Nilandhoo Kandu Dive Site: Sharks and Channel Diving

Nilandhoo Kandu is a dive site in Huvadhoo Atoll (Gaafu Alifu), Maldives.

See below for all liveaboards that dive Nilandhoo Kandu.

The liveaboard shown opposite is the highest customer rated liveaboard diving Nilandhoo Kandu, scoring 9.6/10. You can easily book the Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure liveaboard using this link.

Nilandhoo Kandu is a Huvadhoo channel offering sharks, eagle rays, tuna and fast drift conditions. Divers position near the channel mouth for the pelagic action, then follow the current towards a planned blue-water finish. Best suited to confident current divers, it rewards good positioning with close pelagic action.

The liveaboard shown opposite is the second highest customer rated liveaboard diving Nilandhoo Kandu, scoring 8.5/10. You can easily book the Horizon 3 Liveaboard using this link.

Maldives liveaboards that dive Nilandhoo Kandu

Below are all the dive liveaboards currently found for Nilandhoo Kandu in the Maldives, sorted from highest to lowest customer liveaboard rating, with unrated liveaboards shown last.

7 liveaboards dive Nilandhoo Kandu Show liveaboards

Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 9.6/10

SDE Rating: 85%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure Liveaboard: 85%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure liveaboard are ([Diving:8/10] + [Cabin:8/10] + [Boat:8/10] + [Dining:9/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:9/10] = 42/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure liveaboard is calculated as 42/60 = 85% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £233.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 10·Bathrooms: 11·Guests: 20

Length: 30 m·Beam: 8 m

Dive certification:Open Water Diver
Logged dives:No minimum number of logged dives

Horizon 3 Liveaboard

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 8.5/10

SDE Rating: 76%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Horizon 3 Liveaboard: 76%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Horizon 3 Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Horizon 3 Liveaboard are ([Diving:10/10] + [Cabin:4/10] + [Boat:8/10] + [Dining:10/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:7/10] = 39/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Horizon 3 Liveaboard is calculated as 39/60 = 76% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £145.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 12·Bathrooms: 12·Guests: 25

Length: 36 m·Beam: 9.5 m

Dive certification:Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 40 logged dives

Felicity Liveaboard

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 8.9/10

SDE Rating: 70%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Felicity Liveaboard: 70%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Felicity Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Felicity Liveaboard are ([Diving:7/10] + [Cabin:5/10] + [Boat:9/10] + [Dining:8/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:5/10] = 34/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Felicity Liveaboard is calculated as 34/60 = 70% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £162.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 13·Bathrooms: 13·Guests: 26

Length: 41 m·Beam: 10.31 m

Dive certification:Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 10 logged dives

Black Manta Liveaboard

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 9.5/10

SDE Rating: 86%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Black Manta Liveaboard: 86%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Black Manta Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Black Manta Liveaboard are ([Diving:9/10] + [Cabin:6/10] + [Boat:9/10] + [Dining:10/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:9/10] = 43/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Black Manta Liveaboard is calculated as 43/60 = 86% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £154.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 16·Bathrooms: 16·Guests: 32

Length: 42 m·Beam: 9 m

Dive certification:Advanced Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 30 logged dives

Ariyal Liveaboard

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 9.0/10

SDE Rating: 70%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Ariyal Liveaboard: 70%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Ariyal Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Ariyal Liveaboard are ([Diving:7/10] + [Cabin:5/10] + [Boat:8/10] + [Dining:8/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:7/10] = 35/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Ariyal Liveaboard is calculated as 35/60 = 70% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £163.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 13·Bathrooms: 13·Guests: 26

Length: 45 m·Beam: 10 m

Dive certification:Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 3-5 logged dives

Adora Liveaboard

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: 8.7/10

SDE Rating: 72%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Adora Liveaboard: 72%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Adora Liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Adora Liveaboard are ([Diving:10/10] + [Cabin:8/10] + [Boat:8/10] + [Dining:4/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:5/10] = 35/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Adora Liveaboard is calculated as 35/60 = 72% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £154.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 11·Bathrooms: 11·Guests: 21

Length: 123 ft·Beam: 34 ft

Dive certification:Advanced Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 30 logged dives

Maldives Legend Odyssey

Maldives

Liveaboard Rated: Not rated yet

SDE Rating: 83%

How SDE Liveaboard Rating works for the Maldives Legend Odyssey Liveaboard: 83%

The SDE Liveaboard Rating for the Maldives Legend Odyssey liveaboard works by taking the six individual SDE Liveaboard Rating scores, with each one being scored out of 10 and then adding them together. For the Maldives Legend Odyssey liveaboard are ([Diving:8/10] + [Cabin:9/10] + [Boat:7/10] + [Dining:8/10] + [Drinks:0/10] + [Non-diver:9/10] = 41/60). This total is compared to the maximum possible score of 60/60 to turn it into an overall percentage – which for the Maldives Legend Odyssey liveaboard is calculated as 41/60 = 83% SDE Liveaboard Rating.

