Th morning was very hard, I had to get up way to early again. The first dive was at 7:30 at Thudufush where we would almost certainly see manta rays - we didn't. We got dropped off at the wrong spot, so after wandering around for ten minutes the divemaster had us surface and the boat took us to another spot on the reef. Even if we didn't see any mantas it was still nice dive. Saw a turtle near the beginning but he was shy and didn't stick around. Also sa a giant stingray. He looked very strange because he was missing his tail. I couldn't figure out what this giant nearly circular disc with rippling edges was when I first saw it. Then I realized it was the biggest (about four feet across) sting ray I'd ever seen - just missing his stingers.
Back on board the main boat I had breakfast then spent a couple hours sorting the photos and getting caught up on my journal. The second dive was at Madivaru ("Manta Place"). But once again we didn't see any manta r
In the afternoon we did our third dive at Maamigili Beyru we were looking for whale sharks but didn't find any - last time the divemaster was there he saw three... There actually wasn't much to see - relative to the other dives I've done in the Maldives. There was a lot of current and it kept on change directions so it was a lot of work. That plus the somewhat poorer visibility made the dive my least favorite so far - though honestly it still wasn't bad.
At diner there were tons of flowers on all the tables - nice but strange. It turned out to be one of the Austrian guys' birthday and the crew went all out, at least decorations wise. Most of the Austrians were up very late drinking - I think there are going to be some unhappy folks tomorrow...
