A confrontation between divers at a popular Maldives dive site has escalated into a formal industry row, with the country's boating association calling for a police investigation after footage of the incident spread widely online.
The altercation happened on 28 October at Kuda Rah Thila, a well-known thila (reef pinnacle) in South Ari Atoll. Xiao Du, a Chinese dive instructor holidaying on a liveaboard from the Maldives Legend fleet, says he was bumped and shoved by three divers at around 18 metres — one of them, he claims, a dive guide from another vessel, Infinity X. According to Du's account, published in Chinese media, the confrontation began when a swimmer pushed him from below, then a second diver grabbed his arm and, during the ensuing struggle, reached for his mask and regulator — the piece of equipment that supplies breathing gas. Du says he escaped only because of his instructor training, telling reporters that having three people crowd him underwater 'could kill me'.
Video of the scene, plus the heated exchange on the surface afterwards, circulated on social media and quickly drew official attention. Maldives Legend confirmed the incident involved its guests and a guide from Infinity X, and on 2 November its sales and marketing director, Ali Sujuaan Shafeeq, announced that one of the company's own dive professionals had been suspended pending investigation. The National Boating Association of Maldives (NBAM) has asked the Maldives Police Service and the Ministry of Tourism to run a 'thorough, impartial and transparent' inquiry, while urging the public not to jump to conclusions.
There's a reputational dimension, too. NBAM pointedly warned against letting one incident brand the Maldives as an unsafe diving destination — a fair concern for a country where liveaboards and dive tourism are core business. For travellers, the takeaway is less about fear and more about standards: crowded sites like Kuda Rah Thila can put dozens of divers on one small reef, and this case shows how quickly poor etiquette underwater can turn dangerous. Regulator-grabbing is no small thing; at depth it's a genuine safety threat, which is why the story has resonated across the diving world.
If you're booking a Maldives liveaboard, the practical read is to pick operators with clear safety credentials and good guide-to-guest ratios, ask about group sizes at famous sites, and know your own limits if a site gets busy. South Ari Atoll remains one of the country's standout dive regions — whale sharks, reef scenery and thila diving — and the industry here is visibly keen to protect that reputation by holding individuals accountable rather than letting it fester. Investigations are ongoing, so the full picture of who did what at 18 metres has yet to be formally established.
