Maldives Ocean Atlas: text version

This page holds all the words from the 3D experiences, with no animation. Ninety-nine percent of the Maldives is ocean. Coral reefs built every one of its islands, and the sand beneath them.

The Dive: from island to the abyss

Sunlit lagoon

0–5 m · The lagoon

Calm, shallow lagoons ring the islands. Seagrass meadows and sand flats are nurseries for young fish and grazing grounds for turtles — and home to colonies of shy garden eels.

A city built by coral

5–10 m · The house reef

Every coral head is a city. Sea goldies swarm, anemonefish guard their anemones and parrotfish grind coral into the white sand of Maldivian beaches.

Gentle giants

≈12 m · Cleaning station

At the reef edge, reef manta rays circle coral heads to be cleaned by small wrasse. The Maldives has the largest known population of reef mantas on Earth.

Over the edge

15–45 m · The wall

Past the reef crest the seabed drops away. Currents feed sea fans, soft corals and whip corals, while grey reef sharks and swirling trevally patrol the wall.

2010: year the Maldives banned shark fishing

Into open water

45–60 m · The blue

Out in the blue, whale sharks — the largest fish in the sea — cruise the atolls. In South Ari Atoll they can be seen year-round.

Where the light ends

60 m+ · Twilight zone

Sunlight fades to darkness. Switch on your torch: colour returns to the wall, and jellyfish and plankton glow with their own light.

Protect what you saw

Back to the surface

Warming seas, overfishing and coastal development threaten every metre of this dive. Healthy reefs protect the islands themselves — and the people who live on them.

Grazers of the meadow

Dive 2 · 0–5 m · The lagoon

Green turtles crop seagrass like lawnmowers, keeping meadows short and productive, while hawksbills hunt sponges on the reef. Both nest on Maldivian beaches, and all sea turtles are protected here.

The sand makers

Dive 2 · 5–10 m · The house reef

Listen for the crunch: parrotfish bite off coral to reach the algae inside and pass the ground skeleton as fine white sand. A single large parrotfish can make hundreds of kilograms of sand a year.

Every manta has a name

Dive 2 · ≈12 m · Cleaning station

The spots on a manta’s belly are as unique as a fingerprint. Divers’ photos have let researchers identify thousands of individual reef mantas in the Maldives — and follow them for decades.

Gardens of the current

Dive 2 · 15–45 m · The wall

On reefs like Banana Reef — one of the first dive sites ever opened in the Maldives — currents bring plankton to the wall, feeding huge schools of snapper and carpets of soft coral.

One fish at a time

Dive 2 · 45–60 m · The blue

Maldivian skipjack tuna is caught by pole-and-line from dhonis: live bait brings a school to the surface and each fish is landed by hand, with almost no bycatch.

2012: year the pole-and-line skipjack fishery was certified sustainable

The night shift

Dive 2 · 60 m+ · Twilight zone

When the light goes, the reef changes hands. Moray eels leave their crevices to hunt, parrotfish sleep wrapped in a cocoon of mucus, and corals unfold their tentacles to catch plankton.

A nation one metre high

Dive 2 · Back to the surface

Most Maldivian land lies less than a metre above the sea. Living reefs are the islands’ breakwater — and the factory that keeps them supplied with sand.

Islands made of reef

Dive 3 · 0–5 m · The lagoon

The word “atoll” comes from Dhivehi, the Maldivian language. Inside the great atolls sit faros — ring-shaped reefs with their own lagoons, a formation almost unique to the Maldives.

When the sea runs hot

Dive 3 · 5–10 m · The house reef

In 2016 a marine heatwave bleached most shallow corals across the Maldives. Corals can recover from bleaching, but only if the heat breaks in time and local pressures stay low.

The cleaners

Dive 3 · ≈12 m · Cleaning station

A finger-length wrasse runs the station. It picks parasites off mantas, groupers and even sharks — over a thousand clients a day — and predators leave it alone in return.

Worth more alive

Dive 3 · 15–45 m · The wall

More than a million visitors come to the Maldives each year, many to dive and snorkel. A living reef, manta or shark earns for the islands year after year.

Spinning in the blue

Dive 3 · 45–60 m · The blue

Pods of spinner dolphins rest in the atoll lagoons by day and hunt offshore at night. More than twenty species of whales and dolphins have been recorded in Maldivian waters.

A sea of stars

Dive 3 · 60 m+ · Twilight zone

Tiny plankton make their own light when disturbed. On some nights Maldivian beaches such as Vaadhoo glow blue as every wave breaks — the same chemistry that lights the deep.

