Marine conservation is a priority at Hurawalhi Maldives and in June 2019, our marine biology team took on the challenge of setting up a coral nursery to help regenerate damaged areas of reef. Fragments of coral were collected from around the 5.8 Underwater Restaurant, split into smaller fragments and then attached to nylon lines and placed on a frame 7-8 metres below the surface. Each piece was 2.5cm when attached and they are regularly cleaned and checked with the aim to plant them onto the reef when they are big enough.

Fast forward to October 2020 and the corals are doing well, the pictures comparing them at the start of the project to the latest check show fantastic growth.

Once the corals had been checked, marine biologist Emily explored other areas of the reef around the resort and got a glimpse of the treats lying in wait for snorkellers and divers visiting Hurawalhi soon – there was an extraordinary amount of fish including big schools of bait fish, large trevally and rainbow runners and clouds of fusiliers. Numerous black tip reef sharks were spotted and they were not at all shy, staying around for a few minutes at a time. Sergeant Majors had laid eggs on the reefs next to the 5.8 Underwater Restaurant resulting in lots of activity there and in front of the water villas there was a large group of blue tangs, so anyone hoping to ‘find Dory’ may be in luck!