Fuvahmulah Central Hotel
The diving industry on Fuvahmulah has grown quite a bit in the last few years, mostly due to the ability to dive with tiger sharks on a daily basis. I stayed at the Fuvahmulah Central Hotel and dove with Fuvahmulah Central Dive (owned and operated by the same management). Like most accommodations currently available, the hotel is small – there are only 7 rooms. The rooms are spacious and functional, with comfortable beds, a bathroom, wardrobe, mini-fridge, A/C, decent internet, and tea/coffee maker. This is a fairly basic and economical hotel – nothing fancy, but reasonably clean and serves it’s purpose. The dive center (where divers are typically picked up each morning) is a 5-7 min walk from the hotel. There is no restaurant at the hotel, but there are options within walking distance, and food is often served at the dive center if there is a large enough group. Each day, divers meet at the dive center and are shuttled to the harbor (~7 min ride) to board the dhoni. BTW, a newer, larger (and perhaps higher end) hotel is the process of being built, which is located right next to the dive center.
The Fuvahmulah Central Dive operation is organized and well run, which excellent local guides. They have two dhoni’s (traditional dive boats) – one smaller and one larger. I dove the smaller one as there were fewer people while I was there. The boats had all the usual amenities – water, tea, fresh water shower, towels, marine head, etc. There was a captain, 2 deck hands, and 2-3 guides depending on the group size. Briefings are done prior to each dive (the local guides speak good English), and one of the guides jumps in to check the current before each dive. The crew was very helpful in terms of swapping tanks, helping with jump-ins, handing cameras down, etc. Between dives, the boat comes back to the harbor, where tanks are changed prior to the next dive. One nice touch is you get a WhatsApp message each evening with the following day’s schedule. Note that there is no rinse bucket for cameras on the boat (only the shower), and nitrox is not available. Tank sizes are the standard 80cf.
We did 3 dives each day – 1 at Tiger Zoo and 2 other dives at nearby sites. The Tiger Zoo dives, which are at the mouth of the harbor, are well run, and I felt very safe. After divers are lined up on the sand at a depth of ~25ft, fish heads and scraps are dropped in the water by the boat, and the dive guides quickly bury the heads under rocks in front of dives to give the tiger sharks a bit of a challenge. The show then begins as the tigers show up to get their free meal, providing the opportunity to see these beautiful sharks up close. The dive guides act as safety divers and are positioned behind the divers. If a tiger gets too close, a guide will redirect it. At the end of the allotted 30 mins, you swim as a group out into the blue for your safety stop. At the other sites, you’ll find thresher sharks, hammerheads, turtles, healthy coral / reef life, and occasionally mantas and whale sharks. Other than Tiger Zoo, most of the other dives are fairly deep since that is where you’ll typically find the threshers and hammerheads, so you’ll need to manage your deco time appropriately. Currents ranged from none to medium while I was there, but the guides did a good job of guiding us with the current, not against.
