Fuvamulah, Maldive

[fruehaufsteher2]

1 hour ago, TimG said:

 

 

And how many megapixels would that sensor be?

The more interesting question could be how to transport the rig in the plane or on the boat... 😁

[Davide DB]

Hahahaha Nauticam Monument?

 

[TimG]

1 hour ago, fruehaufsteher2 said:

The more interesting question could be how to transport the rig in the plane or on the boat... 😁

 

Presumably it could float on water so maybe there's an Nauticam outboard motor attachment?

[bghazzal]

1 hour ago, Davide DB said:

Hahahaha Nauticam Monument?

 

Nauticam Shrine - one prayer there is said to protect from a thousand leaks 🙏📷🙏

[fruehaufsteher2]

12 minutes ago, bghazzal said:

Nauticam Shrine - one prayer there is said to protect from a thousand leaks 🙏📷🙏

That's the most likely explanation. I was really surprised to find this shrine! 2 years ago it wasn't there. More surprisingly - There's no shop for camera equipment on the island.

[Davide DB]

Incense sticks left by photographers beforer the tiger sharks dive...

 

 

[fruehaufsteher2]

On 8/29/2024 at 10:48 AM, Muellema said:

Hi,

Used Internet only in the hotel. Access was very good.

Hi Marcus,

 

Same for us - We found out that "Richardson" from Divepoint aka Sharkexpedition is more on the careful than experimental side with the tigers. 

 

Regarding Internet: If you want to be independent from hotel-WLAN then Ooreddu is a good choice. You can buy a SIM at the airport or  - as we did - use an app like Airalo where you can buy electronic SIM-cards for reasonable prices (30GB for 44$)

[Muellema]

Hi,

 

we were very lucky with Sharkexpedition. Stayed at Maa Thundi. Very nice accomodation with excellent Internet access and very helpful staff. We stayed 4 weeks Maldives in May. Usually we also buy local Sim on our travel, but due to WLAN access at most places we didn`t need it. Br Markus

[bghazzal]

On 8/25/2024 at 9:00 PM, fruehaufsteher2 said:

Diving with tiger sharks is actually only possible reliably and predictably at two spots in the world. One of them is Fuvamulah in the Maldives, and compared to the second spot, Grand Bahama, this is a cheaper option and particularly interesting for divers from Europe, Sri Lanka/India and China/Japan/Taiwan.

 

You can add Fiji / Beqa Lagoon to this list - feeding setup, guides with big poles to pushback the tigers.
When it doesn't go well it looks like this (no tourists/guides were hurt in this impressive 3 angle capture of something which could have gone very bad... 😅)
Word on the grapevine goes that when feeding operations were put on hold during Covid19 lockdowns the sharks moved in closer to shore/beaches, and "nibbles" happened, including bathing dogs IIRC...

 

On the more anecdotal, non-reliable non-feeding side, a few places in French Polynesia have resident tiger sharks, mostly older females, that are spotted on a regular basis around the lagoons. Tikehau comes to mind for instance.

 

And even more anecdotal but still pretty darn gnarly, here's a dead manta carcass turning standard dives into improvised feeding viewing sessions at Palau's German Channel - lasted a few hours - wow...
Tiger sharks are spotted a few times a year, mostly at German, so probably same as in FP, resident females...
I didn't have the honour when I was working there but there were a couple of sightings.

Feeding is not allowed both in French Polynesia and Palau, so the sharks maintain their natural behaviour (and don't offer consistent image opportunities to visitors)

 

cheers

 

ben

Edited September 3 by bghazzal

[Ajay]

On 8/26/2024 at 12:56 AM, TimG said:

o

Great description @fruehaufsteher2. We dived Fuvamulah earlier this year (January). Couple of minor things to add:

1. There is a resident Sand Tiger shark that comes up form the deep (almost) every afternoon at a site (if I recall, Havitha Fannu).

2. The dive site Ferikkade has thresher sharks (we saw them couple of times, when I was at 43m, and the shark at 50+). Several in our group also ran into a school of hammerheads there, at around 46m.

 

By the way, we stayed and dived with Tiger Shark Residence: it's owned and run by a group of Chinese/Singaporeans. They managed to catch a chef from China, and we had the best ever meals at the resort (we're quite used to eating Chinese food a lot, what with being in Hong Kong). I'd go back just for the food, haha.

 

My dive blog post is here.

Kind regards,

Ajay

[Davide DB]

5 hours ago, bghazzal said:

And even more anecdotal but still pretty darn gnarly, here's a dead manta carcass turning standard dives into improvised feeding viewing sessions at Palau's German Channel

 

@ 1:56 I would be already dead 

[hellhole]

1 hour ago, Davide DB said:

 

@ 1:56 I would be already dead 

oooo.. i feel a leak...

 

so cool.. when the tiger came.. all the rest just scram...

 

Edited September 3 by hellhole

[fruehaufsteher2]

13 hours ago, bghazzal said:

You can add Fiji / Beqa Lagoon to this list - feeding setup, guides with big poles to pushback the tigers.[…]

 

And even more anecdotal but still pretty darn gnarly, here's a dead manta carcass turning standard dives into improvised feeding viewing sessions at Palau's German Channel - lasted a few hours - wow...
Tiger sharks are spotted a few times a year, mostly at German, so probably same as in FP, resident females...
 

cheers

 

ben

Hi Ben, 

 

thanks for that input! I wasn‘t aware of Fiji, but the last experiences with divers from China and Japan weren‘t not so good - often unrespectful to nature and sometimes even unable to swim….

 

In contrary Palau should be added to my bucket list. It doesn‘t have to be tigers - we had one dive in Grand Bahama when the mood of the big mamas was somehow heated. You have to look out very careful and if they come too close, push them away.  

[OneYellowTang]

Actually the White Valley (La Vallée Blanche) dive site off the main island of Tahiti historically was very good for diving with tiger sharks. They no longer allow the fishermen to dump their fish bycatch here on the way back in to port, so the tigers are a little more elusive these days, but can still be found fairly regularly.
 

[waterpixel]

Excellent report and very useful tips, thank you for sharing!

I'm not tempted by it but this is certainly very impressive!

[scubagirl812]

On 9/2/2024 at 1:38 AM, fruehaufsteher2 said:

Where on the island is this? I was there in Feb and def didn't see it, but I love it! (And headed back again in Feb). 

[fruehaufsteher2]

Hi Scubagirl,

 

When we saw it they did some painting on the building, so in fact it could be quite new there. It is at the main road to the harbour (facing south on the left side) quite opposite the airport. There's a scooter rental (ugly scooters!) in the same building. As far as I remeber they were painting some korean or chinese signs on the wall.

You won't miss it. If you have additional information on it, let me know!