One of the beautiful diving sites Maldives is the HP Reef, found in North-Male Atoll. It is also known as Girifushi Thila or Rainbow Reef due to the variety of vividly coloured corals covering its floor. There’s an overwhelming diversity of astonishing formations in it: crevasses, magnificent grottoes, big boulders and an immense vertical chimney extending for twenty five meters high that allows swimmers through (Coulter, 1998)

Bright blue, orange, yellow, gorgonians, sea fans, and sea whips make up most of the HP reef, while numbers of small white tip reef sharks, Barracudas, eagle rays and dog-toothed tunas crowd the same place in the same dive. The HP Reef is an all-time dive site; it has dives reaching 40m in depth making it suitable for people who want to know a lot of mysteries undersea. At present, this is a Secure Marine Area in the island nation of the Maldives.

HP Reef aka Rainbow Reef, North Male Atoll

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Best Time To Visit HP Reef

Best Time To Visit HP Reef
Because it is located in the tropical monsoon climate region, the weather in Maldives is quite predictable - distinguished only by the wet and dry seasons. The wet season sets in usually around the month of May through September whereas October to April is honored with a beautiful dry season that maintains an average temperature of between thirty degrees centigrade to thirty-three degrees centigrade. Despite HP Reef being a year-round diving destination, the optimal time to visit it is between October and April owing to its unfavourable weather involving heavy precipitation.

Calm & Composed Seas

This season is characterized by calm waters. It gives you an opportunity to take boat trips that you will enjoy and have pictures of your liking while enjoying a smooth sailing. The average sea temperatures should be around 27°C to 30°C which makes water sports great for this month.

Azure Waters

Normally, the high visibility is conditioned by deep diving with a range of 30 meters and the water seems even more azure this season. The level of plankton also seems to be under control with great choices of sightings and thus allowing for easy identification of sea creatures by divers.

Vibrant Marine Life

The sea teaming with an assortment of ocean animals such as baby sharks gives an illusion of speedier motion this time around, justifying increased sightings. It is the best time to observe mass migration of whale sharks and manta rays in April and May, off the coast of Maldives.

Tips for Diving in HP Reef

Tips for Diving in HP Reef

Diving is among the best things to do in Maldives, and you should never miss a chance to experience it, but be warned: the lack of established guidelines remains its major challenge. In other words, while other industries have some form of certification necessary for maintaining safety measures, diving doesn’t. The saline content in deep waters found within these regions has the potential of draining you even up to dehydration levels if proper care is not taken. Lastly, at HP Reef Maldives there are underwater photographers who take pictures of different items found there including coral reefs, fish species among others alongside modeling figures.

  • Diving is hard because the sea current is stronger than it looks. Always make sure you know how to dive before trying.


  • Be cautious for red flag signals along the beach, they could be streaming upwards at times. These serve as an indication that it is dangerous to dive in this area due to fast moving water sections suggested by the jetty.

How To Reach HP Reef

How To Reach HP Reef

Snuggled between Himmafushi and Girifushi is the HP Reef, which can be reached by speedboat. It is only ten to fifteen minutes away.

The offer of the trip is everyday by the majority of the resorts to HP Reef Maldives, therefore ensure you book one day earlier for diving lessons and peaceable view. For a chance to see the splendid marine life you can take as less as fifteen to twenty minutes based on the package and where you select to go for your holiday and vacation.

Restaurants Near HP Reef Maldives

Restaurants Near HP Reef Maldives

The Lighthouse Restaurant

This fine dining restaurant is in Baros Island Maldives, and it provides panoramic views of the Indian Ocean waters with various international foods.

Ilaafathi Restaurant

This is a well known restaurant that occupies space in the Bandos Maldives, having a beach front set up where varieties of fresh seafood that incorporate Maldivian specialties are prepared.

Huvan Restaurant

This iconic restuarant is situated on the banks of Kurumba Maldives with amazing sunset views and boasts a varied menu that can cater to both western and Asian styles of styling.

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