Day 3 was a more sober day. The mission of the day was to find whale sharks in Maldives. The Maldives are famous for spotting these exotic and huge sea creatures, alongside manta ray’s. The idea was to snorkel and spot them, rather than dive, as our dive gear tend to scare them away.

Screenshot taken from the video Anup and Bhushan shot. Unfortunately I wasn’t carrying any underwater photography equipment.

Post breakfast, we headed to Maamigili Beru island, where they often spotted. An hour of searching yielded no results. We saw at least 10 other boats scanning the area for the same reason. And that’s when 1 close to us spotted a manta ray. And with that there was a flurry of activity and at least 15 divers jumped into the ocean chasing the poor creature.

I was one of the last ones to get into the water, following Bhushan. I spotted the creature from far away for a few seconds, but then lost sight. We eventually gave up after a few minutes, and I boarded the boat. That’s when Bhushan spotted a second one, up much close.

Somewhat happy, we then decided to move on to a better snorkeling spot. The corals here I tell you, were humongous and creepy, something I’ve not had the chance to view till date. Spotted a sea caterpillar and starfish amongst others while free diving into the corals.

Anup dived into some deeper waters to shoot our models free diving. We then headed back for lunch and slept out the hot afternoon. We then headed to the northern most part of Omadhoo island, where the beach poked into the sea for a good stretch.

Our hosts then showed us their yoga skills, impressing us yet again with what all they could do. We then enjoyed a second beautiful sunset on the beach and then headed back for dinner. Bhushan happened to spot a baby eagle ray on the beach side. Lucky bum! All this footage to be put up soon. To think, we could maybe spot whale sharks in Maldives, right on the shore where we were staying was too exciting.

Post dinner, we did a night walk on the beach side with Anna who had told us about the crabs during sunset. What we saw next was unbelievable. Hundreds of crabs crawling all over the sandy beach. And the waves were brining in more. Tried catching a few but gave up. Anup was lucky enough to find a few that didn’t want to run away from our lights.

Photographer tip – While shooting the sunset on the beach looks awesome with a wide-angle lens, it reduces the impact of the sun’s clear appearance. A high zoom lens is most useful to make the sun appear larger than life in your pictures. Time for me to buy one. Anyone wants to invest in me? 🙂

Scuba Diving tip – Whale Sharks in Maldives are a common sight in the early summer season. so are manta rays. Find a good dive master, and they’ll take you to the right spot.