5 Day Dive Underwater Photo & Video Shoot

Our friend MTV Vj Nikhil arrived in the Maldives once again after almost 1 and half years to do a 5 day underwater photo and video shoot in association with Faunu Travels. The dives were amazing and the fun began as soon as he set foot on Male'.

Day 1

‘Not Kikki Reef’: The first dive of the trip for Nikhil to get used to being underwater again. The currents were not so bad. Nice drift. Managed to take a few good photos.

Day 2

‘MV Maldive Victory’: This was a dive that I don’t think Nikhil will forget nor will Siku. The currents were ripping when we jumped in. The visibility was not so good as well, but we managed to take some amazing photos on the wreck. The video of the shoot has been uploaded in youtube. The fun part was the safety stop at 5m!

Day 3

‘Banana Reef’: What can I say about Banana Reef? It’s always good to dive this site whether its good or bad visibility. Amazing fish life!

‘Nassimo Thila’: Visibility was not that good but the dive turned out really well. The reef was full of colourful soft corals and lots of fish. We ended up with a 31 minute deco-stop in the end! But it was well worth it!

Nazma, Beybe, Raxan, Miru and Sheri joined the team on this day of diving. Sheri, Raxan and Miru did their Discovery dive during the break between the dives. And also some breathtaking aerial acrobat demonstration was given by Riya, Beybe and Raxan.

Day 4: The MJ Tribute Dives

‘Bandos Rocks’: I don’t think we have seen so many glassfish and baitfish on the reef anywhere else. The whole reef was covered by them. Once they surround you, you can’t see more than a few inches front of you. It was amazing to see the tunas, jacks and dogtooths slamming into the wall of fish in a feeding frenzy. A few of the divers who joined us on this day paid their tribute to MJ by wearing one white glove. At about 38m (Yep! We love going deep!) Siku found a really old Nikonos IV 1983 version camera.

‘Maagiri’: Just an easy dive to relax and take some macro photos. The visibility was very poor during this dive. At the end of the dive we had a small Hawksbill Turtle come up and say hi to us. Too bad we had the macro lenses on the cameras during this dive.

‘Bandos House Reef’: The third and final dive of the day was done at Bandos House Reef to take more macro photos. The reef was full of life. The corals are very healthy and fish everywhere. Black-Tip Reef Sharks was seen hunting the school of Blue-Striped Snappers.

The MJ tribute dives were joined by Niyad, Hassu, Hassu Bro, Hasy, Hiyaa, Poppy & Muthu.

Day 5

‘Kuda Giri Wreck’: One of the best wreck dives we have done. The nice thing about this dive is that after you finish diving the wreck you can swim over to the reef and continue on. The reef has a lot of swim-throughs and caverns. We got some great photos at the wreck and also while finishing the dive on the reef.

‘Embudhu Cathedral’: On our way to this site we spotted a big pod of Dolphins and stopped the boat to try and snorkel with them. We had the best visibility we ever had during the last 4 days of diving on this dive. The current was mild and it was an easy and relaxing drift. Stopping every few minutes when Shaff stopped to take photos.

The 5 days of diving for the underwater shoot would not have been possible if not for the help from our friend Riya from Faunu Travels (who is also a member of the ADI Team) and also Murad from Bandos Island Resort.