This is an English translation of Aman Haleem's feature story for Adhadhu.
Until today, local and international media reports regarding the discovery of experienced Italian diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti’s body in the Vaavu Atoll "Devana Kandu" cave have remained consistent. Every outlet reported that he was found at the mouth of the cave.
This narrative suggested that Gianluca died while attempting to exit the cave after becoming separated from his diving group. Based on this reported location, intense debates and theories emerged among the media and the diving community. Many questioned why he had strayed so far from his group and why the others were later found deep within the cave’s inner tunnels.
However, Adhadhu can now confirm that these stories and news reports were based on incorrect information.
Gianluca was not found at the mouth of the cave. He was located deep inside the underwater cavern. His body was discovered during a dive conducted by two of his colleagues who risked their own lives to find him. They found Gianluca through a combination of determination, courage, expertise, careful planning, and a stroke of luck.
Had these two individuals not found Gianluca, the search teams would not have known where to look. The fate of the group would have remained a mystery, and all those lost would likely have remained hidden in the depths of the ocean forever.
This is the true account of the events leading up to the tragic incident on May 14, 2026, and the actual efforts made to locate the victims.
The briefing was for a "Fun Dive," not a cave dive
The incident began at 11:00 am that day. A group of 24 people, including professors and students from the University of Genoa aboard the "Duke of York" safari vessel, gathered for the second dive briefing of the day. Following a successful morning dive near Fotteyo, where they enjoyed the beautiful coral and marine life, everyone was eager for the second excursion.
By midday, they prepared to dive at "Devana Kandu." The crew’s briefing described a standard "fun dive" at the channel. This was a routine dive for the safari’s guides—one they had completed hundreds of times with various groups without issue.
Gianluca and his group of four others prepared for this dive. Neither the safari’s logs nor the briefing instructions mentioned entering an underwater cave. There is no record of anyone discussing a cave dive. The group descended with standard diving gear, basic torches, and single oxygen tanks, without anyone raising a concern.
Following the briefing, Gianluca and his team—Italian ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter and biomedical engineer Giorgia Somacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, and researcher Muriel Odenino—were the first to enter the water from the diving boat.
It was approximately 11:30 am. This was the last time the five individuals were seen alive.
Gianluca’s group descended on the southern side of the channel. The remaining 20 divers, accompanied by three Maldivian guides, descended on the northern side. After dropping everyone off, the diving boat remained positioned in the middle of the channel, between Gianluca’s group and the safari vessel.
While the boat was waiting, the group that had descended after Gianluca finished their dive and deployed their surface marker buoys. The boat went to collect them. By the time they returned, the scheduled dive time for Gianluca’s group had elapsed. It was roughly 12:30 pm, and there was no sign of them.
At that point, the crew began a search. They first looked for bubbles from the divers' tanks near the drop-off point. Seeing none, and noting a slight outward current, they suspected the group might have been carried out of the channel.
After 15 minutes of searching the surface to no avail, the safari captain, Ibrahim Rasheed (Fessey), was notified. He immediately expanded the search, seeking assistance from another nearby safari and diving vessel. Shortly after, Marine Police based in Vaavu Fulidhoo joined the operation.
"I can guarantee that if those five had reached the surface, they wouldn't have gone missing. It was a large group. Everyone had balloons. And these were not inexperienced people," Fessey said.
Despite the confidence that they would have been spotted if they had surfaced, the search intensified. Five private vessels, including an excursion boat from Alimatha Resort and the Marine Police launch, combed a vast area. The safari vessel alone covered a 42-mile radius. Yet, there was no trace of them.
Two dives to the cave: Luck finally strikes
Diego and Rasheed, aboard the "Conte Max" safari anchored in Hulhumale’ lagoon, received news of the missing divers around 1:30 pm via a call from the "Duke of York." Knowing the divers' high skill levels, Rasheed suspected they had not surfaced. He immediately thought of the large cave located at a depth of 60 meters along the reef edge of Devana Kandu.
This cave is well-known among divers as a place where sharks seek shelter during the western monsoon. Given that surface searches had failed, they theorized the missing divers might have gone to explore it.
The first dive to check the cave area was conducted at 2:15 pm. This team included three Maldivian guides from the "Duke of York," a fellow local diver, and an Italian diver.
"It was a very short dive. We checked that area of the channel. Everyone knows there is a cave there. But when we checked the entrance, there was nothing," Fessey explained.
Finding no one at the mouth of the cave, the five divers surfaced. They assumed the group would not have ventured beyond the first chamber.
Meanwhile, Diego and Rasheed were traveling by launch to the site, arriving at the "Duke of York" at 4:30 pm. By then, they were convinced the missing divers were inside the cave and were determined to check.
Both veteran divers had explored the cave before. Diego noted that on his two previous visits, he had only gone to the back of the first chamber before turning back. Rasheed, however, mentioned he had once entered one of the tunnels and knew there were further passages and chambers inside.
Since no one was found on the surface or at the cave’s exterior, they decided to go inside.
"I told Diego I knew there was another tunnel. There is an entrance. I had been there before, using a torch to find my way out," Rasheed recalled.
Diego and Rasheed did not have specialized cave-diving equipment. However, instead of standard gear, they secured large 15-liter tanks and three torches each. They devised a plan where two other divers would wait at a certain depth with extra oxygen. At 5:30 pm, they began their descent to 60 meters.
Upon reaching the cave, they entered the mouth. The first chamber is approximately 35 meters long. Beyond this, a passage about seven meters long and three meters wide leads further inside.
Instead of entering that narrow passage immediately, they stayed at the opening and shone their torches into the second chamber, which is about 15 meters in diameter and has a large sand mound on its floor. The light immediately hit a body. At that moment, Diego and Rasheed did not know who it was.
Diego swam into the second chamber to retrieve the body while Rasheed stayed at the narrow entrance. Rasheed kept his torch pointed toward the exit to mark the way out. Upon reaching the body, Diego recognized the gear and knew instantly it was Gianluca.
Diego brought Gianluca’s body from the depth of 66 meters and handed it to Rasheed in the first chamber. After signaling Rasheed to wait, Diego swam back into the second chamber for a second sweep to look for the others. He found no one else.
"I went back in to see if I could find the others. But there was no sign of them in the second chamber. We hadn't planned to explore the cave further, so we exited quickly," Diego said.
Diego described three additional passages leading deeper into the reef from the second chamber. One of those passages was where the bodies of the other four divers were eventually found. That passage is located to the right when entering from the cave mouth.
Describing the interior, Diego said the second chamber has no natural light, though it is clear when illuminated by a torch. His account supports the theory that the divers became disoriented.
The cave’s structure is highly confusing. When trying to exit, the actual path out is often obscured by rock formations and sand mounds. In contrast, the incorrect passage to the right appears larger and more inviting, leading unsuspecting divers deeper into the cave system.
Diego noted that he only found the exit because of the light from Rasheed’s torch. They quickly exited the cave with Gianluca’s body and swam toward the support divers waiting at 30 meters.
The entire process—descending, entering the cave, retrieving the body, and returning to 30 meters—took just 11 minutes. After meeting the support team, they ascended to five meters for a 42-minute decompression stop. By the time they surfaced with Gianluca’s body, it was 7:10 pm
