Stingrays in the Maldives: evenings with nurse sharks at the jetty on Fulidhoo

In the evenings, when the hot day on Fulidhoo gave way to a pleasantly warm darkness, our path led us almost inevitably to the island’s boat landing. It was our fixed end to the day: first dinner, then a few rounds of UNO with the family, then the jetty. The air was no longer oppressive, just soft and warm.

A quick note first, in case you’re planning right now: You don’t need anything for this. No boat, no booking, no gear — the boat landing is right in the middle of the village, and the animals come on their own in the evening. They are nurse sharks and stingrays, both harmless to humans as long as nobody touches them. That is exactly the one rule: hands off. Rays carry a stinger.

There, in the shallow water right by the jetty, they were already waiting: nurse sharks and stingrays. They lay or hovered in the water, completely relaxed, their movements calm and unhurried. There was never the impression that they were being pushed into anything — they came on their own, evening after evening.

There were only around ten of us at the jetty on those evenings. No commotion, no stress, just enjoying it together. The rays swam slowly back and forth, and sometimes they came surprisingly close. Almost as if they wanted to cuddle. They glided over the feet of those who had gone into the water. Or settled onto the lap of someone who had sat down in the shallow water.

Then I feel it myself: a ray glides over my feet. Its skin feels rougher than I had expected. Just a brief moment, but it stays with me.

The nurse shark lay next to them as if it were asleep. No movement, no sign of being disturbed — the people around it didn’t seem to interest it at all. It was simply there, a quiet part of this evening scene. It was exactly these unexcited encounters that made the evenings at the jetty on Fulidhoo so special.

Why the rays and nurse sharks come — and why it’s different here

Nurse sharks at a fixed spot, evening after evening: that sounds like a feeding station, and in Vaavu Atoll there actually is one. Off the island of Alimatha, in the same atoll, dozens of nurse sharks gather at night at a spot where they are fed, and dive boats head there on purpose.

At the jetty on Fulidhoo, nobody throws anything into the water. The animals come into the shallows on their own, and you can tell: they lie, they hover, they slowly make their rounds. No jostling, no snapping, no commotion.

What the difference looks like, I experienced a week later on a boat trip. There was feeding there, and the calm bottom dwellers turned into a scramble in which one animal nudged my leg. The second time, I stayed in the boat — the story is in Snorkeling with nurse sharks. The same species, two completely different evenings. The whole difference lies in whether someone has a bucket with them.

Stingrays on Fulidhoo: you don’t need anything for it

Looking back, this is the part that surprised me most: for this evening you need no boat, no tour, no booking and not even a mask. You walk to the boat landing after dinner, stand there and watch. If you want, you go into the knee-deep water.

In the Maldives, that’s the exception. Otherwise almost everything depends on a boat trip — the turtles at Turtle Reef, the turtle tour, the nurse sharks at the boat stop. Here the animal comes to you, and it costs nothing.

What you should bring is restraint. Don’t touch anything, leave the animals room to pass, don’t walk after them. That’s not a formality. The reef and its inhabitants are harmed when people grab at them, and you get hurt too. Rays carry a stinger, and a startled animal in shallow water has few ways to get away. Anyone who stands still and waits gets to see more anyway. My gear stayed in the room entirely on those evenings.

During the day, they’re the same rays

You also meet the big rays from the jetty in the water when you snorkel out from Bikini Beach. From above you look down on them; underwater they seem a good third bigger again, and they aren’t shy at all. A moment ago there was only pale sand; the next moment something huge slides right up next to you.

You won’t find a reef there, though. You stay over sand for a long time; after around a hundred meters you are at about five meters depth, and the fish are gray and well camouflaged. So if you come to Fulidhoo to snorkel, you get your money’s worth in the evening, not in the morning. All of the island’s measurements are on the island page for Fulidhoo.

Fulidhoo island around the jetty

Fulidhoo was our first stop in the Maldives, and looking back, the island was exactly that: arriving. Very small, very cozy, hardly touristy. In April 2025 there were two or three restaurants, plus a few small shops — nothing more. We went to the same place every evening. The food was really good, the prices fair, and the people were so nice that they simply let us sit and play cards after dinner. That’s exactly why the jetty became our end to the day: everything was close together.

If I have to rate the island: for snorkeling it isn’t a strong choice — on my own scale a 2 out of 5. For the island feeling, on the other hand, a 5. That sounds like a contradiction, but it’s exactly the reason we walked to the jetty every evening. The best thing about the water here wasn’t under the mask, but twenty meters from dinner.

On the other side of the island, where women can swim covered, there is a reef, and there is current there too. I was never in the water there, so I can’t tell you anything about it. From above, it looked promising.

A week later we were on Rasdhoo, and everything was different there: a house reef right off the beach, sharks in the shallows, a manta in the morning. What the two islands were like together is in the travel report on Rasdhoo and Fulidhoo; all the islands and seasons are in the Maldives destination guide.

If you want to get in the water during the day: the actual reef off Fulidhoo lies farther out. After around a hundred meters you reach about five meters depth. Visibility was over twenty meters. From the jetty you’d never guess. What else the island has to offer is on the Fulidhoo island page.

Stingrays on Fulidhoo in the evening — short & practical

• Where: the boat landing of the local island of Fulidhoo (Vaavu Atoll, Maldives). Reachable on foot from the village, no boat trip needed.
• Conditions (April 2025): 29 °C water temperature, over 20 meters visibility, at the jetty shallow water from knee to hip deep. Values from my logbook.
• When: after sunset. The animals came on their own on every evening of our week — there wasn’t a single evening we stood at the jetty for nothing.
• What you’ll see: nurse sharks and stingrays in the shallow water, plus fish in the light of the boat landing.
• Keep your distance: don’t touch anything and leave the animals room to pass. They come on their own — that’s enough.
• What you need: nothing. No boat, no tour, no mask, no entry fee. The boat landing is reachable on foot from the village.
• How many people: around ten on our evenings. No rush, no crowding — you stand side by side and watch.
• Don’t confuse it with feeding: In the same atoll, off Alimatha, animals are fed at night. Not at the jetty on Fulidhoo — and that’s exactly what makes for the calm mood. The difference is immediately visible in the water: Snorkeling with nurse sharks.
• For snorkeling: Bikini Beach has no reef. If you want to get in the water during the day, you should know that — details in Fulidhoo, snorkeling from the beach.
• If sharks are on your mind: What the first encounter feels like is in “My first shark”.