Seen from space

Dive 3 · Back to the surface

From orbit, the atolls look like a string of pearls across the Indian Ocean. Every one of them was built by coral — and every one depends on reefs staying alive.

Journeys to a resilient reef

Meadows of the lagoon

Seagrass · blue carbon · Baa Atoll · Lagoon

A flowering plant beneath the waves

Underwater meadows

Seagrass is not seaweed — it is a flowering plant with roots, leaves and seeds. It forms meadows in the shallow, sunlit lagoons that ring many Maldivian islands.

Carbon locked in the sand

Blue carbon

Meadows trap fine sediment and bury carbon beneath them, where it can stay for centuries. Per hectare, seagrass can store carbon far faster than forests on land.

35×: faster carbon capture than tropical rainforest, per area (widely cited estimate)

Where the reef grows up

Nursery of the reef

Juvenile reef fish shelter between the blades, while green turtles and rays graze and hunt here. A healthy meadow feeds the reef next door.

Cleared for the perfect postcard

Under threat

Seagrass is often pulled from resort lagoons to keep sand bright white. Clearing it releases stored carbon, clouds the water and strips nurseries away.

#ProtectMaldivesSeagrass

Project spotlight

Resorts are choosing to keep their meadows. The Seagrass Industry Leaders Circle brings together resorts that pledge to protect the seagrass in their lagoons.

17: resorts in the Seagrass Industry Leaders Circle

Things to find

Stingray
Rays glide over meadows and sand flats hunting for crabs and worms buried in the sediment.
Buried carbon
Seagrass roots and the sediment they trap hold most of a meadow's carbon — out of sight, often for centuries, as long as the meadow is left intact.
Green turtle
Green turtles graze seagrass like lawnmowers, keeping blades short and the meadow productive.
Juvenile fish
Many reef fish spend their early life hiding in seagrass before moving to the reef as adults.
Cleared lagoon
Bare sand where a meadow used to be. Without roots holding it, sediment drifts and the stored carbon can be released.

Guardians of the atoll

Coral reefs · resilience · North Malé Atoll · House reef

Islands made by reefs

A nation of coral

The Maldives is a chain of around 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls. The sand beneath every island was made by the reef — much of it by parrotfish grinding coral.

26: natural atolls

The first line of defence

Living breakwaters

Healthy reefs break and absorb wave energy before it reaches the shore, protecting low-lying islands from storms and rising seas.

When the water gets too warm

Under pressure

Marine heatwaves push corals to expel the algae that feed them, turning them white. The 2016 global bleaching event hit Maldivian reefs hard.

Room to recover

Protection works

Well-managed marine protected areas reduce local pressure — overfishing, anchoring, pollution — so reefs can bounce back faster after bleaching.

Resilient reefs, together

Project spotlight

Local reef-monitoring, coral restoration and citizen-science dives with partners such as Maldives Resilient Reefs turn visitors and islanders into reef guardians.

Things to find

Parrotfish
Parrotfish scrape algae off coral and grind it up. What comes out the other end is fine white sand — the stuff Maldivian beaches are made of.
Table corals
Tiny coral animals (polyps) build limestone skeletons that grow into tables, branches and boulders — the structure of the whole reef.
Coral bleaching
Raise the water temperature and watch what happens to the corals — and the fish that depend on them.
Fish abundance
Where fishing pressure is managed, fish populations grow larger and more diverse — and help keep algae in check so corals can recover.

The ocean's web of life

Channels · giants · tuna · Baa Atoll · Channel (kandu)

Where the atoll breathes

Into the channel

Tides push ocean water through the channels between reefs. It carries plankton — and the giants that follow it.

Home of the reef manta

Gentle giants

The Maldives hosts the largest known population of reef manta rays in the world. Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll is famous for their feeding gatherings.

A shark sanctuary

Worth more alive

Shark fishing has been banned across Maldivian waters since 2010. Living sharks keep reefs balanced and support the dive-tourism economy.

Pole-and-line tuna

One by one

Maldivian skipjack tuna is traditionally caught by pole-and-line from dhonis — one fish at a time, with very little bycatch.

Fish for tomorrow

Project spotlight

Supporting sustainable reef fisheries, shark protection and community-led management keeps the web intact for the next generation.

