The underwater world of the Maldives with relaxation. The underwater world of the Maldives. Manta rays in the Maldives

In the final post, I collected photographs of the underwater world of the Maldives and its inhabitants. This real paradise on Earth - warm clear water, rich vegetation and kilometers picturesque beaches. There is no better place to dive and relax.

The Maldives archipelago consists of approximately 1,200 small islands, believed to be of volcanic origin. They form a double chain of 26 atolls - large coral land areas that look like a broken ring. The first Redin settlements were founded on the islands as early as 2000 BC. According to numerous testimonies of sailors, for a long time the islands were ruled by female sultanas...

The population of the archipelago, excluding guests of the country and tourists, is approximately 400 thousand people. The capital of the Republic of Maldives is the port town of Male. The population of the capital is only 105 thousand people, others major cities not in the country:

Coastal waters are teeming with a wide variety of life forms. The coral reefs that form the islands of the archipelago are home to a great variety of shellfish, several species of starfish (including quite rare ones), lobsters and crabs:

Approximately 2,000 species of fish have been found in the coastal waters of the Maldives, of which 300 are reef fish. The largest whale sharks are 20 meters long:

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In the next post I will talk about how I drowned a camera for 400,000 rubles, but that will happen next year. Happy New Year!

The planet has such picturesque corners, visiting which tourists will not disappear the feeling that natural beauty sea and land are trying to compete with each other. The Maldives can rightfully be noted as one of such places. They attract travelers with their green tall palm trees, white sandy beaches, but primarily the beautiful coral reefs. As you know, the Maldives is the best place for diving in the world. Among the inhabitants of the oceanic underwater kingdom of the Maldives you can see incredible colors and shapes of seaweed, coral reefs, large fish and much more. All these delights of nature paint the ocean with different colors.

Interesting information about the country

The Maldives are islands in Indian Ocean, which scientists have proven were inhabited 5 thousand years ago. Europe learned about the islands thanks to the travel of Marco Polo, who nicknamed them “the flower of the Indian Ocean.”
The official name of the state is the Republic of Maldives. The country is located southwest 700 km from Sri Lanka.
The Maldives is a country in the entire world with only one city. The capital Male is a port city, which is located on the islands of Vilingile and Male, and is the most densely populated place in the country.
The Maldives consists of 1,192 coral islands (atolls), but only 200 islands are inhabited by people, 80 - with tourist resorts. Some of the islands are uninhabited. total area country 90 thousand km2. The population of the Maldives is about 393 thousand people.
The country has the flattest territory in the world. The average elevation of the Maldives above sea level is 1.5 m. The highest point is 2.4 m above sea level.
The climate on the islands is subequatorial monsoon, average temperature throughout the year it is 25-30 °C. The rainy season runs from June to August.
The length of the Maldives from south to north is 823 kilometers, and from west to east it is 130 kilometers. There is not a single river or other source of fresh water on the islands of the country.
The Maldives is a Muslim country, so compliance with local laws and traditions is mandatory for guests.
Tourism and fishing are the main industries that support the country's economy.
Motor and sailing boats are the main transport of the Maldives. Also, a huge part of transportation is carried out by air.
Approximately 2,000 species of fish have been found in the coastal waters of the Maldives, of which 300 are reef fish. The largest whale sharks are 20 m long.
The Maldives is a paradise, clear ocean and tropics that open the way to a completely different world. If you look at the Maldives from a bird's eye view, the picture will blow your mind; the blue surface of the ocean and the green islands look like a fairy tale.

Scuba diving is the main attraction of the Maldives

Favorable climatic conditions and the distinctive geological properties of the islands have created the conditions for some of the best dive sites in Asia. All over the world it is believed that the Maldives is the best place for diving. Coral reefs are ready to reveal their secrets to an attentive and leisurely swimmer who has an exciting desire to see the underwater beauty of the ocean. The amazed diver, carried away by the undercurrent, will slowly drift past majestic jellyfish, vibrant corals and fish, who are also watching him. The impressions from the amazing spectacle, from the fantastic beauty of the fauna and flora will be stunning, and often after the first dive the whole picture seen will merge into a general feeling of delight, admiration and peace.

