Diving Eriyadu: Maldives Budget-Friendly Island with World-Class Reefs

Stuart Philpott rounds out this three-island odyssey around the Maldives with a visit to Eriyadu

With Meeru and Vilamendhoo in the bag, I returned to Malé and climbed aboard another speedboat bound for Eriyadu on the final leg of my whirlwind tour. We covered the 45km journey in world-record time. Even Donald Campbell of Bluebird fame would have been impressed. My derriere was constantly airborne as we bounced over the waves.

I sped past numerous luxury resorts, all had their own unique character especially the bungalow designs, some were constructed of traditional wood and thatch, while others ultra-modern concrete. I even spotted a row with individual waterslides attached. There seemed to be quite a few artificial islands springing up which raised concerns. When they are created, sand and coral is sucked up and deposited from the surrounding seabed. This didn’t sound like a very eco-friendly process to me.

Tour operator Dive Worldwide said four-star Eriyadu was a popular holiday destination on the British market. During my stay this equated to roughly 33% of the clientele. Other nationalities included Italian, German and Eastern European.

I had already made some discrete enquiries with the instructor guides on Meeru and Vilamendhoo and the feedback about the dive sites and the resort was all positive, so bring it on!

” Sticking my neck out, I would say Meeru is a good all-rounder, Vilamendhoo is geared up for divers and snorkellers, and Eriyadu would suit the more-budget-conscious but is also a good choice for divers and snorkellers, especially groups “

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At 700 metres by 500 metres, Eriyadu is a small island. It takes roughly eight minutes to walk all the way around. The resort offers 76 rooms and two different room categories. There are no overwater bungalows. I stayed at the more-budget conscious two-storey 16-room block. The ground-floor apartments opened out onto the sandy beach and there was a good covering of palm trees and other foliage which kept the rooms shaded from direct sunshine. Each apartment had been allocated with two sunbeds, although they were not numbered, so some sneaky individuals borrowed mine, which forced me to reciprocate the deed. Sunbed wars – a worldwide phenomenon! The room itself was clean and tidy with ensuite and air-con. I wouldn’t say luxurious, more functional. I managed to take a look inside a beach bungalow and they were much more spacious and comfortable. They also offered more privacy.

There are various food and drink packages available. I booked ‘full board’, which included three meals a day but no drinks. Compared with other resorts I visited, the choices were more limited. For lunch and dinner there was always soup, salad and a pasta station if I didn’t fancy the main dishes. But I was impressed with the apple crumble and ice cream for dessert.

Snorkelling offthe dock

Most of the guests congregated at the bar in the evenings. This is the ideal place to watch the most amazing sunsets. Twice a week at around 8.30pm, Euro-Divers run a quiz and show diving videos. Usually there was some form of entertainment every night, including live music and karaoke.

The dive centre was located on its own jetty less than a minute’s walk from my apartment. Euro-Divers opened for business more than 30 years ago. Diving Manager Lisa de Jong agreed to be number three tall blonde guide/model and being ‘management’, I was looking forward to great things. We sat down and made plans for the next action packed three days. It helped that Lisa had been living on the island for several years and knew the sites extremely well. In all, there are six full time staff, including two instructor guides. I counted 46 dive sites on the map, including one manta cleaning station. January through to April is the best time for manta sightings. Boat journeys to and from the sites are between 15 minutes and one hour.

The house reef is one of Eriyadu’s best-selling points. Lisa said: “The whole island is one big shore dive”. The top reef starts at 1m-5m and slopes offto sand at a max depth of 25m. There are five entry/exit points dotted around the island. Full cylinders are dropped offat the beach. Divers just leave the empties where they finish up. Currents are usually very slight and common sightings included blacktips, nurse sharks, rays, turtles and anemonefish. Lisa said: “Diving with or without guide is the same price”. Snorkelling is also a very popular activity. I saw several couples on guided tours. This was the first time I had heard of night snorkelling. Every evening, I would sit and watch the torch beams scanning the seabed while partaking in a cocktail or two at the waterfront bar. With limited time available, I didn’t get a chance to rent an underwater scooter. It would have been fun to circumnavigate the whole island in a single dive.

Altogether, Euro-Divers manage ten dive centres in the Maldives. They all offer a standard three dive day package. The boats usually leave around 8am for two morning dives and return at lunchtime. It then goes out again at 2pm for a single afternoon dive. Departure times vary depending on the distance to the dive sites. The protected shallow water around the dive centre is a particularly good spot for running entry-level PADI courses. For non-divers there are several jet skis, windsurfing and catamarans for rent. Other on-site amenities included a swimming pool, beach bar and a few shops. The jewellery shop looked very posh indeed!

On the first dive at Kagi Kuda Kandu, I spotted four eagle rays flying in formation but just couldn’t get close enough for a picture. Whitetips patrolled the drop-offand there were small shoals of snapper and sweetlips hovering over the reef. At the end of the dive Lisa found a huge over three-metre-long nurse shark wedged under a rock. The tail was visible but I couldn’t get a clear view of its head.

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” Lisa had encountered four mantas at this site two days earlier and they stayed with the divers for a good 30 minutes giving everybody a spectacular flying display “

At Caribbean Reef there were plenty of small fish and lobster on show but nothing of substantial size for my wide-angle lens to target. Just as Lisa deployed the SMB, we spotted a small hawksbill nibbling on the corals. The turtle was extremely relaxed and we managed to get some great close-ups (I had to edit out the SMB line in photoshop later). Visibility at both dive sites topped 20 metres with minimal current.