Things to find

Reef manta ray
Reef mantas filter plankton from the water and return to the same cleaning stations year after year. Each one can be identified by the spot pattern on its belly.
Grey reef shark
Sharks keep reef food webs in balance by removing weak and sick fish. A living shark can be worth far more to dive tourism than one caught.
Skipjack tuna
Fast, open-ocean schooling fish — and the backbone of the Maldivian fishing tradition.
Pole-and-line dhoni
Fishers use live bait to bring tuna to the surface and catch them one at a time with a pole — selective, with very little bycatch.

The reef we breathe

About

An immersive journey through the Maldives' seagrass meadows, coral reefs and open-water channels — showing how a healthy ocean protects the islands, feeds communities and helps regulate the climate.

Why the Maldives

  • Around 99% of the country's territory is ocean.
  • Its atolls are among the largest coral reef systems in the Indian Ocean.
  • Seagrass, reefs and pelagic life are all under pressure from warming seas and development.

This prototype

  • Concept demo built with Next.js and three.js, all scenery procedural.
  • All copy and figures are draft, to be verified with scientific partners.

Become a reef guardian

Get involved

Resorts

  • Pledge to keep your lagoon's seagrass.
  • Run reef-monitoring dives for guests.

Divers and visitors

  • Log manta, shark and turtle sightings for citizen science.
  • Choose operators who follow reef-safe codes.

Everyone

  • Share a journey (#ProtectMaldivesSeagrass, #SaveOurSharks, #FishForTomorrow).
  • Support local marine projects (donation flow, phase 2).

Ocean classroom

Education

Lesson packs for Maldivian schools linked to each journey — in English and Dhivehi.

Planned packs

  • Ages 7–11: Who lives in the lagoon?
  • Ages 11–14: How coral builds an island
  • Ages 14–18: Blue carbon and climate

Habitats

A living coral garden

Coral garden · to about 14 m

Shallow reef flats and coral heads packed with hard corals — branching Acropora, table corals and massive brain corals — and the fish that shelter among them.

When to go: Diveable year-round. The northeast monsoon (Iruvai, roughly December–April) usually brings calmer seas and clearer water; the southwest monsoon (Hulhangu, roughly May–November) is wetter and windier.

Life you may meet: Sea goldie, Maldive anemonefish, Bluestripe snapper, Powder blue tang, Moorish idol, Parrotfish, Butterflyfish, Green turtle, Hard corals, Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse, Oriental sweetlips, Giant moray, Day octopus, Nudibranch, Mushroom coral.

A pinnacle in the blue

Thila · underwater pinnacle · to about 30 m

A thila is a coral pinnacle rising from the atoll floor to within a few metres of the surface. Currents wrap around it, feeding soft corals and sea fans and drawing in sharks, trevally and huge schools of fusiliers.

When to go: Best on an incoming current, when visibility is highest and fish gather on the up-current side. Currents can be strong — usually an advanced dive.

Life you may meet: Sea goldie, Yellowback fusilier, Grey reef shark, Bigeye trevally, Bluestripe snapper, Soft corals, Gorgonian sea fan, Red-toothed triggerfish, Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse, Giant moray.

Riding the channel

Kandu · channel · to about 26 m

Kandus are channels through the atoll rim. Tides push ocean water through them twice a day, so the walls are covered in filter feeders and the current brings big visitors from the open ocean.

When to go: Channel dives depend on tide and current. Incoming currents bring clear ocean water and more sharks; drift with the flow and hook in at the corner.

Life you may meet: Grey reef shark, Spotted eagle ray, Bigeye trevally, Yellowback fusilier, Bluestripe snapper, Gorgonian sea fan, Red-toothed triggerfish, Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse, Giant moray.

Where mantas come to be cleaned

Manta cleaning station · to about 12 m

Reef mantas visit particular coral heads where cleaner wrasse pick parasites off their skin, and gather wherever currents concentrate plankton.

When to go: Mantas follow the monsoon: generally the western side of atolls in the northeast monsoon and the eastern side in the southwest monsoon. Stay low, keep still and let them come to you.

Life you may meet: Reef manta ray, Sea goldie, Butterflyfish, Maldive anemonefish, Yellowback fusilier, Hard corals, Bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Oriental sweetlips.

The highway of giants

Outer reef · open blue · to about 20 m

Along the outer reef the seabed drops into deep blue water. Whale sharks cruise the reef edge here, often near the surface, while trevally and sharks patrol the drop-off.

When to go: Whale sharks are present year-round in South Ari. Follow the code of conduct: keep at least 3 m away, never touch and no flash photography.

