Did you know Angsana Ihuru is the only resort in the Maldives to boast a ship wreck lying just outside of its house reef? The Rannamaari Wreck was previously used as a dredging ship in Male’ and was towed to Angsana Ihuru in 1999, with plans for the ship to be used as an artificial reef. However, the ship sank “mysteriously” two days before the planned event. The dredger was docked in front of the bar and while all the guests were at dinner, no one noticed that “Rannamaari” was slowly sinking until the final moment when air bubbles and foam gushed out noisily from the submerging dredger.
It sank to its final resting place and has since become a home for thousands of sea creatures and corals at a depth of 26 metres.
Outside of the wreck you could see schools of Jack and fusilier as well as parrotfish and sun corals, while friendlier groupers and batfish hang around the hull. Glassfish, big eye and squirrelfish and giant moray eels call the engine room home. There are numerous scorpion fish and stingrays at the bottom of the wreck, with a possibility of encountering nurse sharks sleeping, and lionfish floating in the gentle current waiting for prey to come along. The Rannamaari Wreck’s residents now seeds the ocean with plankton. Its transformation from wreck to reef has taken just over one year and it will support marine life for many years to come.
Moving to the very bottom of the wreck, there’s a possibility of encountering nurse sharks sleeping, and lionfish floating in the gentle current waiting for prey to come along.
Angsana Ihuru House Reef
The Angsana Ihuru house reef is easily accessible from the shore, and has been voted one of the best in the Maldives with its very own house wreck. As well as the breath-taking house reef, diving can be experienced all around the island and each dive offers a kaleidoscope of marine life.
As well as the reef itself – there is also the possibility to observe some of the marine conservation projects which show remarkable coral growth.