Jan / Feb 2019
From Rasdhoo I took the local ferry to Mathiveri.
Mathiveri Island
The island, which is only a few hundred meters long and wide, has an offshore sandbank to which one can easily swim.
The Mathiveri offshore sandbank
On the sandbank
On a beach young Cowtail Stingrays can be observed from the shore.
The best snorkeling area is outside the harbor wall. There I encountered this Southern Reef Squid.
The half-day Manta Ray tour was a highlight of my visit to Mathiveri.
Local women exercise in full body clothes. In the background you can see the Nika Island Resort on the island Kudafolhudhoo.
Hangnaameedhoo Island
Since there is no direct ferry between Mathiveri and Hangnaameedhoo, I went by speedboat first to Male. The visit to the capital was a good opportunity to buy some things and change money. Another speedboat brought me to Hangnaameedhoo in the afternoon.
The way to the ‘Bikini’-beach and to the snorkeling area led through this small shipyard. Sometimes I could smell the solvents on the beach.
On all the islands, the women were responsible for cleaning the environment.
Sunset
The reef of Hangnaameedhoo was one of the best on my Maldives trip, as these photos show.
A Boomerang Trigger Fish
A Peacock Rock Cod
A Leopard Flounder
A Speckled sandperch
Cornetfishes
A Yellow-edged Lyretail
Maldive Anemonefishes
A Parrot fish
A sea cucumber
A Giant Moray
A White-spotted Eagle Ray
A Porcupine Fish
With the local ferry I traveled further to the island Omadhoo.
This website describes a part of my one month Maldives trip to the North and South Ari Atolls (also called Alif Alif and Alif Dhaal Atolls). You can find the beginning of the report of this trip here. At the end of the website a link leads to the next islands.
This text is an automatic English translation from the German original by deepl.com