A floating terminal five meters wide and six meters long, a bright white wooden pontoon wreathed in sun-bleached tyres and suspended on the turquoise transparency of one of the most beautiful lagoons of all the Maldives, an endless cobalt plain as clear as gin and as flat as crystal. Madoogali airport must be the smallest of the world and the one of the most colorful: its dazzling hues announce the wonders of one of the most beautiful seas in the world to the visitor disembarking from the tomato-red seaplane.

If the airport is tiny, Madoogali itself is not big. As the white and blue dhoni of the resort get closer to the island, this little patch of immaculate sand and lush vegetation seems to become smaller and almost recede into the malachite green of the ocean which surrounds it. The password in Madoogali would be “discretion”. Discretion for the lucky guests of this tropical buen retiro, for the delicate structures of the resort which are more reminiscent of an exclusive private club than a tourist village, and for the spotless beaches where one can forget all, lying under the sun for hours.

There are only fifty bungalows, scattered along the island perimeter, right on the beach and hidden among screwpine bushes, fragrant frangipani trees and tall, swaying coconut palms. These are the “once upon a time” Maldives, far away from mass tourism and budget travelers. In Madoogali days slowly drift away between long swims in the lagoon, easy snorkelling on the reef, lazy kayaking, romantic beach walks at sunset until the magic hour comes: when the western sky catches fire and the beach comes alive with crabs and herons.

Visitors looking for the big and technicolored creatures of the deep Maldivian sea can trust the dive center of the island which, in spite of the laid-back atmosphere of Madoogali, is quite professional and with very good facilities: four instructors, Padi courses in English, Italian, French and German, more than fifty 12 and 15 litres steel tanks available, recharged day and night by two 12.000 liters compressors, 25 complete sets of dive equipment for hire and two 12 meters diving dhonis, each of which can carry up to 22 divers.

There are two daily dive trips in dhonis: groups are composed of a maximum of twelve divers. Among the most commonly visited dive sites from Madoogali: Tin Thilla is a nice submerged reef at a medium depth (26 metres) rich in uncommon species, among which the fascinating blue ribbon eel Rhinomurena quaesita stands out; Donagali Thilla is another sandbar (28 metres depths average) whose summit hosts a few harmless resident nurse sharksNebrius ferrugineus; Bodu EndeliThilla boasts an enormous amount of big sea anemones inhabited by colourful clownfishes; MayaThilla and Mushi Mas Mingili Thilla (also know as Shark Point) are a little bit further away, especially Mushi Mas, but are the best bet to meet grey reef sharks Carcharhinus amblyrhyncos.

But the Technicolor award goes to the very close Ali Thilla, a small curvy reef rich in caverns and grottoes, with the bottom of the pinnacle at 30 meters and the summit 15 meters from the surface.

These waters are packed with species, thanks to the strong currents which are characteristic of the Maldivian sea and the nemesis of underwater photographers. But Madoogali also boasts a very rich house reef, which is easily dived from the beach and a favourite destination for snorkellers: this being quite unusual in the Maldives. The house reef also offers a good opportunity for night dives.

The coral slope is animated at night by dozens of Saron shrimp, very beautiful and very difficult to spot anywhere else. Madoogali dive sites are very nice, but those who like to be free and independent whilst diving can be very disappointed. Here in fact, unlike many other dive destinations in the rest of the world, the folks in charge of the diving centre impose a very rigid group discipline which is sometimes quite suffocating.

To guarantee safety, dive masters scrupulously follow the Maldivian laws regarding underwater activities: no diving alone or in pairs (only in groups led like cattle by a dive master from the resort), no staying behind (others would complain, it’s like a race), no diving below thirty meters, and so on and on. It doesn’t really matter anyway: the underwater show somehow rewards the strict discipline. Especially if in the evening one comes back to Madoogali to rediscover, as a traveller in an exotic land, the flavour of a tropical cocktail sipped on the teak sundeck, elegantly overlooking the sea. Hushed tones, nice tans, high heels, great cuisine…Between one tough adventure and the next, a bit of Madoogali is a nice change of pace.

Fished, hunted, often persecuted in almost every part of the world, sharks are now a typical and protected feature of the Maldivian underwater seascape, part and parcel of the traditional folklore of this archipelago of fishermen and sailors.

Rather shy elsewhere, in some well-known dive sites of this sea several spectacular grey reef sharks Carcharhynus amblyrhyncos have become accustomed to humans and accept food offered by expert divers, even if nowadays this dangerous custom has been formally forbidden by the authorities. Packs of big resident females (males are smaller and less gregarious) stay in well-identified localities.

It is here that one can admire these wonderful creatures close-up. Now that the long-standing population of grey reef sharks at Shark Point has been swept away in few days by unscrupulous fishermen, the award for guaranteed sightings has passed to Maya Thilla, reachable in less than one hour by dhoni from Madoogali. Maya Thilla is a coral pinnacle decked with spectacular jutting coral balconies, whose summit is just ten meters from the surface.

It only takes twenty minutes to swim all around it, but it is preferable to spend the full dive staying still on one of the coral terraces, waiting for the big predators to show up and come close. You don’t have to wait for long, especially when strong currents are present; they come alone or in small groups and slide towards the divers, gently passing by. They swim around, sometimes almost bumping into the divers, following every movement of the human intruders with a fixed, slightly crazy stare in their greenish eyes. Dangerous? Not at all, as long as one stays quiet and avoids sudden movements: in fact, a great photo opportunity for all.