Ellaidhoo Has an Amazing Maldives House Reef

By Meredith Duran

I wanted to share that Ellaidhoo has an amazing Maldives house reef, as the snorkeling has been outstanding both times we have been. Ellaidhoo is in North Ari Atoll and is able to be reached from Male by either speedboat or sea plane.

A not insignificant number of people are critical of the sea walls in their view, but as my husband and I care most about the views underwater, those sea walls don’t bother us at all. In our opinion, several things make this house reef great. You can snorkel around the entire island without having to get out of the water, which means you can simply change directions if you find the current is against you. The coral is in quite good health, including a large area of fan corals. It’s a super fish soup with regards to quantity and variety.

What We Saw Snorkeling Ellaidhoo House Reef

I should note that we have visited both times in March (2024 and 2023), in case the season impacts the presence of some critters.

Having visited several islands in the Maldives, we’ve never seen such a variety of puffers as here.  A Lemon Puffer or two often hang out in the fans, to the east of the entrance over the fans (east of the main restaurant and in front of the apartment units). In addition to the Lemon Puffers we saw a Map Puffer, Guineafowl Puffers, a Scribbled Puffer, a Stellate Puffer, Black Spotted Puffers, and of course the ubiquitous Spotted and Black Splotched Porcupine Puffers. We also saw at least four different varieties of boxfish, including a pair of sweet little Yellow Boxfish.

There are also rays aplenty. Most days you can spot 3-5 Spotted Eagle Rays in the morning, often swimming together at the drop-off, but individually coming into the shallow areas to feed. There are Cow Tail Rays, a resident Porcupine Ray or two always in the lagoon by the water bungalows, Common Stingray, and large Black Splotched Stingrays.

There are two large, gloriously colorful male Napoleon Wrasses, and they frequently come into shallow areas in the morning and afternoon. Especially mornings, we could almost reliably spot them to the east of the fans, in a sandy and rocky area interior to the east point of the island. Sometimes the current can be pretty strong there, so use caution. Every few days we’d also spot one in other shallow areas of the reef. Of course there were also female or juvenile Napoleons around.

Additionally, if you venture out before 10am, it is nearly guaranteed to see a turtle or two.

One area many people miss is at the edge of the western section of the reef, directly out from the water bungalows. We have never experienced a strong current at the western point of the reef, and there is such a reward there! There is a little “mountain” out there with a crazy amount of fish, including Harlequin Sweet Lips in addition to the Oriental Sweet Lips, HUGE schools of Sergeant Majors, Humpback Snappers, Schooling Bannerfish, and many brightly colored small fish.

Around the reef one can frequently see Clown Triggerfish, as well as more common varieties. Both years there has been a roving group of Convict Surgeonfish creating some magnificent formations, and a roaming group of bright turquoise parrotfish crunch-crunching away. In the evenings, a team of Giant Jacks.

As for sharks, there are White-tip Reef Sharks, Black-tip Reef Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, and Nurse Sharks. Unfortunately, the resort was doing a shark feeding up through last year, but they claim to have stopped, and I hope they have indeed stopped.

Suggestions for Beginning Snorkelers at Ellaidhoo

For beginners to snorkeling, there is quite a bit to see in the lagoon east of the main restaurant with lovely coral, a giant clam, many damselfish, and sometimes small cuttlefish. Additionally, there is an area outside the sea wall which has a rope for nervous and new snorkelers to use over an area with anemone and clownfish, lovely clams, coral, and turtles in the morning. To access this, one would use the entry point in front of the dive center and swim west.

There are seven entry and exit points through the sea wall. I wish they were numbered so that I could give a better description. The sea wall does mean that once outside the wall, a snorkeler is committed for that section until the next entry and exit point. It helps to protect coral, but may be nerve wracking for a beginner.