For travelers looking for a new diving experience, we have just the thing: Six Senses Laamu has introduced blackwater diving. The resort’s dive center, Deep Blue Divers, has been offering guests the opportunity to spot manta rays, sharks and turtles; now, guests can explore the Laamu Atoll at night in hopes of finding critters that might even be new to science.
The blackwater diving experience is different from a typical day or night dive. It takes place in the open ocean, with divers drifting with the current in mid-water. Divers are guided by a string of LED lights attached to a vertical rope tethered to a surface-floating buoy. The lights attract the deep-dwelling, often alien-looking micro creatures, emerging every night from the abyss of the ocean in search of food.
Good to know: There is no specific area or special time of the night to do this dive, according to Philippa Roe, one of the senior marine biologists working with the resort’s Maldives Underwater Initiative.
The deep-dwelling micro creatures are attracted to the LED lights used to guide the divers.
Many of these critters, usually smaller than a human thumb, are ethereal reef fish in their juvenile phase, or invertebrates such as pygmy squids, fluorescent bristle worms and rainbow-pulsating comb jellies. Tip: Expect the unexpected and be sure to bring an underwater camera.
Deep Blue Divers is a PADI Five Star dive center and is Green Star awarded for its commitment to ocean conservation.
Book the Sunset Laamu Water Villa with Pool. These accommodations are positioned at the end of the jetty and face the sunset. They have an upper deck and pool deck plus a glass sunken bathtub. Contact Jad Frem (jad.frem@sixsenses.com), director of sales and marketing.
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