Life you may meet: Whale shark, Yellowback fusilier, Bigeye trevally, Grey reef shark, Green turtle, Soft corals, Red-toothed triggerfish.

An artificial reef

Shipwreck · to about 30 m

A sunken ship quickly becomes a reef. Corals and sponges settle on the hull, and clouds of glassfish shelter in the holds and passageways.

When to go: Diveable year-round, but wrecks are often deeper and darker — carry a torch, watch your no-decompression limit and never go inside without training.

Life you may meet: Pygmy sweeper (glassfish), Bluestripe snapper, Sea goldie, Soft corals, Gorgonian sea fan, Green turtle, Lionfish, Giant moray.

The nursery among the roots

Mangrove & wetland · to about 3 m

Mangrove roots trap sediment, protect the shoreline and shelter young fish and baby sharks. Wetlands and kilhi (ponds) are also home to herons, crabs and salt-tolerant plants.

When to go: Shallow and sheltered year-round. Best explored by snorkel at high tide — move slowly to avoid stirring up the silt.

Life you may meet: Mangrove roots, Blacktip reef shark (young), Bluestripe snapper, Butterflyfish, Stingray.

Sand, light and seagrass

Sandbank & lagoon · to about 7 m

Sandbanks (finolhu) and shallow lagoons look empty from above, but their sand flats and seagrass shelter garden eels, rays, turtles and young reef sharks.

When to go: Sheltered lagoon conditions most of the year: bright, shallow and ideal for snorkelling. Watch out for boat traffic.

Life you may meet: Spotted garden eel, Stingray, Green turtle, Blacktip reef shark (young), Parrotfish, Butterflyfish, Prickly redfish, Mushroom coral.

Protected places by atoll (91)

Baa

Kaafu · North Malé

Seenu · Addu

Species

Sea goldie (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)
Clouds of orange sea goldies hover above coral heads picking plankton from the current. Each group is led by a single magenta male.
Maldive anemonefish (Amphiprion nigripes)
The Maldive anemonefish has a single white head bar and black belly fins. It shelters among the stinging tentacles of its host anemone, protected by a mucus coat.
Bluestripe snapper (Lutjanus kasmira)
Bright yellow schools gather around reef bommies and wrecks by day and spread out to hunt at night.
Powder blue tang (Acanthurus leucosternon)
One of the most common surgeonfish on Maldivian reefs, grazing algae in busy groups and helping keep corals clear.
Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus)
Known for its long trailing dorsal fin and bold black, white and yellow bands. Usually seen in pairs or small groups.
Parrotfish (Scarus spp.)
Parrotfish scrape algae off coral with beak-like teeth; the ground coral passes through as fine white sand. They are protected under the General Fisheries Regulation.
Butterflyfish (Chaetodon spp.)
Many butterflyfish feed on coral polyps, so plenty of butterflyfish usually means a healthy reef.
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Dhivehi: Velaa
Green turtles graze seagrass and algae. All sea turtles are protected in the Maldives — catching, harming or keeping them is banned.
Hard corals (Acropora, Pocillopora)
Tiny coral animals build limestone skeletons that become branches, tables and boulders — Acropora and cauliflower coral (Pocillopora) are among the commonest. When the sea gets too hot, corals expel the algae that feed them and turn white.
Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus)
The giant of the reef: up to 2 m long, with a bulging forehead and thick lips. It is endangered worldwide and protected in the Maldives; individuals can live for more than 30 years.
Oriental sweetlips (Plectorhinchus vittatus)
Striped sweetlips hover in small groups under overhangs by day and hunt invertebrates at night. The juveniles look completely different, covered in dark blotches.
Giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus)
Morays open and close their mouths to pump water over their gills — it looks threatening but is just breathing. They hunt at night and sometimes team up with groupers by day.
Day octopus (Octopus cyanea)
Day octopuses hunt crabs across the reef in daylight, changing colour and skin texture in a fraction of a second to blend in.
Nudibranch (Chromodoris spp.)
Nudibranchs are sea slugs whose bright colours warn predators that they taste bad or are toxic. Many feed on sponges and borrow their prey’s chemical defences.
Mushroom coral (Fungia spp.)
Unlike most corals, a mushroom coral is a single large polyp living unattached on the sand — it can even right itself if it is flipped over.
Yellowback fusilier (Caesio xanthonota)
Fast schools of fusiliers feed on plankton in the current above reefs and thilas — a favourite meal for sharks and trevally.
Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), Dhivehi: Miyaru
Grey reef sharks patrol thilas, channels and drop-offs, keeping reef food webs in balance. Taking sharks is banned under the Maldives Fisheries Act.
Bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus)
Trevally gather in tight, swirling schools along walls and thilas — a living tornado that confuses predators.
Soft corals (Dendronephthya spp.)
Soft corals have no hard skeleton. They inflate with water to filter food from the current, turning thilas and walls pink, purple and orange.
Gorgonian sea fan (Gorgonians)
Sea fans grow across the current like nets, filtering food from passing water. Large fans can be over a metre wide and take decades to grow.
Red-toothed triggerfish (Odonus niger)
Clouds of deep-blue triggerfish feed on plankton along reef walls and thilas, diving into holes when danger approaches. Look closely for the red teeth.
Spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus ocellatus)
Eagle rays glide through channels in small groups and dig for shellfish in the sand with their duck-like snouts.
Reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), Dhivehi: Madi
Reef mantas visit cleaning stations where small wrasse pick off parasites. The Maldives has the largest known population of reef mantas in the world, and they are a protected species.
Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
These tiny wrasse run the reef’s cleaning stations, picking parasites and dead skin off mantas, groupers and even sharks, which hold still and let them work.
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Dhivehi: Fehurihi
The largest fish in the ocean — a gentle filter-feeder of plankton. Whale sharks are a protected species in the Maldives.
Pygmy sweeper (glassfish) (Parapriacanthus ransonneti)
Dense, shimmering clouds of tiny sweepers shelter inside wrecks and caves by day and spread out to feed at night.
Lionfish (Pterois miles)
Lionfish drift slowly around wrecks and overhangs with their banded fins spread wide. The long spines are venomous — admire from a distance. Here they are native and kept in balance by predators.
Mangrove roots (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), Dhivehi: Bodu Kandoo
Prop roots hold the mud in place, slow waves and create a sheltered nursery. Mangroves such as Bodu Kandoo (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza) grow in wetlands and kilhi across the atolls.
Blacktip reef shark (young) (Carcharhinus melanopterus), Dhivehi: Miyaru
Young blacktip reef sharks use shallow lagoons and mangrove edges as nurseries, safe from bigger predators.
Stingray (Dasyatidae)
Rays glide over sand and seagrass hunting crabs and worms, often resting half-buried during the day. Taking rays is banned under the Fisheries Act.
Spotted garden eel (Heteroconger hassi)
Colonies of garden eels rise from their burrows to catch drifting plankton and vanish into the sand when anything approaches. Try getting close.
Prickly redfish (Thelenota ananas)
Sea cucumbers recycle the seabed, swallowing sand and returning it cleaner. Harvesting for export has made several species rare in the Maldives.

