Mahibadhoo is the capital island of the Alif Dhaal atoll in the Maldives. It is an island that is getting more popular with tourists and surrounded by a wonderful coral wall. We dove here for 3 days and and enjoyed the wonderful, in places nearly vertical dropoff to 20 – 25 meters depth.
Mahibadhoo: how to get there
Mahibadhoo has about 5 guest houses and 8 restaurants (also known as cafes). It is a small island with a steep coral reef around all sides. Mahibadhoo can be reached by public ferry (3-4 USD, 4 hours) or speedboat ferry (25 USD, 1h30 min -2h30 min) from Male. The best way to know where to go is by calling your host on the island. They will know what jetty you will need to be on in Male, and at what time, and can reserve you a spot on the speedboat ferry. Mahibadhoo guest houses can be booked directly, on Agoda, or Airbnb. My personal recommendation would be to go to K Villas, a good, hygienic and peaceful guesthouse. Mahibadhoo does not have great beaches, but it does have a good reef. Like many islands in the Maldives they do not have a good system for getting rid of their garbage, so expect to see some on the beach.
The Mahibadhoo Dropoff
The reef around Mahibadhoo is in decent shape, with plenty live coral, but also some that is bleached. The reef is as high as the low tide line until a dropoff about 20-100 meters from the beach. The dropoff itself can be vertical to about 17 – 20 meters and then change to a sloping reef, or slope at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. We were diving in December and had 20+ meters of visibility. The current around the island can be strong in between the tides but should be manageable. The best entrance during low tide is a channel where the map marker is located. From there you can freedive along the dropoff, first to the west and then around the point of the island. When the tide is high you can swim out anywhere. Alternative entries during low tide are the harbours on either side of the island. There is not much boat traffic and boats generally avoid coming close to the dropoff. The garbage burning facility is on the other side of the island so if you are going to enter on this side, make sure it is on a day without wind. We did not experience any strong current while diving here.
Things to see
You can see tons of reef fish around Mahibadhoo (although not as much as on the less inhabited islands) and turtles, white-tip reef sharks, octopus, puffer fish, lion fish, eels, and more. There is a lot of reef to explore for both freedivers and snorkelers, and the turtles and sharks can come right into the shallows. You can freedive around the entire island in one long day. We did five dive sessions over the course of 3 days. Our host came diving with us on one session and caught an octopus with his bare hands. Lunch!
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