Dive Soneva Fushi

More on the hotel itself in the Where to Stay section, but the dive centre at Soneva Fushi is pretty much faultless. Managed by probably the most experienced dive team in the Maldives, it runs like clockwork. There are normally two dives a day, morning and afternoon, and groups are invariably small. The dive boat is a modern interpretation of the traditional Maldivean dhoni, purpose built and with masses of deck space. The instructors know their reefs intimately – in fact they are not instructors, more underwater bush guides, and this makes a mammoth difference to your whole diving experience.

The most recent instance of the El Nino phenomenon, no doubt abetted by our planetary abuse, caused serious damage to the coral life in the Maldives. Since then, nature has made an amazing comeback, primarily thanks to the nutrient rich currents that sweep this plateau. Soft corals as well as many types of hard coral are steadily recovering.

What has not changed is the sheer quantity and diversity of marine life, with the possible exception of sharks, which are killed in their millions to satisfy the East Asian demand for shark fin soup. Fortunately, the whale shark seems to have escaped relatively unmolested so far.

Apart from this, diving the Maldives is still fantastic, and you can expect to see turtle, frogfish, porcupine fish, hawk fish, clown fish, maori or napoleon wrasse, scorpion fish, stone fish, puffer fish, schools of snapper and fusiliers, stingray, and so on. In amongst all this, there is a good chance of manta, eagle ray, tuna and trevally. The chances are you will not do a poor dive here.