Villa Haven
Villa Haven
South Ari Atoll Maldives
The atoll hosts a diverse array of shark species, with sightings of at least seven different varieties and seasonal Manta Ray sightings.
diveOceanus Villa Haven
Welcome to the enchanting underwater Haven of South Ari Atoll, where you can encounter the ocean's gentle giants, whale sharks, and the graceful manta rays that frequent these waters.
Exploring South Ari Atoll is a diving adventure like no other. Drift alongside vibrant reefs, explore the bustling grey reef shark cleaning stations, and marvel at the extensive table corals and lush soft coral gardens at our deeper dive sites. Each dive reveals a new facet of this extraordinary underwater haven.
- Daily Scheduled Complimentary Snorkeling
- Daily Scheduled Snorkeling Trips
- Pool Training Dives or Refreshers
- Daily Scheduled Boat Dives
- Explore Manta Snorkeling Trips
- Learn to Freedive
- Private Speedboat Trips
- Learn to Scuba Dive
- Mask, Snorkels & Fins
- Equipment for Scuba Dives
- Nitrox Availability
- Freediving Equipment
Our Most Popular Snorkeling Experiences
Complimentary
Join our in-house marine biologist or dive masters for an educational tour to learn more about marine habitats and the importance of conservation.
The Cove is just a 5-minute boat ride from Haven, and we offer a complimentary shuttle service for your convenience. Located in a bay-like area, the Cove provides protection during rough weather.You can expect to see common fish species in this area, including batfish, blacktip sharks, and turtles.
Daily complimentary with snorkeling gear From: 1000 to 11:00hrs from 1430 to 1530hrs Dive Master supervised
As the sun sets, the entire reef transforms. The daytime hustle and bustle of fish and reef dwellers gives way to a vibrant nocturnal world.
Join us to witness some of these incredible changes, such as parrotfish that have made their own cocoons to sleep, along with the vibrant squids and octopuses that emerge at night. Discover how coral provides refuge for hundreds of species of fish.
Availability: Daily, by advance booking only Minimum: 4 pax
From: 1730 hrs to 1915 hrs
Villa Haven, located in the South Ari Atoll Marine Protected Area, is renowned for its stunning dive sites and whale shark sightings.
SAMPA serves as a crucial habitat for post-juvenile whale sharks, which rarely appear once they exceed 8m. Some sharks also follow annual migration patterns, returning to specific atolls for seasonal feeding. Few places in the world offer year-round whale shark sightings, and we’re proud to be one of them.
Availability: Daily, by advance booking only, from 09:00hrs to 12:00hrs.
Turtle species are protected by law in the Maldives. The most common species are Hawksbill turtles and Green turtles, both classified as critically endangered worldwide. Thanks to species protection laws, turtle populations thrive within the atolls.
Join us on this excursion to explore the vibrant marine life, including the most common fish species of the Maldives, during this exciting turtle trip!
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays Minimum: 6 pax
From: 1400hrs to 1630hrs and knowledgeable diver.
Thanks to our prime location, we have convenient access access to manta ray hotspots throughout the year, across both monsoon seasons. During the Northeast Monsoon (December to May), manta rays are often found on the west side of the atoll. In the Southwest Monsoon (June to November), they shift to the east side. This seasonal migration pattern offers a unique opportunity to snorkel with manta rays year- round! Experience the beauty of these magnificent creatures in their natural environment.
Excursion Details
Available Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays Time: 900 hrs to 1200 hrs
Minimum Participants: 6
This private, snorkeling experience is designed to offer a unique adventure, perfect for exploring the outer reefs and tranquil inner lagoons of the atoll.
Guided by our expert team, you’ll visit potential sites where you may encounter dolphins, turtles, manta rays, or even whale sharks—all in a single outing. Swim among vibrant marine life, uncover hidden gems beneath the waves, and create unforgettable memories together in this fully personalized experience.
Availability: Daily, by advance booking only From: 900hrs to 1400hrs
Up to: 4 Pax
Our Most Popular Scuba Experiences
Bubble Maker Dives offer an unforgettable
one-on-one underwater experience designed for children aged 8 to 9 years olds. Led by certified instructors, these engaging sessions introduce young explorers to the exhilaration of scuba diving within a safe and controlled environment.Filled with activities, games, and exciting underwater challenges including fish and coral discovery, Bubble Maker Dives nurture a lifelong passion for marine exploration in the youngest of adventurers.Bubble Maker Dives serve as the foundational layer for children in their scuba diving exploration, providing an impactful underwater journey.
Open Water Diver course is your passport to the incredible underwater world. This comprehensive certification program teaches you the essential knowledge and skills needed to become a confident and independent scuba diver.
