Maldives: diving paradise (part 1)

The Maldives Islands are synonymous of diving. Its capricious geography consists of over 1,200 small coral islands. Not all are counted and some emerge or disappear, with earthquakes of the sea. The Maldives offer an changing paradise for the professional diver and the tourists for the first time

Grouped into 25 atolls, only 200 islands are habited, 65 are devoted only to tourism. Most of the territory of Maldives is water. The soil is so scarce, that the capital, Mali, occupies an island, and another international airport. Some of the islands are so small that only houses a hotel. Without land to farm, Maldivians have been delivered to the sea.

The Maldives is the lowest country on the planet. Its maximum height is five feet, and the average is one. The low height of the islands and coral reefs, the cornerstone of the Maldives economy played a role in the tragedy of December 26, 2004, during the tsunami.

The absence of continental shelf, allowed waves were not pushed upward, and passed just above the ground. Meanwhile, corals acted as a filter, like a giant strainer stripped of energy waves. Although the Maldives were very close to the epicenter of the tsunami, the death toll was much lower than in countries further afield.