The Barefoot Diving Center

The Barefoot Diving Center sits in Haa Alifu Atoll in the Maldives, a professional dive operation offering complete sets of rental equipment — BCDs, regulators, masks, snorkels, fins, wetsuits, dive computers and weights. Courses are available through both PADI and SSI, suitable for adults and children from 8 years, spanning beginner and refresher levels.

Courses and diving for every level

Certifications run from Open Water Diver and Advanced through a range of Specialty Courses, including Enriched Air 'Nitrox'. For those not ready to commit, Discover Scuba Diving lets you experience diving without a licence, while free pool trials with an instructor let almost anyone try breathing underwater for the very first time.

The centre has almost exclusive access to around 30 dive sites, depending on the season, at an average distance of roughly 40 minutes by boat — often with no other boats or divers in sight. The team matches sites to your level, from macro subjects like shrimps and nudibranchs to sharks and, in the appropriate seasons, manta rays, with dolphins often seen along the way.