Under the guidance of certified instructors, you’ll learn dive theory, practice critical skills in confined water, and complete a series of open water dives. By the end of the course, you’ll be certified to dive up to 18 meters (60 feet) deep, and your license is for life, allowing you to explore underwater wonders anywhere in the world. Whether you’re a beginner with no prior experience or an aspiring diver, the PADI Open Water Diver course is your gateway to thrilling underwater adventures and a lifelong love for diving.
Discover Scuba Diving offers a captivating introduction to the underwater world without committing to a full scuba diving course.
Guided by certified instructors, participants learn essential skills and safety procedures, making it perfect for beginners and the curious. It’s a thrilling first step into underwater adventure.
Skills are practiced in shallow waters, and maximum dive depth with an instructor is 12 meters. No swimming skills required.
The Advanced Open Water Diver course is your next step into the exciting world of scuba diving. Unlike traditional classroom courses, this program is designed to be fun and engaging. It doesn’t involve quizzes or exams; instead, it focuses on gaining practical experience and expanding your underwater skills. Under the guidance of certified instructors, you’ll complete five adventure dives, including a deep dive training to 30 meters and a navigation dive. Additionally, you have the opportunity to choose and try one dive from specialty options like Nitrox, night diving, or wreck diving.
The Advanced Open Water certification not only broadens your diving horizons but also enhances your skills, making you a more skilled and knowledgeable diver.
Scuba Diver Certification provides a convenient gateway to the world of scuba diving, tailored for individuals with time constraints.
Led by certified instructors, you’ll gain dive theory knowledge, practice essential skills in shallow waters, and complete two supervised dives up to 12 meters deep.
Although less extensive than the Open Water Diver course, this certification allows diving under supervision and offers the option to upgrade to a full open water course, providing additional skill training and dives for future holidays.
The Enriched Air Nitrox Diver course is a specialized certification that opens up new possibilities in scuba diving. This course teaches you how to dive with enriched air nitrox, which contains a higher oxygen content than regular air.
Enriched air allows for longer no-decompression dive times, providing more opportunities to explore underwater wonders.
Throughout the course, you’ll learn how to analyze, plan, and execute nitrox dives safely. You will also discover the benefits of diving with Enriched Air Nitrox, while utilizing a complete air profile to ensure safer dives.
In summary, diving with nitrox is comparable to having an airbag in a car – it enhances safety
View our dive sites on google earth
South Ari Atoll stands out as one of the premier locations in the Maldives for encountering majestic whale sharks and manta rays. Nestled within the expansive 42 km² South Ari Marine Protected Area (SAMPA), this protected zone is globally recognized as a vital habitat for whale sharks, making it a key spot for these gentle giants year-round.
Manta rays start to gather in South Ari Atoll from December to late April, and sightings can be observed throughout our region.The vastness of South Ari Atoll offers a stunning variety of marine life, including spinner dolphins and often bottlenose dolphins. There are also frequent sightings of pilot whales.
Diving in this atoll is an out-of-this-world experience. You can explore grey reef shark cleaning stations, extensive top reefs adorned with table corals, and the unbelievable soft coral growth at our deeper dive sites.The Atoll provides a variety of dive sites, including reefs for leisurely drifts, thrilling channel dives, and exploration of Thilas and Giris. Marine life is abundant, with vibrant hard and soft coral formations, making it a truly unique and remarkable atoll to explore.
A Marine Protected Dive Site since 1995, Kuda Rah Thila is approximately 20-35 minutes away from Villa Haven. Recommended for Advanced and Open Water divers, the shallowest part of the thila is 14-15 meters in depth.
To reach the dive site, the entry is coordinated and divers usually drift into the dive site. It is covered with bluestripe snapper, sometimes so densely that these fishes dominate the scene. The ambiance on the dive site is remarkable, with Giant Trevallies and Jack fishes hunting in the blue, while at times grey reef sharks are also observed. The eastern side of the dive site has some of the bigger overhangs and also a small archway. Magnificent giant gorgonian fans are common at depths ranging from 25 to 30 meters.
Bodufinolhu Thila is reached within 15-20 minutes from Villa Haven. This beautiful submerged reef is located on the outer reef, approximately 20 meters away from the main reef. The entry is done on the main reef, and depending on the current, divers will be navigated towards the Thila. As you crossover from the main reef, lots of batfish come to greet divers. The bottom is sandy, and often there are whitetip reef sharks resting on the bottom, as well as stingrays.
