Euro-Divers opened its first Maldives dive centre at Kurumba back in 1972, and now runs a PADI 5-star centre at Niva Kurumba Maldives in North Male Atoll with over 50 years in the region. The house reef is reachable straight from the centre and is home to blacktip reef sharks, eagle rays, moray eels and turtles, good for both snorkelling and diving, including night dives. Boat trips reach more than 30 sites within about an hour, among them Banana Reef, Okobe Thila, Nassimo Thila, HP Reef, Lankan Manta Point and Embudhoo Express, with manta ray encounters possible year-round (Bodu Hithi Thila January-April, Lankan Manta Point June-November). The centre runs the full range of PADI courses in multiple languages, along with a Mermaid swimming experience for kids and adults, and children can start diving from age 8.