Batfish encounters were taken to another level at Lucky Rock, one of Lisa’s favourite dive sites. The current was running hard so we ducked inside the ‘bat cave’ close to the mooring line. It was very dark and there was a lot of sediment flying about so I couldn’t get a ‘clean’ picture. I counted at least 100 or more batfish the size of dinner plates congregating inside the cave/swimthrough. Some had broken fishing lines and hooks sticking from their mouths.

We came back to the site a day later and conditions were a complete contrast. At 25m there was plenty of light and at least 20 metre visibility. The batfish seemed very relaxed and came in very close. On the reef by the mooring line, we found anemonefish and a scorpionfish.

At Madigaa we spotted three stingrays half buried in the sand. There were four other divers in our group. While they focused on two laying side by side, I tried to get shots of the third solitary ray but just as Lisa got into position, it spooked and shot offin a cloud of sand. We had better luck with a small hawksbill and a shoal of batfish. The reef at Finger Point was teeming with life. I saw snapper and sweetlips among the soft corals and giant shoals of glassfish. I spotted a jellyfish in the blue and managed to get a few pictures with Lisa posing in the background.

On the way to the cleaning station at Bodo Hithi, we saw several mantas flapping about near the surface which was a good omen. But when we made our descent onto the main pinnacle at 25m, I only found a few sweetlips, big-eye and yellow snapper. Lisa had encountered four mantas at this site two days earlier and they stayed with the divers for a good 30 minutes giving everybody a spectacular flying display. Unfortunately, the monsoons (currents) were in the changeover cycle during my visit, which was making sightings unpredictable. We followed the reef for about 200 metres, crossed a sandy channel and ascended to another pinnacle at 10m. This was another cleaning station where mantas were often seen but again nothing was happening. I felt something nip my leg and when I looked down there were several little blue and black striped cleaner wrasse darting about. In the absence of mantas, I must have been the next best meal ticket!

I visited the cleaning station twice during my brief stay but didn’t see any mantas. On my second outing we were joined by 24 divers from a liveaboard in two groups of 12. The liveaboard guides knew about the deeper cleaning station but not the shallow site. We watched them disappear into the distance and then sneakily crossed the sandy channel and ascended to the pinnacle. Apart from a very skittish pufferfish that darted into a crevice, there were no other photo opportunities.

Eriyadu resort has a unique character. Even though the accommodation and buffet food were ‘no frills’, everybody I spoke to was more than happy with the standard. One couple preferred the laid-back rustic charm of Eriyadu to other more-luxurious islands they had visited. Euro-Divers staffprovided a safe, professional and friendly service. The boat crew always set up my equipment, changed cylinders, help me get kitted up and plied me with coffee and cake. I managed to do nine dives in three days.

Lisa performed well as blonde number three. We saw turtles, sting rays, batfish, eagle rays, nurse sharks, white tip sharks and shoals of sweetlips, barracuda, snapper and jacks. Marine life encounters, especially the bigger pelagic species, are not always guaranteed but I only had a very small window to get pictures, so my total tally could have been far worse.

There was a good selection of dive sites to explore, including some wrecks and I didn’t see any other dive boats apart from at the cleaning station. The superb house reef and night diving were an added bonus.

As a general round up for the three islands I visited on my mega tour, they all offered some great dive sites, including manta cleaning stations. Accommodation and food wise, some were a better standard than others. When booking a holiday I would consider transfers. Seaplanes usually cost more money and generally the transfer times take longer (waiting at the seaplane terminal, collecting baggage, etc). Families with children might prefer a bigger island offering more land-based activities. South Ari Atoll is usually guaranteed mantas and whale sharks. North Malé is good for mantas, but only has the odd passing whale shark sighting. Sticking my neck out, I would say Meeru is a good all-rounder, Vilamendhoo is geared up for divers and snorkellers, and Eriyadu would suit the more-budget-conscious but is also a good choice for divers and snorkellers, especially groups. Give Dive Worldwide a call for more information.

FAQ: Diving & Staying at Eriyadu, Maldives

Q: Where is Eriyadu located?

A: Eriyadu is a small island resort in North Malé Atoll, Maldives, around 45km from Malé, with transfers by speedboat taking roughly one hour.

Q: What type of accommodation is available at Eriyadu?

A: The resort offers 76 rooms, including two-storey apartments and spacious beach bungalows. Rooms are functional rather than luxurious, making Eriyadu ideal for budget-conscious travellers.

Q: What makes Eriyadu’s diving special?

A: The island is surrounded by an excellent house reef—often described as “one big shore dive”—with multiple entry points, healthy corals, and marine life including turtles, reef sharks, rays, and anemonefish.

Q: How many dive sites are accessible from Eriyadu?

A: Euro-Divers operates the dive centre with access to 46 dive sites, including pinnacles, wrecks, and a manta ray cleaning station. Boat trips range from 15 minutes to an hour.

Q: When is the best time to see manta rays at Eriyadu?

A: The peak manta season runs from January to April, when sightings at nearby cleaning stations are most common.

Q: What is the diving experience like with Euro-Divers?

A: Euro-Divers has been operating in the Maldives for over 30 years. Their professional team offers three daily boat dives, courses for all levels, and guided shore and night dives. Equipment handling and service are included.

Q: What else can guests do besides diving?

A: Popular non-diving activities include snorkelling tours, night snorkelling, jet skiing, windsurfing, and catamaran rentals. Guests can also relax at the pool, beach bar, or small shops.

Q: Who is Eriyadu best suited for?

A: Eriyadu appeals to divers, snorkellers, and groups seeking an affordable Maldives holiday with excellent diving. While less luxurious than other resorts, its rustic charm, superb house reef, and friendly dive staff make it a favourite.