Inhabitants of the underwater world of the picturesque Maldives

The underwater kingdom of the Maldives is so beautiful and rich that a few meters of depth is enough to see a lot. If you obey the current, which drifts slightly to the side, a panorama of underwater grottoes and coral thickets will unfold before your gaze. Swimming along the reef, in the bushes of coral gardens you can meet slow turtles, luxurious tropical fish, fabulous stingrays, evil moray eels and dangerous sharks. The bright palette of colors and outlandish shapes will inspire any scuba diver, but corals are as fragile as they are beautiful, so you need to be extremely careful and careful not to destroy a natural work.

Breathtaking panoramas and unforgettable experience will give the ocean at night. Under the water at sunset, inhabitants appear that are impossible to see during the day. Of them most of feeds on plankton, which rises to the top at nightfall. And here the hunters show themselves in all their glory: starfish, extraordinary anemones and corals set their amazing traps, and crabs use their claws to separate shells from their prey. Taking advantage of the fact that the sharks' victims cannot see anything, they also perk up. The parrot fish avoids danger in a very interesting way - it releases a bubble and rests inside, but as soon as someone touches the shell, it wakes up and runs away.

Features of diving in the Maldives

Every tourist will be able to feel like an amphibian. The islands have everything you need for exciting diving. Most hotels have diving schools on site that issue certificates. Large diving clubs offer a very wide program: training for beginners, improving the skills of already advanced divers. The set of programs also includes training in snorkeling.

In order to immerse yourself in the underwater world, it is not necessary to take a full course. A one-time dive after short preparation is carried out to a depth of 2 to 12 meters. If you have found a common language with the abyss of the sea and are drawn deeper, then you need to begin serious preparation and take a course of study. Experienced divers should remember that they may be asked for a dive diary and a valid medical certificate before any dive.

You can go diving in the Maldives all year round. For beginners, diving sites with gentle slopes and soft, colorful corals are suitable for diving. And experienced divers can take advantage of night dives and the opportunity to swim in the underwater current among many caves and sunken ships.

There are scuba diving centers on ships that sail between the atolls. Cruise ships are an excellent opportunity to visit different islands of the archipelago, fishing and uninhabited islands, which is difficult to do if you stay in a hotel.

A diving safari represents a journey across the ocean on an equipped yacht, which has everything you need for relaxation. If you choose a diving safari, you can get the opportunity to take a break from huge amount divers who dive in the most accessible places. During the safari you can see uninhabited islands, complement the palette of sensations in ocean fishing and try cooked fish that you just caught.

The inhabitants and coral reefs of the islands are a real natural phenomenon, which is located in the waters of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is a place where magical landscapes and solitude are prized, especially for scuba diving enthusiasts. Not only professionals, but also those who put on fins and a mask for the first time can enjoy an amazing array of shells, bright corals, and colorful fish. As you know, the Maldives are famous for their diverse, vibrant, amazing shapes and sizes. marine fauna and flora. Diving enthusiasts can see a huge whale shark and microscopic plankton. You can get the impressions of a lifetime if you see the amazing and colorful underwater kingdom of the amazing Maldives.

When the plane tickets were already purchased, while I was choosing an island and a hotel, I read a lot about the rich underwater world of the Maldives. I began to worry about the idea that some of the underwater inhabitants could be dangerous. I found a forum thread dedicated to the dangers that await an unlucky tourist on paradise Maldives. My husband and I read this forum for two days (there was a lot of information there, and even more emotions that everyone expressed), and I became frankly scared to go to the Maldives! A couple of times before the trip I even had terrible dreams that I was swimming in the water, and a huge stingray was floating up next to me - it was very scary!

