish, but as the photos show, it’s an interesting area with a diverse underwater world of octopus, turtles, rays and moray eels.
A yellowhead butterflyfish
A yellow boxfish
This large loggerhead turtle was resting under a coral block without reacting to my approach. I assumed it was sick, as sea turtles are usually shy animals and move away immediately. However, a local said that this was normal behavior for this species.
This is probably a group of rabbitfish, whose exact species I and ChatGPT were unable to determine.
A melon butterflyfish
A cowtail stingray
Sabre squirrel fishes are very shy and usually hide. They are therefore difficult to photograph.
A honeycomb grouper
It is always an experience to encounter octopuses. This ‘common octopus’ has changed its appearance considerably.
On the left a convict surgeonfish and on the right a honeycomb grouper
A young indian sail-fin surgeonfish. The adult fish have a brownish coloration.
A giant moray eel
A black-wedged butterflyfish
In the foreground is a forktail rabbitfish
After a few days, I took the local ferry to the island of Gadhdhoo, 18 km away.
Gadhdhoo
The island, which is only 1.75 km long, is famous among surfers, who ride the waves between Gadhdhoo and the uninhabited neighboring island of Gan from May to October. A South African surfer and I were the only tourists on the island.
This viewing platform was built at the southern end of the island to watch the surfers.
The ‘Surf House by Konalle’ was the most luxurious accommodation on this year’s trip to the Maldives.
Another mosque financed by Saudi Arabia.
Sunset with a view of the neighboring island of Gan
On the neighboring island of Gan with a view of Gadhdhoo
Friendly residents
Gadhdhoo is known for its woven mats. Unfortunately, this craft is dying out as young people want to spend their time in other ways.
The woman was so pleased that I was interested that she gave me this mat.
Snorkeling on the house reef
As the photos below show, the house reef on this island offers excellent snorkeling.
To get into the water, however, I had to walk through organic and non-organic waste on the beach. This is probably where the germs got into a wound on my foot, which I still had to deal with months later.
The house reef has an impressive biodiversity!
A white-spotted grouper
A bluefin trevally
A white tip reef shark
A spotted unicornfish
A slender grouper
A sea cucumber
A longfin spadefish or longfin batfish
A yellow boxfish
A yellowfin Goatfish
Bluefin trevally hunt scissortail fusiliers
A humphead or napoleon wrasse
This was the first time I had seen this leopard coral grouper or bluespotted coral trout!
Snorkeling on the north side of the neighbouring island of Gan
At the harbor, I spoke to a boat owner who took me to the nearby island of Gan for a reasonable price and picked me up again at the agreed time. The coral reef was even more impressive here. It stretches along the entire north side of Gan. It was so long that I didn’t get to the end.
Longnose filefish
An emperor angelfish, one of the most beautiful fish in the reef!
Two forktail rabbitfish
The whole reef consisted of a magnificent coral landscape!
A surgeonfish is hiding in a coral.
A sandperch
A species of tilefish
A messmate pipefish
A school of golden rabbitfish
These blue-green chromis hide between the corals when in danger.
A yellow boxfish
Another impressive section of the coral reef
Snorkeling around a small nameless island 2.5 km north of Gadhdhoo
This small island is completely surrounded by a reef.
A regal, royal or empress angelfish
Convict surgeonfish
A roundhead parrotfish
Magnificent corals can also be found here!
Oriental sweetlips
Hawksbill sea turtle
A shoal of parrotfish
Cornetfish
Variable-lined fusilier
A maldive anemonefish
Bigfin reef squids
Snorkeling between Gadhdhoo and the neighboring island of Fulu
There is a strong current in the channel between these two islands and snorkeling is therefore only possible at certain times.
A honeycomb grouper
In the shallow water I saw a few spotted eagle rays grazing in the sea grass.
After five days on Gadhdhoo, I took the local ferry to Kondey Island, around 30 km away.
Kondey
The island is 2.2 km long and the small village is located in the middle of the island.
Suncoral Maldives Guest House
I stayed in the only accommodation on the island, ‘Suncoral Maldives’. Although the three young owners mentioned how important a good rating on Google was, they disappointed me with their service. When I booked, they said that the house reef was too far away at 500 meters and that I would have to take a boat trip for USD 40 each time. However, it was possible to snorkel in the house reef from the shore without any problems. They were generally interested in utilizing their boat. People who only want to snorkel in the house reef are not welcome in this guesthouse. On the first day I tried to reach the owners to get snorkeling information. However, the young men were not available all day, so I had to snorkel in the house reef without any information. On the last day, one of the owners wanted to help me transport my suitcase to the harbor. However, he didn’t show up at the agreed time, so I had to carry the suitcase to the harbor myself.
