South Ari Dive Center

First of all, it is important to know that the South Ari Dive Center is a Dive Center - and NOT a hotel. So you are accommodated at at one of a few other hotels on the island. You do NOT stay at the South Ari Center. I was accommodated at the Banyan Villa, which was quite a nice, but simple hotel. But they also use other hotels. So I'm actually reviewing the Banyan Villa here: The hotel is small and familiar, the host is very welcoming and staff is really caring and helpful. I booked "full board & all inclusive" and was a bit astonished that this only included water, tea and (instant) coffee. So I complained and after a short discussion I got all sodas for free. That was OK for me, but I believe it's important to know. The food was a bit repetitive and not too exciting, but OK. Again, service was good. Rooms are spacious, beds are all good and A/C is working well. (I had to change rooms once in between, so I know more than one room ;-)) The room was only cleaned twice over my one-week stay.

Booked with South Ari Dive, who were a fantastic dive centre with everything needed for a perfect diving holiday. Great friendly service, superb value and local dive site knowledge. They took us snorkelling with Mantas during our surface intervals which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience The accommodation is in a local guest house (not at the dive centre but 2 mins walk away). We stayed at Manta which was basic but pleasant and comfortable. Recommend B&B basis as the restaurants on Dhangethi are cheap and convenient. Service was okay though English could have been better and would have appreciated our towels to be changed for clean ones a couple of times during a 9 day stay.

One of the top things on my wife and my bucket list was to see manta rays and whale sharks. So after doing some research and finding that the Maldives is one of the best places in the world to scuba dive and snorkel with these gentle giants, we booked our trip. The South Ari Atoll is one of the most popular places to spot mantas and whale sharks all year round. So we booked a 5 day scuba diving package with South Ari Dive Center on Dhangethi Island. It was our favorite week of diving. In addition to seeing incredible manta rays and whale sharks, we saw plenty of turtles, eels, sharks, and other sea life. South Ari Dive Center partners with local guest houses so our living and dining was easy to arrange. CJ, our dive master, made every dive a fun experience. We loved how he would explain each dive, the depth, current, sealife, and anything else we needed to know before we put our gear on. The crew on board the ship did a great job helping us with our gear and always making sure we had everything we needed. We never felt rushed and could focus on just enjoying each dive. South Ari Dive Center has a lot of different, affordable dive packages - even snorkeling, PADI certification, and month-long deals. Many of the other divers that were there were experienced divers, diving with the company for a month. There was always something new and exciting to see and when we weren’t diving, the island was the perfect place to relax. We hope to someday be back to dive again with the manta rays and whale sharks!

South Ari Dive Center is the best dive center in Dhangethi without a doubt. 🙌 The great instructor Cee Jay is an amazing person. He showed us the best diving spots around the island. He is super talented to find the whale sharks and we had the chance to swim with them. It was a breathtaking experience and we absolutely loved it. Cee Jay also took us to the beautiful reefs. We have seen the beauty of ocean wildlife. The hotel we stayed, the food and the hospitality was great. Thank you so much.