Underwater Photo Location: Guraidhoo Corner

This site lies on the east side of the South Male’ Atoll, outside of the reef at the south side of the channel mouth. Nearby islands are Losfushi, Guraidhoo and Kandooma. The reef top drops from ten meters (33 feet) to 30 meters (100 feet) and more; there are grottoes and projections just about everywhere. The edges of the channel drop down to a depth of 30 meters (100 feet). Large isolated coral blocks grow, from the scarp of the reef upward.
Guraidhoo Corner is a drift dive. It is therefore necessary to be quite an experienced diver on the reef; all the more so because there are powerful vertical currents all around the site at certain hours of the day. The direction of the principal horizontal current is towards the interior of the atoll. At the edge of the channel, which is also the deepest point, one comes drifting along the reef. The dive comes to an end along the wall of the channel or at the edge of the reef.
Because of its location outside of the reef, and because of the water movements and the topography, this place is destined to be the home of larger fish.
On the edges of the channel, which is to say, at depths ranging from 25 to 30 meters (80 to 100 feet), the best chances are that one will be able to observe a great many gray reef sharks (Carcharthinus amblyrhynochos) and the local school of eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari). The latter tend to swim in the open ocean, at a considerable distance from the seabed. In this same spot large hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), whale sharks (Rincodon typus) and sailfish (istiophorus platypterus) have been sighted frequently. Guraidhoo corner is also home to large schools of oriental sweetlips (Plectorhyncus orientalis), bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes), and large black-and-white striped snappers (Macolor niger). And of course the large and friendly humphead wrasses (Cheilinus undulatus) are ever present.
Facts about Guraidhoo Corner