Diving the Maldives for free
It's early morning and the tide is out. We have the beach to ourselves — it's straight into the warm turquoise water, masks and snorkels in place.
In contrast to the sleepy shore, there's a party beneath the waves: a rainbow of spotted and striped fish dart back and forth in a carnival of colour.
A canary-yellow boxfish cruises past, while a vivid red lionfish looks up from the ocean floor, fins fluttering; behind some coral, a rainbow-hued parrotfish the length of a ruler surveys his domain. There are easily more than 100 fish surrounding us, bodies glinting like jewels in the sunlight.
It's just another day in the private island paradise that is Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives. That evening, as my husband and I relax on the back deck of a chic overwater villa, we are excited to see two spotted eagle rays metres from our feet, their sleek black bodies performing a mesmerising aquatic ballet — a tantalising prelude to the next day's diving.
A 45-minute speedboat ride from the Maldivian capital, Male, and its international airport, Kandooma Fushi in the South Male Atoll is hugely popular with Aussie surfers lured by the island's point break, one of the best and most consistent in the archipelago.
However, the extraordinary biodiversity of the surrounding waters makes the island resort an ideal destination for scuba divers seeking close encounters with large marine life such as turtles, reef sharks, and manta rays.
Some of the Maldives' top dive sites are minutes away. There's a well-equipped PADI dive centre staffed by an experienced team, offering training and excursions for all ages and skill levels. Kandooma was named best diving resort by Travel Trade Maldives in 2023, and has been nominated as the Maldives' leading dive resort and the Indian Ocean's leading family resort in the 2025 World Travel Awards, to be announced later this year.
The biggest drawcard is that Kandooma is the only resort in the Maldives where diving is free.
Certified divers get two free dives per day, providing you have paid for at least a three-night stay. The Dive Free offer is scheduled to run until December 2026 and includes equipment hire and a guide, saving divers about $600 for two days diving.
As a certified diver, albeit one whose diving is limited to holidays, I've been fortunate to enjoy some amazing trips, including night-diving off Thailand's Similan Islands and exploring the beauty of WA's Ningaloo Reef.
At Kandooma, we head off on a bright afternoon to the outer reef, where we are organised into groups of four to five, each headed by an instructor. Visibility is high, and the ocean deliciously warm — the water stays around 28C all year. We haven't been diving long before a group member spots a lemon shark; the ocean predator is about 1.5m long, and while this species is not aggressive, it's still a formidable sight. A few minutes later, we see a green turtle jetting away from us amid schools of fish flitting among orange and cream coral.
Another dive proves even more eventful. With the reef to my left and a steep drop into the depths on the right, I see orange-striped triggerfish, gold-striped butterflyfish, and a tiny shoal shimmering like a string of pearls; there's an exhilarating abundance of life.
Instructor Shahudh points out a moray eel leering like a demon from his coral lair, head bobbing in and out. But it's the green turtles who are the stars of the show. We see three, including a juvenile nestled into the side of the reef, one flipper poking out, giving a regal wave. The proximity makes it an unforgettable experience; the young turtle is less than a metre away.
Back on land, I hear about groups of reef sharks and manta rays at the Kandooma Thila, a world-renowned underwater pinnacle where strong currents make it necessary for divers to use hooks to hold on. It's a magnet for advanced divers.
It's not just the water that teems with life. On our first evening, as we walk to the poolside buffet restaurant, we notice the shells on the sand paths moving. Each contains a hermit crab, scuttling to get out of the way of our footfall. We see a staff member with a glorious red and green parrot on his arm. Above, fruit bats glide from coconut palm to coconut palm in the dusk. Kandooma really is a textbook tropical paradise.
Other highlights include a sunset cruise and the weekly grilled seafood feast at the resort's signature restaurant, The Asian Kitchen.
At the start of the cruise, we are told by the crew there is about a 50 per cent chance of seeing dolphins. Our fellow cruisers, two young Japanese couples, busy themselves taking pictures for social media, the women posing elegantly in matching cream sarongs on the back deck as their dutiful partners get their best angles. The posing comes to an abrupt end with a shout from the bow; there's something in the water! But it's not dolphins; to the excitement of everyone on board, we see a pod of at least four pilot whales leaping and playing around the boat, including a mother and her baby. The pod stays with us for a good 15 minutes. Pilot whales are sighted maybe once every three months, if that, so we are uncommonly lucky.
That evening, we tuck into juicy lobster tails, tuna steaks and tiger prawns at The Asian Kitchen, which is so beachfront we risk getting our toes sandy. As we eat, we are watched intently by a large heron, who has perched herself strategically on a rocky outcropping directly in front of the tables.
Satiated with seafood, we wander back to the overwater villa. The decor is minimalist meets designer beach shack, complete with outdoor bath and a ladder from the deck straight down to the Indian Ocean. Evenings are magical; a large mesh hammock built into the deck enables you to watch dozens of fish below in the flood-lit water while the Milky Way glitters brightly above.
Our last morning comes too quickly. As I scoot about packing, I notice a figure watching us from the beach. It's the heron from the restaurant, and she is no longer alone – there is another adult heron and a juvenile with her. We bid farewell to the feathery trio as we reluctantly walk down the wooden pier towards check-out, unconsciously dragging our feet as we go.
Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives features garden, beach and overwater villas. There's a kids' club, spa and water sports centre.
maldives.holidayinnresorts.com
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Dawn Gibson-Fawcett is a travel writer and former West Australian journalist who lives in Cairo.
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