Tiger Harbour (Fuvahmulah)

A harbour mouth plateau at the southeast tip of Fuvahmulah, the Maldives' isolated single island atoll, where the Indian Ocean's largest known resident tiger shark population gathers. Six to eighteen tiger sharks — many individually identified and resighted for years — circle a sandy ledge around 8-12 m beside a wall that drops past 60 m, close enough to fill a wide angle frame in clear water. Divers kneel in a line behind the guide while the dive team works a bait box. The same exposed outer reefs draw pelagic thresher sharks to dawn cleaning stations and schooling scalloped hammerheads from October to April, with oceanic mantas, silvertips, and the occasional whale shark or mola passing through. Currents run hard and the swell is open ocean.