So that you are not afraid to go to the Maldives and do not spend several days reading forums about various dangers, I will formulate everything in this article briefly and to the point (I hope).

Everything stated below will concern the underwater world, since on land nothing can threaten you at all!

Do not pick up cone-shaped or other shells from the bottom (especially with your bare hands!), do not touch the corals, and in general it is better don't touch anything underwater ! May pose a danger sea urchins, moray eels, starfish ("crown of thorns") and a bunch of other creatures, but no one will touch you until you start grabbing them with your hands!
If you are swimming in a coral reef area, wear appropriate footwear. shoes(swimming slippers with rubberized soles, also known as coral slippers). If you swim with fins, have a conscience, do not break coral reefs with your fins, do not stand on them and try not to damage them while swimming. If coral reef“fits” very close to the surface of the water, it is better not to swim there - you can easily scratch your thighs, stomach, etc. (if you are not in a suit).
Be careful (especially at dusk and in the dark) and sandbanks- stingrays love to bury themselves in the sand, and if you step on them, it will not seem too bad. That's why after sunset at all It's better not to get into the water . At night, anyone can swim into shallow water (not just stingrays).
There are all sorts of poisonous, unsightly fish that disguise themselves as stones (warts, etc.), and it’s also better not to step on them - that’s why watch where you step . It is not difficult. Don't walk on stones without slippers - that's all. The almost perfect transparency of the water allows you to understand what is under your feet.
If you are snorkeling, and some fish begins to behave clearly aggressively - it quickly swims up to you, turns around and swims up again - calmly move : Most likely, she has a “nest” there.
While swimming don't try to feed animals!

All in all, don't touch anything underwater , and everything will be fine!

I was also afraid of stingrays, fish and sharks that might suddenly start chasing me! In most cases, these fears are unfounded! Any creature under water usually quickly begins to run away when it sees increased attention from you. So, we saw turtles several times, and they tried to quickly hide. One day, a rainbow cuttlefish swam within a meter of us, looked at us for a few seconds, and then instantly disappeared. Once we were swimming along the edge of a reef that went into the depths and saw below us, at a distance of several meters, the recognizable silhouette of a shark. Not very big, about human height. She somehow very leisurely, but very quickly swam under us, without paying the slightest attention to us! If you encounter a manta ray underwater, you will likely be able to watch it for a while, but once your presence becomes too intrusive, it will quickly slip away.

So it’s us, tourists, in the Maldives who usually swim after all sorts of underwater creatures, and not they after us!

I've heard stories of people being scared to death when they were surrounded by small sharks in the water. But don't be afraid, they are not dangerous!!! There are no dangerous sharks in the Maldives. There have never been cases of shark attacks on people. No one. Never at all.

No, the Maldives is not dangerous! (if you behave normally;)

The only thing I’ll write again is beware jellyfish. If there are a lot of them, even small specimens can sting you very unpleasantly and painfully. Do not approach large jellyfish at all. In the Maldives there are encounters with “Portuguese ships” (described in reviews). We encountered jellyfish only once when we were snorkeling. We saw that there were a lot of small jellyfish ahead, but we decided to rush through - we should have stuck our heads there! As a result, already in the middle of their crowd we had to turn around and still swim away as quickly as possible, they stung us very painfully.

We saw turtles

Maldives ( Republic of Maldives) - Island state in the Indian Ocean, located on a group of atolls south of the Hindustan Peninsula, just north of the equator. The archipelago consists of 20 atolls, which include almost 1,200 small islands formed by the skeletons of coral polyps on an underwater hill. Only about 200 islands are permanently inhabited.
All the islands of the atoll archipelago barely rise above the surface of the ocean - the most high point- 6 m above sea level.
The capital of the state is the city of Male, located on the atoll of the same name.

Underwater world of the Maldives

The climate of the Maldives is typical for the equatorial island zones. The average annual air temperature is +27 degrees. C, is little subject to seasonal and daily fluctuations - the environment is affected by the ocean.

