Last Updated on 07/12/2024

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Cheap Diving Maldives – Local Islands Maldives

These are the following local islands which have great scuba diving. These are the islands that I have personally visited and scuba dived from.

Cheap Diving Maldives – Fuvahmulah

Arguably the best scuba diving in Maldives, Fuvahmulah should absolutely be on your scuba diving Maldives bucketlist. In Fuvahmulah you can see tiger sharks, manta rays (oceanics and reef manta rays), whale sharks, thresher sharks and hammerhead sharks. Read my full Fuvahmulah Island Guide here. 

Cheap Diving Maldives – Rasdhoo

A great island to stay on and dive from every day. Rasdhoo has healthy, colourful coral, lots of reef sharks and turtles and a small chance of hammerhead sharks. Read my full Rasdhoo Guide here if you are thinking of visiting this awesome island.

Budget Diving Maldives – Gulhi

From Gulhi you can access many of Kaafu atoll’s great dive sites including an impressive wreck dive. Read my full Gulhi guide here.

Best cheap diving Maldives – Guraidhoo

Guraidhoo is close to the famous Maldives dive site Kandooma Thila which does not disappoint. With strong currents you can see numerous reef sharks and eagle rays swimming in the currents as you drift by. 

Budget Diving Maldives – Hulhumale

Hulhumale is often not considered a great local island to stay on as it doesn’t have a bikini beach and is often seen as an extension of Male and so visitors often overlook it. If you are a diver I strongly recommend spending a couple of nights in Hulhumale to dive the nearby dive sites. The dive sites near Male have incredible marine life such as bull sharks, huge sting rays, spinner sharks and a good chance of hammerheads. 

Budget Diving Maldives – Marine Life

With over 200 islands that you can stay on, there are certain islands that are better for marine life than others. 

Manta Ray Diving Maldives

You can see manta rays at various locations in the Maldives. For more information about diving with manta rays in the Maldives, then read my manta ray Maldives article here. 

Best Cheap Diving: Shark Diving Maldives

For sharks, I definitely recommend diving Hulhumale, diving Kandooma Thila near Guraidhoo and Fuvahmulah. 

Tiger Shark Diving Maldives

The best place to go tiger shark diving in Maldives is Fuvahmulah island. Please note they do feed the tiger sharks here so it depends how ethical you feel this is if you want to do it. There are many dive sites around Fuvahmulah island with the best diving in Maldives that do not involve feeding marine life. 

Have you dived in the Maldives? Do you have a recommendation for the best island diving Maldives? I’ll be heading back for more scuba diving local islands soon!

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