Daybreaks and Four Seasons Explorer is still at anchor off Meerufenfushi. The reefs and sometimes poorly charted waters make it inadvisable to sail at night.
The early birds disappear at 0730 for their early morning dive the others of us sit down to a hearty breakfast on deck before the sun becomes too hot.
By 0930 our engines are starting and we are under way as we sail towards the island of Dhangethi passing the beautiful island of Mahdavu on the way.
Once we anchor the excitement builds as we all embark on board Azekara or locally built dive Dhoni which follows us every where we sail.
Our quarry is the whale shark known to feed hereabouts at this state of the tide.
The whale shark is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest of fish in the world. One measuring 12.65 metres and thought to weigh more than 21.5 metric tonnes, has been recorded
Found in tropical and warm oceans they can live in the open sea of up to 70 years. Despite their very large mouths, they are filter feeders and feed mostly, though not exclusively, on plankton.
Sadly for us today they were not that hungry or maybe there was not enough plankton to draw them to the spot were we were cruising up and down.
After nearly three hours of whale shark hunting we gave up!