Observation deck
Over still water.
Asaymirus — CC BY 4.0 · Ibrahim Asad — CC BY 3.0 · Ibrahim Asad — CC BY 3.0 · Ibrahim Asad — CC BY 3.0 · Asaymirus — CC BY 4.0 · Ibrahim Asad — CC BY 3.0
One of the two freshwater lakes of Fuvahmulah; its name means «State Lake», as it has been in state custody throughout history. The island was once a small atoll around a saltwater lagoon; coral boulders closed its channel to the ocean and the lagoon slowly lost its salt, leaving today just two small lakes, wetlands and taro fields. The lake covers about 5.8 hectares and averages some 15 feet deep, which makes it the largest lake by volume in the Maldives and the country's largest freshwater reserve. Ferns, screwpine, tropical almond, bananas, coconut palms and taro fields surround it. Among its birds is the common moorhen, which in the Maldives lives only on Fuvahmulah. On the shore stand a jetty and an observation deck, built when the island's harbour opened in 2003, and since 2011 huts and a restaurant in Maldivian style with roofs of palm thatch. Visitors like to feed the tilapia from small boats. Locals do not swim here because of the depth and muddy banks, unlike Dhadimagu lake in the north of the island. The lake has been protected since 12 June 2012, and all of Fuvahmulah has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2020. Early morning and sunset are the best times, when the sky is mirrored in the still water. North of Dhadimagu lake grows a jambul forest, the largest of its kind in the Maldives.
Over still water.
The rare common moorhen.
Roofs of palm thatch.
Maalegan ward, Fuvahmulah
Locals do not swim here because of the depth and muddy banks; they swim in Dhadimagu lake in the north instead. The lake has been a nature reserve since 2012.