Location         

• Vaavu Atoll

Distance         

• approximately 1 hour Speedboat ride from Male' Velana International Airport
• approximately 3.25 hours by public ferry from Malé

Land Area      

• Spans about 750 meters by 250 meters

Population     

• Approximately 500 people

Importance 

• huge bikini beach east and west side of the island
• Snorkel and dive paradise with lots of sharks
• famous nurse shark spot
• Many excursion opportunities
• Sting rays seen every day at the beach

Information about the Atoll

Vaavu Atoll is located in the south of Kaafu Atoll. The atoll is characterized by its unique shape, which looks like a boot. The area of the entire atoll is approximately 15.6 hectares. In the entire atoll there are 5 inhabited native islands, 3 resort islands and 13 uninhabited islands. Felidhoo is the capital of the atoll. The total population of Vaavu Atoll is 2589 people. The Vattaru Atoll is partly part of the Vaavu Atoll and is completely uninhabited and can only be reached by boat. The atoll is particularly popular with fishermen but is also a dream for any snorkeler or diver. Special dive sites include

• "Fulidhoo Caves" (sloping reef with table corals; wide overhangs; 15-30 meters deep; caves; reef is home to small reef fish, moray eels, bumphead wrasse, batfish, reef sharks, rays and much more)
• "Kunaavashi Kandu" (larger overhangs and caves that start at a depth of 10 meters and extend into the channel to a depth of 30 meters; along the edge of the reef you will mainly find grey reef sharks and white tip sharks; on the south side you will also find soft and hard corals as well as larger schools of fish)
• "Coral Garden" (reef life; has names such as Floral Garden, Teabag-Giri or Aquarium. At low tide, the reef stretches from 1 meter to more than 20 meters at certain points. To see: Blue-striped or humpback snapper, yellow-banded fusiliers, mackerel or sergeant major cracked bass).
• "Farukolhu Kandu" (Fulidhoo Channel; reef is located on a shallow channel, between 8 and 30 meters; variety of creatures, such as nudibranch, blennies or aldler rays and sharks)
• "Miyaru Kandu" (suitable for advanced divers because there are sometimes strong currents; also known as the shark channel because sharks can be seen in the middle of the channel)
• "Kadhaavaru Kandu (Golden Wall)" (mixture of an outer channel where big fish can be seen and the inner reef wall, with a lot of colorful corals and fish; at the mouth you can see sharks and big fish passing by; inside the channel you can see all kinds of fish)
• "Fotteyo Kandu" (for many, one of the best dive sites; strong currents; deep diving; home to many sharks, schools of gray reef sharks, white tip reef sharks and also hammerheads)
• "Vaggiri" (especially for those who want to see small creatures; to be seen: Anemonefish, groupers, frogfish, ghost pipefish, batfish, stonefish and scorpionfish)