This makes it easy to compare different liveaboards at a glance. See a more detailed explanation of how SDE Liveaboard Rating works together with all dive liveaboards ranked by SDE Liveaboard Rating .

From £233.00 GBP /day

Cabins: 11·Bathrooms: 11·Guests: 22

Length: 30 m·Beam: 6.6 m

Dive certification:Open Water Diver
Logged dives:Minimum 3-5 logged dives

Nilandhoo Kandu Diver Details

Useful training for this site
Advanced Open Water Diver, Drift Diver, Good buoyancy control skills, Enriched Air (Nitrox) Diver

Suggested equipment
3mm wetsuit, Dive computer, Surface marker buoy (SMB), Torch, Nitrox

Dive type
Channel, Drift, Pelagic

Entry
Boat

Minimum recommended experience
Advanced

Maldives; Nilandhoo Kandu Dive Site Details

Water type
Salt

Water temperature
26.0°C–30.0°C

Best time to dive Nilandhoo Kandu
Year-round; December to April generally brings drier weather and strong visibility, while manta and whale-shark patterns vary by atoll and monsoon.

Depth
10.0m–35.0m

Visibility
20.0m–40.0m

Current strength
Strong

Location
0.635, 73.465

Maldives’ Nilandhoo Kandu dive site map and location

The latitude and longitude for Maldives’ Nilandhoo Kandu dive site are: 0.635, 73.465

Open in Google Maps

Nilandhoo Kandu Liveaboard Dive Site

Nilandhoo Kandu is a Huvadhoo channel offering sharks, eagle rays, tuna and fast drift conditions. Divers position near the channel mouth for the pelagic action, then follow the current towards a planned blue-water finish.

This is a site where the dive plan matters as much as the name on the itinerary. Visibility, current direction and wildlife activity change with the monsoon and tide, so depth and route should be agreed during the briefing rather than assumed from a previous visit. Divers should stay close to the guide, protect the coral with controlled buoyancy and leave space around cleaning stations, sharks and rays.

Liveaboard access is particularly useful because the crew can time the dive around the tide, enter before other boats cluster at the channel mouth and substitute another site when the current is unsuitable. Night diving is normally scheduled at a more sheltered reef or lagoon unless the operator specifically confirms this site. This makes the wider itinerary more valuable than treating every published stop as guaranteed: an experienced cruise director can change the order to improve both safety and the quality of the encounter.

The site combines well with Gema out (blue water dive) and Gemanafushi Beru, offering a useful change of topography or marine-life focus within Huvadhoo Atoll (Gaafu Alifu). A dive computer and surface marker buoy are sensible on every Maldives itinerary. Nitrox helps with repetitive diving when the diver is qualified and the boat supplies it; a reef hook should only be used where the operator and local rules allow.

PADI’s Maldives dive-site guidance gives broader context for Maldives diving. You can also compare Maldives liveaboards and check which itineraries include this site.

The Nilandhoo Kandu dive site in the Maldives is visited by seven dive liveaboards. The highest customer-rated liveaboard scores 9.6 out of 10. Prices across these liveaboards start from £145.00.

If you want a more intimate experience, the smallest liveaboard in this selection of the Nilandhoo Kandu dive liveaboards is Maldives Legend Sea Pleasure, which has 10 cabins, accommodates up to 20 guests, and is 30 m in length. If you prefer a larger boat, Black Manta Liveaboard, which is 42 m in length, has 16 cabins, and accommodates up to 32 guests.

To dive the Nilandhoo Kandu dive site, the minimum diver certification ranges from Open Water Diver to Advanced Open Water Diver, and logged dive requirements range from no minimum number of logged dives to minimum 40 logged dives. So be careful when you choose a liveaboard that has the Nilandhoo Kandu dive site on its itinerary, to make sure both your dive certification and level of experience match its minimum levels.