Kandooma Thila

What is Kandooma Thila, the pinnacle in the channel?

A thila is an isolated reef that rises from the lagoon floor without reaching the surface. This one is small and teardrop-shaped, sitting just north of Kandooma island in the east of South Malé Atoll. A narrow channel separates it from the island's reef, and on the falling tide the atoll's water flows out to the ocean through this channel, from west to east. The current speeds up there and hits the western point of the pinnacle, Jack Corner, before splitting along both sides. The top is at 12 or 13 meters and the sand at 35 or 40 meters. In between, the sides carry overhangs covered in soft corals, sea fans and sponges, and coral blocks where groupers and snappers hang out. Unlike Banana Reef or Maaya Thila, the site is not a protected area, but it tops the site list of the Maafushi dive centers and the Kandooma resort.

How do you dive Jack Corner at Kandooma Thila?

On an outgoing current, the dive plays out in three stages. First you descend negatively buoyant, without stopping at the surface, straight onto Jack Corner: that is where most of the action is. Gray reef sharks hunt alone in the flow, whitetips circle lower down, barracudas hold in a group above, and bigeye trevallies swoop on the anthias and glassfish pressed against the reef. Around 30 meters, in the northeast, a cleaning station draws the gray reef sharks, which hang in the current while the wrasses get to work. Then you follow the pinnacle north or south, out of the current, rising to between 13 and 16 meters: turtles on the top, Napoleon wrasse pushed toward the east face, moray eels and nudibranchs in the cracks. You finish on the east face, drifting, with your surface marker buoy up for a safety stop in the blue. On an incoming current, the sharks stay out in open water, between the thila and the ocean, and the dive is done from the top.

How do you photograph and dive Kandooma Thila?

This is wide-angle territory: sharks and trevallies at Jack Corner, the point of the thila against the blue, the sea fan overhangs. Tuck in behind a dead block, facing the current, never put a hand on the coral, and wait: the sharks come on their own toward divers who stay still, bubbles and all. Diving it comes down to three rules. Descend fast, because the current sweeps any diver who lingers at the surface away from the point, and getting back against it is almost impossible. Keep 30 meters as your floor, because the sand is deeper and the cleaning station tempts you down. Keep your surface marker buoy within reach, because the dive ends in open water, away from the reef, and the boat only sees the buoys. Groups are limited to six divers per guide, and a diver without a recent dive does an orientation dive before going to the thila.