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Go face to face with a Hammerhead Shark
Published by Paul Cowles, Editor
Country: Maldives 
The Experience
While being face to face with a shark is always a thrill, being face to faces with a school of sharks could be argued to be the pinnacle of shark experiences. Alas, there aren't too many places left where you have a good chance of running into a school of sharks on any given day. One of the few remaining is a little spot off the island of Kuramathi in the Maldives.
Chances are you've already seen photos from the Maldives. If you've ever drooled over a photo of a luxury bungalow on stilts, sitting over the water above a perfect turquoise lagoon, there's a chance you've already put the Maldives onto your bucket list. The particular island of Kuramathi has both the stilted water bungalows and beach houses. Everything on the island, from the time you step off the boat, is manicured to perfection. Every tree is tended, every visitor need addressed.
The island has two dive centres, both run by Rasdhoo Divers, and no matter where you stay on the island you're only 5 minutes walk away from the nearest dive centre. Rasdhoo Divers has been in business for more than a decade, and at time of writing has one of the most professional websites and dive programmes available in the Maldives.
The adventure of looking for hammerheads starts very early in the morning. You'll need to slide out of bed around four thirty and slither down the beach path to the dive centre in total darkness. The dive site, aptly called "Hammerhead Point", is only 5 minutes away by boat. The Rasdhoo Divers will let you know what your chances are on arrival as it is usually directly related to how many dive live aboard ships have camped out overnight for the same opportunity. The more human company you have, the less shark company you'll keep.
Once at the site, you'll dive in and head in one of two directions. The first strategy is to swim out into the blue at about 30m and zig zag back and forth off shore looking out and down. The second strategy is to swim back into the Atoll and watch for Hammerheads swimming parallel to the Rasdhoo island. During my three days of looking for Hammerheads, I tried the first strategy twice and the latter once.
You'll start your dive in pitch darkness and descend down through bioluminescent plankton. Personally, I felt as though I was floating through space with the plankton appearing as stars would in the sky. You'll spend most of your time at a 25-30m depth, so diving with Nitrox helps extend your dive time and increase your chance of encounter.
Scientists today believe the unique hammer shape of the head gives the shark 360-degree vision, allowing them to see above and below them at all times. Aside from this amazing vision, Hammerhead sharks have also been able to detect an electrical signal of half a billionth of a volt. All this to say, the Hammerhead shark will probably be aware of your presence long before you are aware of it.
The first day, I saw one hammerhead at about 75m down. As that was too deep to dive to as a recreational diver, I had to view from afar. At that distance I could see the unique 'sideways' swimming style of the Hammerhead but not the distinctive hammer shaped head.
The second day, I again saw one hammerhead at about 60m. This time I could make out the head shape. The third day, as luck would have it, we found multiple Hammerheads. The first swam up directly behind me. When I happened to turn around, there it was about 10m away, swimming at the same depth. As soon as I turned in its direction, it pulled a 180 degree turn and swam away. It was an incredible sighting - a true face to face with a large five to six hundred pound Hammerhead.
While we didn't encounter a large school on my days diving, there is always chance involved and the best time of year to see the entire school is between January and April.
Hammerheads have smaller mouths and have been found to do a lot of bottom-hunting. Attacks by Hammerheads on humans are rare, and they are regarded as relatively safe to dive with under most conditions.
By some counts, Hammerhead populations have dropped by 90% over the past 20 years. Keep in mind that Hammerheads give birth to live young and once a population has been depleted it takes a long time to recover. Someone at Rasdhoo Divers mentioned that a boat was captured by the Maldivian Coast Guard a couple years ago. On board were 75 Hammerheads - destined to be turned into shark-fin soup. Given the vast size of the Maldives and the very few ships employed by the Coast Guard, one can only assume that most of the illegal fishing goes by unwitnessed. Both great and the scalloped hammerhead are listed on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) 2008 Red List as endangered.
Chances are you've already seen photos from the Maldives. If you've ever drooled over a photo of a luxury bungalow on stilts, sitting over the water above a perfect turquoise lagoon, there's a chance you've already put the Maldives onto your bucket list. The particular island of Kuramathi has both the stilted water bungalows and beach houses. Everything on the island, from the time you step off the boat, is manicured to perfection. Every tree is tended, every visitor need addressed.
The island has two dive centres, both run by Rasdhoo Divers, and no matter where you stay on the island you're only 5 minutes walk away from the nearest dive centre. Rasdhoo Divers has been in business for more than a decade, and at time of writing has one of the most professional websites and dive programmes available in the Maldives.
The adventure of looking for hammerheads starts very early in the morning. You'll need to slide out of bed around four thirty and slither down the beach path to the dive centre in total darkness. The dive site, aptly called "Hammerhead Point", is only 5 minutes away by boat. The Rasdhoo Divers will let you know what your chances are on arrival as it is usually directly related to how many dive live aboard ships have camped out overnight for the same opportunity. The more human company you have, the less shark company you'll keep.
Once at the site, you'll dive in and head in one of two directions. The first strategy is to swim out into the blue at about 30m and zig zag back and forth off shore looking out and down. The second strategy is to swim back into the Atoll and watch for Hammerheads swimming parallel to the Rasdhoo island. During my three days of looking for Hammerheads, I tried the first strategy twice and the latter once.
You'll start your dive in pitch darkness and descend down through bioluminescent plankton. Personally, I felt as though I was floating through space with the plankton appearing as stars would in the sky. You'll spend most of your time at a 25-30m depth, so diving with Nitrox helps extend your dive time and increase your chance of encounter.
Scientists today believe the unique hammer shape of the head gives the shark 360-degree vision, allowing them to see above and below them at all times. Aside from this amazing vision, Hammerhead sharks have also been able to detect an electrical signal of half a billionth of a volt. All this to say, the Hammerhead shark will probably be aware of your presence long before you are aware of it.
