March 2020
This website is part of the description of my journey through the Baa Atoll. Besides Dhonfanu I visited the following islands: Fehendhoo, Fulhadhoo, Goidhoo, Thulhaadhoo, Maalhos, Kamadhoo and Dharavandhoo. At the end of the website you will find the link to the next island.
Since Dhonfanu was only 3 km away from Dharavandhoo, the price of USD 40 for a snorkel tour to this island seemed high.
So I organized my own transport for MVR 250 (about USD 16) there and back.
The island
The island is only 700 meters long and has about 350 inhabitants. A guest house was about to open.
Snorkeling
Soon I met a local who told me the best snorkeling spots. One area is located east of the harbor on the north side of the island and stretches over 250 meters along the drop-off. It is an attractive reef because the water was crystal clear and I saw many interesting fish.
A Regal, Royal or Empress Angelfish
The Maldivian clownfish live in the coral reefs around the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Longfin bannerfish
A grouper species
Golden rabbitfish
A Humpback unicornfish
A Moorish idol
Melon butterflyfish
A Candelamoa parrotfish, also called Longnose parrotfish
The second area is located on the opposite side of the island on the south coast. Here you can see the Green sea turtles for which Dhonfanu is famous. I first snorkeled inside the reef, which was interesting. I was wading over the reef when I saw a tourist boat outside the reef, which probably brought tourists to the Green Sea turtles. But soon the boat left the place and when I came I could not see any sea turtles.
A Surge damselfish
A Striped large-eye bream
A Yellowhead butterflyfish
A juvenile Spotted boxfish
On time the boat driver picked me up and brought me back to Dharavandhoo.
This text is an automatic English translation from the German original by deepl.com