Suvadiva Channel (Dv: Huvadu Kandu) is the broad channel that separates the northern and central Maldives from the southern atolls.
This channel lies between Haddhunmathi Atoll and Huvadhu Atoll and it is one of the broadest channels between the atolls of Maldives.
In the British Admiralty charts it is called One and a Half Degree Channel. On old French maps it appeared as Courant de Souadou.
Sperm whales are a common sight on the surface of the Suvadiva Channel.
In the middle of the vast emptiness of the Huvadu channel there is a small bank known as Medutila (also called Derahaa). This place is the peak of a submarine mountain, and perhaps an atoll in the process of formation. This submerged bank is very difficult to spot for at its shallowest point there is a depth of 6 fathoms (11 m). It looks like a paler blue patch surrounded by huge expanses of the deepest ocean. There, no island can be seen in the horizon for many dozens of miles.
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