The very top of the Thila is about 25 meters, resembling a small reef dune in the blue. Grey reef sharks and silvertip sharks patrol this area. The Thila serves as a cleaning station for many pelagic fishes due to its location out in the blue. Many shark species, manta rays, and other species come here to groom or take advantage of the cleaner fish that inhabit this area. Sharks can be seen hovering while the cleaner fish eat the parasites from them. Sometimes, sharks will open their mouths and hover, allowing the cleaner fish to go inside their mouths.
Bodufinolhu Thila is an eventful place where whale sharks, mantas, and schools of devil rays are seen in groups. A Nitrox profile is highly recommended for this dive to catch more bottom time. Towards the end of the dive, divers can navigate towards the main reef and drift along for the safety stop. The top of the main reef is covered with table corals and is also an eventful reef
Hurolhi Corner is approximately 30-40 minutes from Villa Haven. The dive site is best experienced with a medium drifting current. Divers jump away from the channel on the main reef and start drifting. As the site faces the open ocean, pelagic fishes are very common here. Schools of batfish can be seen on entry and also in the mid-section of the dive site. Grey reef sharks patrol the sandy bottom and sometimes venture into shallow waters when the currents are just right. Juvenile Grey Reef sharks are also observed at this dive site. Napoleon wrasse, stingrays, and eagle rays are very common. The dive is recommended for advanced divers, and a nitrox profile will add more bottom time, which is much needed for this type of dive.
Maamigili Bayru, known for its frequent sightings of whale sharks that patrol the main reef all year round. The bay offers a higher probability of encountering these magnificent creatures than anywhere else in the Maldives. The very long (500m) outside reef of Maamigili Island is sometimes prone to drift dives, where it’s easy to navigate. From the top of the reef (2-5 m) to the sandy bottom (30 m), the descent is quite steep, except at the corner leading into the atoll. This area is more gradual with many overhangs adorned with soft coral. The reef is always home to many large fish: tunas, barracudas, snappers, groupers, Napoleon wrasse, and many more, making this area very interesting. Along this reef, you can also see whit tip sharks resting on the sandy bottom or cruising around, as well as stingrays, eagle rays.
Manta Point, located approximately 45 minutes by boat from Villa Haven, is a gathering point for Manta Rays, which come to feed on the plankton-rich waters between December and April. Some of the adult manta rays can reach a disc size of 2-5 meters giants and have distinctive special markings on their bellies, making each manta unique like fingerprints. The Mantas are quite used to divers; many make close passes within inches of divers. This reef top starts from 2-8 meters and gradually descends to 10 meters. After 10 meters, most of the reef drops vertically down to 25-30 meters. Some overhangs of all sizes line the north side. Out of manta season, the dive site is still worth visiting due to its abundance and richness in fish life. Along the reef top, you can always find Morays, Scorpionfish, Octopus, and Napoleon Wrasse. Triggerfish sometimes seem to obstruct the view of the surface due to the high number present on this reef. Along with Mantas, other pelagic species can be found, such as White-tip Shark and Stingrays, which stay near the sandy bottom at the base of the reef. On this dive, pay attention to the water off the reef; look into the blue, where you can also see Mantas flying past, along with large Tuna patrolling the reef water.
Basic
Freediver course
The Basic Freediver course serves as a foundational segment within the broader Freediver course. It is designed to impart fundamental principles, breath-hold techniques, and optimal body positioning in a controlled pool or confined water environment.
Skills & Perspectives
The academic segment involves self-paced study through Freediver eLearning, complemented by hands-on training in confined water.
To enroll, participants must meet the minimum age requirement of 12 years.
- Goals
- Achieve a static apnea duration of 90 seconds.
- Accomplish a 25-meter (80 feet) underwater swim.
- Dynamic apnea.
- Technique used for the swim: Dynamic apnea.
Freediver
Course
Learn the art of freediving with our comprehensive course designed to master breath-hold techniques, encompassing static and dynamic apnea in confined water. Our aim is to help you achieve a 90-second static apnea and cover a distance of 25 meters using dynamic apnea. You’ll also delve into free immersion and constant weight freedives in open water, striving to reach a depth of 10 meters. Throughout the course, you’ll learn essential buddy procedures for safe diving practices. Participants will have the flexibility to engage in independent study through eLearning or class sessions.
To enroll, participants must be at least 15 years old.
- Goals
- Master breath-hold techniques static and dynamic apnea.
- Achieve a 90-second static apnea duration.
- Cover a distance of 25 meters using dynamic apnea.
- Reach a depth of 10 meters during constant weight freedives.
- Villa Haven
- Villa Haven
- Dhiffushi South Ari Atoll
- 00140 Rep. of Maldives
- Price list 2025
- Menu Price list 2025
- Resort Offers & Packages
- Villa Haven