A few days after my arrival, three Germans came to the guest house who had booked an all-inclusive package with boat excursions, which I joined.
One family made cassava chips.
The entire northern half of the island is used for agriculture.
These government-operated speedboats replaced the old open ferries a few years ago.
Paradise!
A young blacktip reef shark seen from the shore
Snorkeling at the house reef
The house reef is located on the western side of the island. You first snorkel several hundred meters over a sea grass meadow until you reach the corals with the reef fish. It is a very diverse, long reef. I often saw more in the house reef than on the expensive boat trips.
A bluetail unicornfish
A school of convict surgeonfish
A yellow-eye puffer fish
A honeycomb grouper
A regal, royal or empress angelfish
Longfin spadefish or longfin batfish
Blue-green chromis
A sabre squirrell fish
A hawksbill sea turtle
Raccoon Butterflyfish
A bluespotted coral trout
A nurse shark takes a nap on the seabed.
Steephead parrotfish: A male and …
… a female
I saw this blackfin dartfish or scissortail goby for the first time!
A marvelous coral reef
A moorish idol
A cowtail stingray
A humphead wrasse or napoleon wrasse
Snubnose pompano
Blacktip reef shark
Emperor angelfish
A black-saddled coral grouper
A speckled sandperch
The venomous red lionfish
Snorkeling trips by boat
I went on several boat trips with the three German tourists. We headed to various reefs and channels around the neighboring islands, where we encountered different habitats and marine life.
Two southern stingrays
A rare zebra shark
A blacktip reef shark
A bluestripe snapper
A crocodile needlefish or hound needlefish
A hawksbill sea turtle
A peacock rock cod
Another hawksbill sea turtle
An arc-eye hawkfish
A spotted eagle ray
A blenny with a giant clam
A freckled hawkfish is waiting for prey on a coral.
On our snorkeling tours we encountered dolphins several times, …
… we saw dream islands …
… and liveaboard boats.
We also experienced a storm.
After a week on Kondey, I traveled to my last island in the Huvadhu Atoll, Nilandhoo.
Nilandhoo
Nilandhoo is a small island, only 1.6 km long, which is rarely visited by tourists. I was the only visitor during my visit and stayed in the only, simple accommodation ‘Thigo Dreams’. The owners were very friendly and thanks to a brother who works at the nearby Kooddoo airport, I had no problems with excess baggage.
This mosque was also financed by Saudi Arabia.
In the south of the island you will find the famous Maldivian combination of beach and palm trees.
The west side of the island also offers postcard like pictures!
The northern part of the island is dedicated to agriculture.
Like all local islands, this one has also an unresolved waste problem, but it didn’t affect me negatively.
Snorkeling
The best snorkeling area is the channel between Nilandhoo and Dhaandhoo south of Nilandhoo Island, which I was able to reach on foot from the shore without a boat. I saw eagle rays, sharks and turtles here every time!
A female of the steephead parrotfish
A male of a green bird wrasse
A speckled sandperch
A blacktip reef shark
and another one
A clown triggerfish
This spotted eagle ray came straight at me at first.
And then turned off after all.
A bluefin trevally
A cornetfish
A black-and-white snapper
A maldive anemonefish
A bluespotted coral trout
A southern stingray
A moorish idol
A one-spot snapper
A group of long-finned batfish
A snubnose pompano
A slender grouper
Another first: I never encountered this marbled parrotfish or seagrass parrotfish before.
A spotted eagle ray
Here I was able to take a picture of two hawksbill sea turtles!
This marked the end of my discovery trip to the local islands in Huvadhu Atoll. The islands have hardly any tourist infrastructure and I was usually almost or completely alone on the islands. I am pleased that I can introduce these unknown islands to those interested.
The ferry left early in the morning from Nilandhoo to the airport island of Kooddoo, from where I flew to the capital island of Male. From the plane, I marveled at the countless atolls below me.
The landing approach with a view of Male.
I was pleasantly surprised by the underwater world in the very south of the Maldives. The islands of the Huvadhu atoll were particularly biodiverse. As the islands have no tourist infrastructure apart from the guesthouses, they are not suitable for classic beach vacations in the Maldives.
After I had exhausted the maximum visa length of 30 days, I traveled on to Abu Dhabi.
This text is an automatic English translation from the German original by deepl.com