On land and in the air

Environmental laws

Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (1993)
The main environment law: protected areas, impact assessments, stopping harmful projects.
Protected Areas Regulation (2018)
Declaring and managing protected dive sites, sandbanks, mangroves and island reserves.
Protected Species Regulation (2021)
Bans catching, harming, keeping or trading protected animals — including sea turtles, manta rays, the whale shark and 200+ bird species.
Fisheries Act (2019)
Fishing licences and rules; bans taking sharks, rays, cetaceans and certain reef fish.
General Fisheries Regulation (2020)
Net and lagoon fishing rules; protects parrotfish, Napoleon wrasse, giant clams, black coral, rays and cetaceans.
Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation (2012)
Which developments need an impact study and approval.
Island vegetation and flora regulation (2022/R-92) (2022)
Cutting, uprooting and moving trees; planting and greenery on islands.
Waste Management Regulation (2013)
Collection, transport and treatment of waste to protect islands, lagoons and reefs.
International Trade Controls on Endangered Species (CITES) Act (2022)
Permits and controls for importing and exporting endangered plants and animals, in line with CITES.
Environmental Regulatory Authority (2025)
The Environmental Protection Agency was renamed the Environmental Regulatory Authority in August 2025 and placed under the Ministry of Tourism and Environment.

Summaries only, not legal advice. See the official Government Gazette.

Reading Maldivian place names

Thila
A submerged reef or pinnacle rising inside an atoll.
Giri
A small coral patch or reef close to the surface.
Faru
A reef, often part of the atoll rim.
Kandu
A channel through the reef rim.
Finolhu
A sandbank islet.
Kilhi
A pond or wetland on an island.
Falhu
A reef flat or lagoon.
Fushi
Island — as in Innafushi.

Concept prototype: copy is draft.