As befits an area with numerous coral structures and reefs, the underwater world of the Maldives is extremely rich and diverse. Here you can meet a wide variety of sea inhabitants - from fabulously beautiful corals, colorful fish, graceful jellyfish and beautiful mollusks, to whale sharks and large stingrays. If you are lucky enough to see the underwater world of the Maldives while diving, this sight will never be erased from your memory.

The saturation of the reefs with life could not go unnoticed by sea predators - in these places there are many sharks, and the most different types. Experts say that 26 species of sharks are found in the Maldives archipelago, but most likely this is not the limit. After all, many species of gray sharks are so similar in appearance that even an ichthyologist specialist can hardly recognize individual individuals of different species.

Among the predatory “celebrities” found in the local waters, it is worth noting tiger sharks and the long-finned oceanic shark - longimanus, as well as hammerhead sharks. These predators are considered dangerous sea creatures for humans, and world statistics know many cases of tiger shark attacks on people.
Longimanus are no less dangerous, but these sharks prefer to stay in the pelagic region and almost never appear in coastal waters. Hammerhead sharks are not so bloodthirsty - only the giant variety of this fish can pose a threat to humans, however, it is recommended to stay away from them.

From April to November, whale sharks swim to the eastern regions of the Maldives, completely safe for people, despite their impressive size. These giants of the sea are protected by conservationists, so any harm done to a whale shark is against the law.
However, the same can be said about other types of predators - in the area of many Maldivian atolls, hunting and fishing for any sharks is strictly prohibited. There are fewer and fewer sharks every year - this is due to man’s ancient “love” for these predators, the ecological situation in the coastal waters of many seas, and the Asian fascination with shark fin soup.

The remaining species of Maldivian predators are represented by small species of sharks, and reef species are most often caught by divers. These fish do not reach impressive sizes - even a one and a half meter reef shark is considered large. According to the stories of divers who visited the coastal waters of the Maldives, such “large” specimens of sharks are now a rarity. If you are lucky, you will meet predators measuring about a meter or a little more.
You can also meet some bottom predators, including squatinids, cats, mustelids and other types of sharks.

Sharks are one of the attractions of the Maldivian coastal waters, a peculiar article tourism business. In order to give curious people the opportunity to gaze at the mistresses of the sea, bait is specially scattered in many places to attract flocks of predators. For those who want to admire the marine life without diving into the depths, excursions are organized on small vessels with a transparent bottom.
The water in these places is surprisingly clean, despite numerous and strong currents, so you can gaze at the underwater fairy tale without fear.

Despite the wide species and quantitative range of the shark community in the Maldives, this area of the ocean is considered one of the safest resorts in the world in terms of the number of known incidents between humans and marine predators. For all the time that the ISAF center in Florida has been keeping statistical records of such cases, only one confirmed case of a shark attack on a person has been known since 1580, which did not have any serious consequences for the victim - a minor bite from a small shark.

This statistic is also unusual because the Maldives is one of the world’s most popular beach resorts, which attracts hundreds of thousands of swimmers to its shores every year. Perhaps the main reason lies in the fact that the Maldivian surf has little attraction for surfers and other fans of such sports, who are most at risk of experiencing the sharp jaws of sharks? Or do the shallow coastal waters of coral islands not attract large and dangerous predators, such as tiger sharks?
One way or another - if you are going to relax in these heavenly places, you shouldn’t be afraid of toothy sea predators - shark attacks in the Maldives are less likely than a pike attacking a fisherman in the Volga region. However, there is no need for carelessness either - scuba diving and swimming in the sea are always fraught with danger. Indeed, in addition to sharks, other dangerous creatures live in these places - moray eels, poisonous mollusks and bottom fish, stingrays, jellyfish, etc. Therefore, one should not neglect general rules safety when traveling under water and swimming - a cut from a shell fragment or a prick from a sea ruffe - scorpionfish also do not give pleasure during rest.