The red Sea offers a truly unforgettable experience above and below water. Thousands of visitors a year are seduced by this area’s unique combination of spectacular marine life, welcoming climate and stunning scenery. An infinite variety of marine life attracts divers from across the world to the warm waters of the red Sea. For UK divers, this world-renowned dive destination is a short flight of 5 hours away Outstanding water clarity and permanent sunshine affords the chance to discover this magical underwater world all year round.

The sheer volume of colourful marine life and corals is what defines the red Sea. Divers and snorkellers can experience an impressive spectrum of invertebrates, ranging from over 200 different types of hard and soft corals, to crustaceans, sponges and hundreds of spectacular fish species. This incredible variety of marine life is coupled with an amazing underwater topography of dramatic walls, drop-offs, wrecks and deep blue canyons.

The image of the Maldives fixed in most visitors' memories is an aerial view of an open ocean interspersed by tiny islands surrounded by beautifully patterned lagoons, beaches and reefs.

The amount of land that lies above sea level in the Maldives represents only a tiny fraction of the country’s overall land mass, most of which lies below sea level.The islands of the Maldives are the visible coral tips of an oceanic volcanic mountain range whose outer edge at some points plunge to depths of over 3000m.

Deep channels separate 26 atolls that run from Haa Alifu in the North over 800 nautical km to Addu atoll in the South. The relative isolation of the Maldives, far from any landmass, has led to a fabulous variety of marine species. Seasonal oceanic currents flowing through the country have forged channels from the open ocean in to all the atolls. These channels, or Kandu in Dhivehi, concentrate plankton rich waters into and out off the atolls, which in turn support an incredibly rich marine ecosystem. Once inside the atoll, reefs, sandbars, islands and lagoons have evolved over millennia forming the habitat and nurseries for many of the reefs inhabitants.