Index, 1. Introduction, 2. Angaga Island, 3. Reef Check Sites, 4. Biological Data & Results, 5. Public Relations, 6. Suggestions, 7. Acknowledgements

2. Angaga Island

Figure 1: Southern part of the South Ari Atoll indicating the geographic location of Angaga island as well as many diving sites.

2.1 Geography

Angaga island is located in the South Ari Atoll (72_ 49' E, 3_ 39' N) as indicated in figure 1. The small island has a maximum elevation of about 2m and it hardly takes a 10min walk to surround. In the center grow many palm trees surrounded by mangroves and frangipani. A wide natural beach of fine coral sand completes the picture. The very shape of the island underlies strong seasonal fluctuations. During monsoon time (April-October) the west coast is exposed to heavy waves and current while in the winter months a lot of sand is accumulated on the north western side resulting in a long sandy beach. The reef surrounding the island lies 50-500m off the shoreline. On the east side, where the reef is closest to the island, breakwaters of coral were built to protect the island from erosion.

2.2 Flora & Fauna

In sharp contrast to the large biodiversity of marine life around Angaga, the variety of plants and animal species on land is limited. The flora on Angaga island includes the following bushes and trees: coconut palm trees, papaya, mangroves, jasmine, frangipani and hibiscus.
 

The variety of animals is similarly small: 2 grey heron (Ardea cinerea), 3-4 hooded crows (Corvus corone cornix), geckos, palm tree rats, crabs and hermit crabs.

2.3 Angaga Resort

The resort was built in 1989 and consists of 50 bungalows, hidden between palm trees and mangroves, accommodating approximately 100 to 120 guests. Because of its pleasant sandy beaches together with the well appreciated shade of palm trees, Angaga island is promoted as the perfect place to spend leisure time in general and as a honeymoon island in particular. Even though there are good diving sites around Angaga, only a minority of the tourists are actually there for scuba diving. However, most tourists enjoy snorkeling in the housereef. A staff of 80 to 85 people from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Germany, Mexico and Maldives takes care of food and accommodation as well as excursions, sport activities and entertainment. Most staff members live in the central area of the island which was in a rather sorry state. Tourists are discouraged to enter this place such that the staff has some privacy too.

Figure 2: Schematic plan of Angaga Island.1: Divingcentre, 2: Reception, 3: Coffee Shop, 4: Restaurant and 5: Bungalows. The roman numbers I-III refer to the location of the transects in the housereef.

Tourism
The main season on Angaga lasts from December till March. Most people visiting Angaga are relaxing from the stress of everyday life by enjoying sun, sand and water together with the luxury of the recreational resort. The variety of sport activities and entertainment organized by the resort staff depends on the number of guests. Activities include sailing, surfing, banana riding, water skiing, angling etc. as well as nightly entertainment in the bar. Moreover, the staff organizes daily and half-day excursions to tourist resorts and to native Maldivian islands to learn more about their culture and for shopping. The leader of the excursions advises his group to refrain from buying any souvenirs made of black coral or turtle-shell as well as buying rare animals such as triton shells (Charonia tritonis). The Maldivian law is very strict on these terms e.g. even export coral sand as a souvenir is illegal.

Scuba Diving
The headquarter of the Subaqua dive base on Angaga is located in Germany supervising and coordinating several dive bases in the Maldives as well as other places in the world. For five years now, the dive base on Angaga is supervised and run by Jochen Gommers. Depending on the time of the year he is working with one to three dive masters and instructors. Generously Jochen and his crew supported our efforts and supplied us not only with missing diving equipment but also by helping in the transects.

During our investigations, there were only up to 30 guests including 1-4 scuba divers. Human impact on the coral reefs around Angaga seems rather low. Only advanced scuba divers are allowed to dive without supervision by people from the dive base and only in the housereef. The people from the dive base try to minimize the impact of scuba divers in order to keep the diving sites attractive.