The first day, I saw one hammerhead at about 75m down. As that was too deep to dive to as a recreational diver, I had to view from afar. At that distance I could see the unique 'sideways' swimming style of the Hammerhead but not the distinctive hammer shaped head.
The second day, I again saw one hammerhead at about 60m. This time I could make out the head shape. The third day, as luck would have it, we found multiple Hammerheads. The first swam up directly behind me. When I happened to turn around, there it was about 10m away, swimming at the same depth. As soon as I turned in its direction, it pulled a 180 degree turn and swam away. It was an incredible sighting - a true face to face with a large five to six hundred pound Hammerhead.
While we didn't encounter a large school on my days diving, there is always chance involved and the best time of year to see the entire school is between January and April.
Hammerheads have smaller mouths and have been found to do a lot of bottom-hunting. Attacks by Hammerheads on humans are rare, and they are regarded as relatively safe to dive with under most conditions.
By some counts, Hammerhead populations have dropped by 90% over the past 20 years. Keep in mind that Hammerheads give birth to live young and once a population has been depleted it takes a long time to recover. Someone at Rasdhoo Divers mentioned that a boat was captured by the Maldivian Coast Guard a couple years ago. On board were 75 Hammerheads - destined to be turned into shark-fin soup. Given the vast size of the Maldives and the very few ships employed by the Coast Guard, one can only assume that most of the illegal fishing goes by unwitnessed. Both great and the scalloped hammerhead are listed on the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) 2008 Red List as endangered.
When to Go to Hammerhead Diving
Given the immense pressures on our oceans, locating a site for a potential hammerhead meeting is becoming more and more of a challenge. Very few sites are able to offer reliable sightings all year round, making expeditions difficult to plan. The dive site Rasdhoo Madivaru near the Maldivian resort island of Kuramathi is one of these rare and special places.
The Republic of Maldives is an island country south west of India formed by twenty-six atolls. Each atoll is made up of a circular groups of coral islands. In all, the Maldives features 1,192 islands, of which only a couple hundred are inhabited by people. The islands of the Maldives can be found on posters and coffee table books alike, courtesy their picture perfect definition of tropical island paradise. With an average ground level of just 1.5 metres above sea level, it is the lowest country on the planet and at risk of being flooded with global warming.
In order to get the resort island, you'll need to fly into the Maldives's capital and largest city Malé. With a population of roughly two hundred thousand people squished into roughly 1 square mile, Malé is the second most densely populated island worldwide. It is possible to reach Malé from Qatar, Dubai and India. If already visiting southern India, it is possible to fly across from Trivandrum within a few hours for roughly $250 USD return.
In order to get from Malé to Kuramathi, you'll need to take a sea plane like the ones from Trans Maldivian Airways. They only fly during the day, so most travellers try to time their flights into Malé such that they don't have to stay overnight in the crowded town and can instead move directly to their island hideaway. Giving that you'll be diving you also need to consider that an overnight in Malé on the way back, may cut another day from your dive itinerary due to your sea plane back to Malé.
The Republic of Maldives is an island country south west of India formed by twenty-six atolls. Each atoll is made up of a circular groups of coral islands. In all, the Maldives features 1,192 islands, of which only a couple hundred are inhabited by people. The islands of the Maldives can be found on posters and coffee table books alike, courtesy their picture perfect definition of tropical island paradise. With an average ground level of just 1.5 metres above sea level, it is the lowest country on the planet and at risk of being flooded with global warming.
In order to get the resort island, you'll need to fly into the Maldives's capital and largest city Malé. With a population of roughly two hundred thousand people squished into roughly 1 square mile, Malé is the second most densely populated island worldwide. It is possible to reach Malé from Qatar, Dubai and India. If already visiting southern India, it is possible to fly across from Trivandrum within a few hours for roughly $250 USD return.
In order to get from Malé to Kuramathi, you'll need to take a sea plane like the ones from Trans Maldivian Airways. They only fly during the day, so most travellers try to time their flights into Malé such that they don't have to stay overnight in the crowded town and can instead move directly to their island hideaway. Giving that you'll be diving you also need to consider that an overnight in Malé on the way back, may cut another day from your dive itinerary due to your sea plane back to Malé.
Odds n' Ends
Staying in Malé for the night is typically a half or a third as expensive as staying on a 'tourist island'. If you are getting into the Maldives mid afternoon you may wish to overnight in Malé to save on costs.
The Maldives is primarily Muslim, so other than the time you spend on your 'tourist island' you should be considerate and respect local culture with your attire.
Given the high number of people who transit through Malé, the number of cons on the street is quite high. You'll be asked to visit local souvenir shops and will find it hard to get a legitimate recommendation from anyone.
If you are diving while in the Maldives, Kuramathi is an ideal location to base out of. It has one of the Maldives only Hyperbaric chambers on site and besides the fantastic local dive sites it also has the North Ari Atoll within reach at just over 2 hours by boat.
The Maldives is primarily Muslim, so other than the time you spend on your 'tourist island' you should be considerate and respect local culture with your attire.
Given the high number of people who transit through Malé, the number of cons on the street is quite high. You'll be asked to visit local souvenir shops and will find it hard to get a legitimate recommendation from anyone.
If you are diving while in the Maldives, Kuramathi is an ideal location to base out of. It has one of the Maldives only Hyperbaric chambers on site and besides the fantastic local dive sites it also has the North Ari Atoll within reach at just over 2 hours by boat.
Places to Stay Nearby
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Veligandu Island is a haven of invaluable comfort and pleasure. There are a few places - even in the Maldives - that can compare to ... 10 miles away
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