Lhaviyani (Faadhippolhu) Atoll in the northern Maldives pairs classic channel drift diving — grey reef sharks at Kuredu Express, a manta cleaning station inside the protected Fushifaru Kandu — with the Maldives' best-known double shipwreck and the country's densest green sea turtle aggregation.
Destination info
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Conditions
Water and air temperature across the year.
WaterAirDryShoulderWet
Description
Lhaviyani Atoll, traditionally Faadhippolhu, is a resort-based diving atoll in the northern Maldives with roughly 50–60 named sites spread around its kandus (tidal channels), outer reef walls, and lagoon thilas. Prodivers, one of the largest and longest-running dive operations in the Maldives, runs centres on five of the atoll's resort islands — Kuredu, Komandoo, Hurawalhi, Kudadoo, and Jawakara — and northern-route liveaboards also call here. The atoll's calling cards are distinct from its better-known neighbours: Kuredu Express is a famous channel drift where grey reef sharks, eagle rays, and Napoleon wrasse ride the current over coral terraces; the Shipyard at Felivaru Kandu stacks two wrecks within about 50 m of each other, one standing upright with its bow above the surface; and Fushifaru Kandu — a designated Protected Marine Area — holds Fushifaru Thila, a renowned manta ray cleaning station active from roughly September through the northeast-monsoon months. Above all, Lhaviyani is the Maldives' green turtle stronghold: 45+ resident green turtles rest under the overhangs of Kuredu Caves (nicknamed the 'Turtle Airport'), and in May 2026 the Olive Ridley Project opened the Indian Ocean's first dedicated sea turtle hospital on Jawakara. Conditions are warm (26–30°C) with 15–30 m visibility; the northeast monsoon (roughly December–April) brings the calmest, clearest diving, while the southwest monsoon (May–October) is wetter and choppier.
Highlights
What makes this dive worth the trip.
Kuredu Express is the atoll's signature channel drift: a sandy kandu with coral terraces and a canyon at around 20 m (max depth 30 m), where fast-changing currents draw grey reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, tuna, barracuda, stingrays, and Napoleon wrasse, with occasional silvertip and whitetip reef sharks.
The Shipyard at Felivaru is the Maldives' most famous wreck dive: two coral-encrusted wrecks roughly 40–50 m apart, one upright with its bow protruding above the surface after it caught fire in 1985 and was cut loose for fear of explosion — the bow reportedly burned for almost a month — and a second lying on its port side at about 28 m.
Kuredu Caves — nicknamed the 'Turtle Airport' — is a series of soft-coral-lined overhangs from 8 m down to 25 m where more than 45 green sea turtles permanently reside, one of the most reliable turtle aggregations in the Maldives.
Marine life
34 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
Dive sites
5 signature sites at this destination.
Kuredu Express
Lhaviyani's most famous dive: a sandy channel on the atoll's northern rim beside Kuredu, with coral terraces at different depths, large overhangs at the start of the outreef, and a coral-adorned canyon at around 20 m. The 'Express' name comes from the currents, which range from mellow to fast and can change quickly; divers settle on the terraces to watch grey reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, tuna, stingrays, barracuda, and schooling jacks ride the flow, with green turtles resting on the ledges and occasional silvertip and whitetip reef sharks.
5–30 mintermediateDay boatStrongVisibility 15–30 m
The Shipyard
Two wrecks lying roughly 40–50 m apart at Felivaru Kandu, in the channel between Felivaru (home of the atoll's tuna cannery) and Gaaerifaru — about 45 minutes by boat from Kuredu and 15 from Komandoo. The shallower wreck stands upright with its bow above the surface; it is usually identified as Skipjack II, a retired cannery vessel that caught fire in 1985 while being cut loose to be scuttled and sank stern-first (the bow reportedly burned for almost a month). The second ship sank in the mid-1980s — 1984 by some accounts — while making for Felivaru with a leak, and now lies on its port side at about 28 m. Both hulls are densely overgrown with hard and soft corals and swarmed by glassfish and yellow sweepers, with scorpionfish, moray eels, Napoleon wrasse, stingrays, and nurse and grey reef sharks patrolling the structures. Published accounts differ on the two ships' identities and exact dates.
1–30 mintermediateDay boatModerateVisibility 10–30 m
Kuredu Caves (Turtle Airport)
A series of large overhangs — 'caves' — cut into the outer reef wall next to Kuredu, their ceilings draped in soft corals, starting at 8 m and stepping down to 25 m. This is the Maldives' best-known green turtle site: more than 45 individuals permanently reside here, resting under the ledges and gliding out to the surface for air like aircraft taking off, which earned the site its 'Turtle Airport' nickname. Squadrons of eagle rays, blacktip and grey reef sharks, stingrays, Napoleon wrasse, lionfish, leaf fish, and moray eels round out the dive, and the site is shallow and calm enough that snorkel trips visit the upper reef.
8–30 mbeginnerDay boatLightVisibility 15–30 m
Fushivaru Thila
A coral pinnacle at the entrance of Fushifaru Kandu in the atoll's northeast, where Indian Ocean water funnels into the lagoon through a roughly 500 m wide channel that has been declared a Protected Marine Area. The thila top sits at about 10 m with slopes, walls, and coral-block plateaus below, and hosts a famous manta ray cleaning station tended by cleaner wrasse at 10–15 m. Manta activity peaks from around September into the northeast-monsoon months when plankton concentrates in the channel; grey reef sharks, schooling snappers, oriental sweetlips, fusiliers, trevally, barracuda, moray eels, and the occasional turtle and eagle ray keep the site busy outside manta encounters. Unlike Hanifaru Bay in neighbouring Baa, scuba diving is permitted here.
10–30 mintermediateDay boatModerateVisibility 15–30 m
Madivaru
A western-rim site about 25 km southwest of Kuredu, usually visited by liveaboards working the northern atolls: a reef flat at 6–8 m gives way to a vertical wall dropping to a sandy floor at around 30 m, decorated with sea whips, black coral, gorgonian fans, and sponges. Red-toothed triggerfish, soldierfish, butterflyfish, and small-toothed emperors crowd the wall, while Napoleon wrasse, unicornfish, eagle rays, devil rays, barracuda, and tuna pass in the blue.
6–30 mintermediateLiveaboardLightVisibility 15–30 m
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