Kuda Rah Thila

What is Kuda Rah Thila, the small block in the Dhigurah channel?

Kuda Rah Thila, listed as Kudarah Thila in official records, takes its name from Kudarah island, one kilometer away. It is a compact, oval coral block rising from the sand of the Dhigurah channel, in the southeast of Ari Atoll: one main head and two smaller ones, a top between 12 and 16 meters, and steep sides split by clefts, overhangs, caves and swim-throughs. Because it sits across a channel, it takes the tidal current head-on, and that current feeds the sea fans on the overhangs, the soft corals on the top and the schools around it. On September 27, 1995, the government listed it among the country's first fifteen protected dive sites, over 269 hectares.

What will you see on the overhangs and arch of Kuda Rah Thila?

The dive circles the block between 20 and 25 meters. On the east side, a large overhang at around 24 meters is lined with sea fans, with oriental sweetlips lined up beneath and bluestripe snappers in a cloud in front; the northern slopes carry more fans. On the west side, an arch and swim-throughs cut through the reef, to be taken only when there is no current. On the top you find soft corals, anemones, turtles and the Napoleon wrasse. In the blue, off the corners, gray reef sharks, dogtooth tuna and giant trevallies work the schools of fusiliers, and eagle rays pass through the channel. Photographers come back at slack water, when you can stop under the overhangs.

How do you handle the swirling current at Kuda Rah Thila?

The flow crossing the channel wraps around the block and creates eddies, especially along the eastern slope. So the dive is built like on the other thilas of the Maldives: an upcurrent entry, a fast descent along the sheltered side, a fixed position at the edge of the block at 15 or 20 meters to watch the blue, then a circuit of the reef with the current, overhangs and arch included, and an ascent in open water under a surface marker buoy. Stay above 30 meters, the legal limit, do not force the arch when the current runs through it, and set your reef hook on dead coral, never on a sea fan. Dive centers require Advanced Open Water.

Should you dive Kuda Rah Thila from Dhigurah or from a resort?

Dhigurah is the closest local island, less than 4 kilometers away, with several dive centers, guesthouses and the whale shark outer reef on its doorstep. It is the budget base for South Ari, with a green tax of US$6 a night. Vilamendhoo, a resort island 50 minutes away by boat, puts the site on its Euro-Divers program, and the other South Ari resorts do the same. Liveaboards out of Malé stop there on the South Ari route, often on the same day as the outer reef of Maamigili or Dhigurah for the whale sharks.